• Lvxferre@mander.xyz
      6·
      2 months ago

      It’s both things, and subjected to wide variation:

      - Stressed Unstressed
      Prevocalic /ði:/ /ði/, /ðɪ/, /ð/
      Preconsonantal /ði:/, /ðʌ/ /ðə/

      Source for those pronunciations, Wiktionary.

      To complicate it further some varieties merge /ʌ/ and /ə/, or /ɪ/ and /ə/. And I’m not even taking into account varieties using a different consonant, /t θ d f v/.

      • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
        3·
        2 months ago

        Ohh nice, that table helps. I felt like something was off about people sometimes using more /ði:/ than what I was taught!

    • untorquer@lemmy.world
      1·
      2 months ago

      Please, i don’t want to be self aware of my accent in my first language.

      Also the two pronunciations of “the” noted above are different mouth shapes. “Uh” un butt versus “ee” in jeep.

    • Limfjorden@feddit.dkEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      I’m just going off what I learned in school in Denmark. According to lvxferre@mander.xyz it seems there is a lot more variation than I thought.