# TH sounds in other languages **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/th-sounds-in-other-languages/1027957 "2026-02-25T14:30:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 40
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/th-sounds-in-other-languages/1027957/40 "2026-03-02T22:25:35Z")
Then there’s the reverse question: [Why](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/th-what-were-those-old-germans-thinking-paleography/1024079) did they use to spell “Esthonia” and “Thibet” with the digraph ⟨th⟩ when they were _never_ pronounced with [θ] or anything but plain [t]? It torments my mind not knowing whether there had once been a rational explanation now forgotten, or there never was a rational explanation in the first place and shit just happens randomly. There was a rebel sect of Islam in the 9th century CE, the Qarmati rebellion. The Arabic plural name of the group is al-Qarāmitah. However, French Orientalists spelled the name “Carmathian” and that was formerly copied by English writers. This _does_ have an intelligible reason for the h. In French, the word ending spelled -_tian_ is always pronounced “-sian.” Inserting the h preserved the plosive [t] sound for French speakers. I cite this as an example of a deeply buried rational reason for the spelling even if it looks weird to us. Another example is the Mohawk saint, Kateri Tekakwitha. In Mohawk, stop phonemes like /k/ and /t/ are voiced to [g] and [d], unless otherwise indicated. That’s what the h is for: to preserve the unvoiced sound of /t/. So her name is pronounced Gaderi Degagwi **t** a. It took some deep diving into Mohawk phonology to elucidate this h. I can’t find any rational reason for “Esthonia” or “Thibet” no matter how you slice it. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/th-sounds-in-other-languages/1027957)._