I don’t know that they sound that different, but I definitely “pronounce” them differently in that my tongue is in a different party of my mouth for both of them. When I say clothes, my tongue is near touching my front teeth, where as close is more just below that ridge behind my teeth, so farther back.
I’m not sure where you’re from, but the th is indeed silent in my area regarding the word ‘clothes’. I’ve never heard it pronounced any different than ‘close’.
Now if it’s said as ‘clothing’, the th is indeed pronounced. But not for ‘clothes’. And I’ve worked at a clothing store before.
You might be thinking of the word ‘cloths’, which indeed does pronounce the th.
I’m not sure where you’re from, but the th is indeed silent in my area regarding the word ‘clothes’. I’ve never heard it pronounced any different than ‘close’.
I’m not sure where you’re from, the th in is always pronounced in my area regarding the word ‘clothes’. I’ve never heard it pronounced the same as ‘close’
I will say that people got called out for pronouncing it the same as the spice ‘cloves’.
I’m in the US and I pronounce it, I think a lot of people do? Maybe I just know a lot of snobs and “regular” Americans mush the word together but I don’t think so
You seem like the sort of person that would pronounce the word often with a hard T,
Not at all. Used to make fun of people who did.
yet still pronounce the letter A as if it was an O.
No - there are two sounds for A, bath (short, as in cat) for tub of usually hot water and Bath (long, as in car) for the city famous for its hot water. Never heard it like O - no, wait… RP has an O sounding A doesn’t it? Lloyd Grossman was famous for his mangling of vowel sounds.
ETA that distinction for the A sound is probably familial rather than regional; grew up with Geordie mam and Home counties dad.
Hoes drop their clothes.
Who the hell decided that close is pronounced the same as clothes?
They sound pretty close to me. We can close this issue.
I don’t know that they sound that different, but I definitely “pronounce” them differently in that my tongue is in a different party of my mouth for both of them. When I say clothes, my tongue is near touching my front teeth, where as close is more just below that ridge behind my teeth, so farther back.
I’m from the center of the U.S. for reference.
I had half my jaw ripped open when I was 16 or so. So I guess I’m lucky to pronounce or enunciate anything correctly these days.
Southern Mississippi, if that means squat.
Yeah Mississippi will do that to you.
They aren’t universally, just in certain dialects. I pronounce the “th” just like with “clothing.”
No one? They aren’t pronounced the same in any accent that I’m aware of.
Edit: I’m dumb. I was reading that as the “nearby” close and not the "shut " close.
You’re probably thinking of the pronunciation of close as in ‘close to you’
I was thinking of the pronunciation of close as in ‘close the door’
Which is pronounced the same as clothes.
Those still aren’t pronounced the same. The th in clothes isn’t silent.
I’m not sure where you’re from, but the th is indeed silent in my area regarding the word ‘clothes’. I’ve never heard it pronounced any different than ‘close’.
Now if it’s said as ‘clothing’, the th is indeed pronounced. But not for ‘clothes’. And I’ve worked at a clothing store before.
You might be thinking of the word ‘cloths’, which indeed does pronounce the th.
English is weird like that.
I’m not sure where you’re from, the th in is always pronounced in my area regarding the word ‘clothes’. I’ve never heard it pronounced the same as ‘close’
I will say that people got called out for pronouncing it the same as the spice ‘cloves’.
FWIW My area = rural southern UK.
I’m in the US and I pronounce it, I think a lot of people do? Maybe I just know a lot of snobs and “regular” Americans mush the word together but I don’t think so
You seem like the sort of person that would pronounce the word often with a hard T, yet still pronounce the letter A as if it was an O.
Not at all. Used to make fun of people who did.
No - there are two sounds for A, bath (short, as in cat) for tub of usually hot water and Bath (long, as in car) for the city famous for its hot water. Never heard it like O - no, wait… RP has an O sounding A doesn’t it? Lloyd Grossman was famous for his mangling of vowel sounds.
ETA that distinction for the A sound is probably familial rather than regional; grew up with Geordie mam and Home counties dad.