Mr. O'Neill: It appears that you, w/ just a bit of help from others, have resolved the issue you raised. However this matter has prompted me to raise a related Q about the "thal" pronuciation in German. I am quick to say that I do not know German (and I know ICLIU) but I prefer merely to raise the issue and to obtain a fuller explanation from the Board scholars. My very sketchy impression is that German speakers (and perhaps speakers of other languages as well) often have initial difficulty w/ the "th" sound in English, e.g. rendering "he threw the ball through the door" as "he true de ball true de door." For purposes of illustration, the "sh" sound may present similar difficulties for certain others, e.g. "shibboleth/sibbolet" or, for many American English speakers, there are difficulties pronouncing a certain French "u", e.g. "menu" menoo/menyu. My Qs then are these: 1. Is my impression correct about the difficulties German speakers have pronouncing English "th"? 2. Is there a sound in German (Deutsch) similar to that of "Th" in English? 3. If not, does that fact shed any light on the "Neanderthal" discussion? 4. If the German language does not have such a sound, what is the value of the letter "h" in, e.g., "tHal"? Is it "silent" and there for some other linguistic or identifying purpose? NicholasW, I'm counting on you and others to straighten us out. TIA
