Resurfacing of /ð/ and /θ/

These are two English consonants which are usually replaced in Kamtok by /d/ and /t/ respectively. Like some diphthong-like sounds discussed above, these sounds are increasingly resurfacing in the speech of English-Kamtok bilinguals, particularly in recent loans from English. If the trend persists, /ð/ and /d/ and /θ/ and /t/ will come to be considered as being in free variation in words such as /ðis/ and /dis/ “this” and /bз:θ/ and /bз:t/ “birth”.