You Say "Thuh", I Say "Thee"...

[stoutfellow]

... but why?

This is an interesting article on the two pronunciations of the word "the" (reduced "thuh" versus unreduced "thee"), and the role each plays in communication.

Comments

Re: thee -- one and only particular

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

The vowel/consonant bit is discussed here (http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/002312.html).

You don't see those kinds of things in yourself, do you?
Generally not. Linguists have really come to distrust introspection as a tool; most people really don't know how they talk. (I've seen one account of a student who refused to believe that anyone used a certain construction, until it was pointed out to her that she used it all the time. Even then, the instructor had to catch her in the act before she'd believe it.)