"teh" + adj./v.

[Grant Barrett]

On Sep 23, 2005, at 00:31, Chris Waigl wrote:
> Last, I asked the users of "teh" how they would pronounce it. After
> some
> difficulties ("it's not supposed to be said") they opted for unreduced
> ("I'd kinda pronounce it like 'thee/they'" / "'tea' with a soft 't',
> like 'thump'").

I tried the same thing a year or two or ago. The responses showed the
same reluctance to come up with a pronunciation, and frankly, that's
what we get for going about the fieldwork in such a crude manner. : )
However, my participants thought it would be pronounced either as
they pronounce "the" or like the first two letters of "tepid" or
"tether." I've used it aloud myself and tend to say it *both* ways,
one after the other, first as "teh suck" and then as "the suck." Only
Erin McKean understands it the first way. The latter way seems to
work for most people because there are quasi-precedents in using an
article before a name, such as "The Todd" on the television show
"Scrubs" and any number of historical divas.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org
http://www.doubletongued.org/