session 5“S”: /s/ vs /z/ […]

/s/

/z/

Practise saying the following minimal pairs

/s/ /z/

sip zip

Sue zoo

place plays

force fours

bias buyers

fierce fears

racer razor

INITIAL S

ESPAIN????

• initial “S”—> 97% : /s/ • exceptions: sure /ʃɔː(r)/, sugar /ˈʃʊɡə(r)/

• spring /ˈsprɪŋ/

• street /ˈstriːt/

• square /ˈskweə(r)/

• spell /ˈspel/

• stand /ˈstænd/

• start /ˈstɑː(r)t/

• stranger /ˈstreɪndʒə(r)/

• stress /ˈstres/

• sleep /ˈsliːp/

• school /ˈskuːl/

• stop /ˈstɒp/

Can you read the following sentences?

• I speak Spanish but unfortunately I don’t speak Swedish.

• Steve speaks very slow, doesn’t he?

• It was snowing in Switzerland and Scandinavia on Sunday.

• He has stopped smoking and has started playing sports.

• Stephanie plays squash and goes swimming in her spare time.

“S” IN MIDDLE POSITION

/s/, /z/, /ʒ/

• SS—> /s/: messy, bossy, regressive (exceptions: dessert, scissors)

• vowel + SI / SU—> /ʒ/ (vision, decision, visual, pleasure)

Desert / to desert / dessert

• I got lost in the /ˈdezə(r)t/

• He decided to /dɪˈzɜːt/ the Army

• My favourite part of a meal is the /dɪˈzɜː(r)t/

Desert / to desert / dessert

• I got lost in the desert /ˈdezə(r)t/

• He decided to desert /dɪˈzɜːt/ the Army

• My favourite part of a meal is the dessert /dɪˈzɜː(r)t/

• /ˈsɪzə(r)z/

FINAL S

Final S

If not inflectional, tends to be pronounced /s/:

bus, kiss, atlas, phonetics, happiness, business, syllabus

If inflectional (plural, present, possessive): follow the rule

PLURALS, POSSESSIVES, 3rd p.

sing. /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/

• if base form ends in voiceless consonant (except /s/, /ʃ/ or /tʃ/)—>/s/

• if base form ends in voiced consonant (except /z/, /ʒ/ or /dʒ/) or a vowel—> /z/

• if base form ends in /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /z/, /ʒ/ or /dʒ/ —> /ɪz/

1. blade

2. book

3. bus

4. bridge

5. game

6. laugh

7. move

8. month

9. wash

10.wardrobe

11.watch

12.kite

13.toe

14.thing

How do you pronounce these saxon genitive expressions?

1. John’s car

2. George’s guitar

3. Cate’s brother

How do you pronounce the present simple form?

• He always sleeps through my classes

• She never goes there.

• He dreams of Hollywood glory.

• She always catches a cold this time of year

My favourite things

SUMMARY OF “S”

• initial “S”—> 97% : /s/ • exceptions: sure /ʃɔː(r)/, sugar /ˈʃʊɡə(r)/

• middle position: /s/, /z/, /ʒ/

• at the end: • inflected: follow rule (/s/, /z/, /ɪz/)

• non inflected: tends to be /s/

My make up may be flaking,

but my smile still stays on

/ðə ‘ʃəʊ məst ‘ɡəʊ ‘ɒn/

/ dʒə rɪˈmembə/

• My smile still stays on

• snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes