pronunciation of 'the'

[Liza]

Hi,

I'm sorry to ask such an evident thing, but I'm confused now about it.

So, how to pronounce 'the' in front of United States / US / UK.

According to the rule, if 'the' is in front of a word starting with 'u' which is pronounced as 'ju' then we have to pronounce it in the normal way. (the table = the university)

However, I can hear very often to pronounce it with an /i/, e.g. the /i/ US. But here 'u' is pronounced with 'ju'? So why to change the normal pronunciation of 'the'. Or isn;t it correct to pronunce it with /i/?

I hope I was clear. Thanks for your help.

Bye
Liza

[Alan]

Hi Liza,

As you say 'the' is pronounced long before a vowel sound really because it is easier to say. The use of 'the' pronounced long before a sound that is not a vowel sound is often used in British English as a form of affectation. It is of course pronounced so when you are indicating that the following noun is unique as in: I'm not talking about just any old Mr Gates but THE Mr Gates.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Phrasal Verbs/take

[Jamie (K)]

"The" is pronounced [ðə] before a consonant sound and [ði] before a vowel sound. Words like "university" and "unit" begin with the consonant sound [j], as you point out, so you need to use [ðə] before them. The same is true of "US", because that word also begins with [j]. Note what Alan said about the use of [ði] before words with consonants.

There are some places in the world where some native speakers put a glottal stop before every word that begins with a vowel, and so they say [ðə] before all words, since, with that glottal stop, all words begin with consonants for them. This is not standard speech, however.

[Molly]

Yes, added to what Jamie said, we can also use the [ði] pronunciation before a consonant for variation - in cases of emphasis, for example ("this isn't just any old car, this is the car").

[Haihao]

Or to imply some hidden meanings with the the?

[Molly]

[Haihao]

A: Who is the girl among the many around Tom?
B: Jane (is the girl).

[Molly]

[Haihao]

His baby.