I noticed that my student pronounces s [ s ] as th [θ] (as in "thin"), no matter she speaks Thai or English.

I wanted to correct her, but she protested and insisted that a word like Si Saket is pronounced with th [θ] (2 times). So I played back Si Saket from Beckers dictionary in may phone and it turned out that the app pronounces Si Saket with "th" in both positions.

Same for other words.

Is the pronunciation of [ s ] as [θ] standard Thai, a regionalism or is it just some peoples' pronunciation?

Edited March 22, 201511 yr by uhuh

Sounds like your student has a lisp.

Is this the dictionary you are using on your phone?

Recorded from the Paiboon Becker's app on the Nexus 7 tablet:

Sisaket (ศรีสะเกษ): http://goo.gl/3n4h8u

Sisakhon (สรีสาคร): http://goo.gl/qVImJ9

I hear an s everywhere. Who else hears a th [θ] ? (Listen to the sound files preferably with a headset)

Seems unlikely. Thai language lacks the English 'th' sound entirely. In fact, only English has it among the languages that I know anything about.

So I played back Si Saket from Beckers dictionary in may phone

Check your phone.

I tried additional ressources and listened.

None of the speakers used something like a "th".

And the first syllable "si" (ศรี) appears in many placenames.

No "thi ratcha" but "si ratcha" ...

Thanks for the replies

Yes, i thought my student had a lisp and wanted to demonstrate it with Beckers dictionary (yes, the one shown above).

That backfired.

I have it on a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, and it sounds like "th".

I also have it on a Note 2, and it is even more clearly a "th" and not "s".

I didn't try both of them with headphones yet.

The sound files from the Nexus sound a lot more like "s", and I really never noticed anything like this.

So I guess, my student has a lisp, and some of Samsung's phones also.

Removed off-topic posts.

I can't recall ever hearing a Thai with a classical lisp, that is articulating an interdental /th/ consonant where not appropriate. In fact, I have met few Thais who can produce that interdental consonant correctly when speaking English.