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as in <ZINC> Listen
Norwegian learners' problems. Listen: This is a voiced sound and we do not have it in Norwegian. That is a problem in itself. If you make the sound of a bumble bee while placing a finger on your throat, feeling the vocal cords vibrate, you will be able to produce the /z/ correctly.
The real problem, however, is to know WHEN to pronounce it, and make it a natural part of your accent. Occasionally, but not often, it is spelt with a "z". Most of the time it is "hidden behind" an "s" (see spelling box). Many words in English are distinguished by the difference between /s/ and /z/. Therefore it is important for a teacher to know this difference.
At the end of words, the /z/ is not strongly voiced (and when an utterance is produced at normal speed, it is actually not voiced at all). However, the /z/ is always clearly weaker than the /s/, and the vowel immediately before the /z/ is relatively longer than the same vowel in front of a /s/. Listen to the following sentence pairs:
She was full of lice -
She was full of lies -
He heard a bus -
He heard a buzz -
Do you have a few pence? -
Do you have a few pens? -
Listen and practise the difference
between /s/ and /z/:
sink ---------- zinc
said ----------- Z
Sue ---------- zoo
bussing ----- buzzing
lice ----------- lies
niece -------- knees
peace -------- peas
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SPELLING BOX: Spelling rules for /s/ and /z/ are very complex. The following suggestions do not cover everything, but may be of some help: : <z>, <zz> : <c> (+<i>,<e>,<y>) However, with grammatical endings (plural s, 3rd person sg s and genitive s), there is a set of specific rules: is the most common pronunciation (for example in birds) |
