The pronunciation of " 's "
Adam's apple、Lily's book
Could you tell me the pronunciation of " 's ", does it sound /z/ or /s/? Thanks.
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Answers · 9
1
In both those cases, the letter 's' is pronounced as a /z/, as if it were 'Adamz' and 'Lilyz'.
A final 's' is only pronounced as an /s/ after the unvoiced consonants f, k, p and t, and also the sounds represented by 'sh' and 'ch', and the 'th' sound at the end of 'Beth', for example.
Mick's = /mɪks/ The 's' is pronounced as an /s/ because the /k/ is unvoiced.
Meg's = /megz/ The 's' is pronounced as a /z/ because the /g/ is voiced.
Note that vowels count as voiced sounds. For example:
Kit's = /kɪts/ The 's' is pronounced as an /s/ because the /t/ is unvoiced.
Kitty's = /kɪtɪz/ The 's' is pronounced as a /z/ because there's a vowel sound before it.
These rules also apply to all 's' sounds at the end of words, including those used for plurals and third-person present-tense verbs.
By the way, it's really worth learning to train your ear (and your mouth) to these phonological patterns. I have met many people who are almost bilingual but who consistently mispronounce the final /z/ sound as an /s/. This is a typical error of native German and Spanish speakers, for example.
0
Su.Ki. gave an excellent answer.
To extend it a bit.
'-s' is pronounced [s] after non-sibilant unvoiced consonants for plurals, verbs in the third person singular present, contractions, and the genitive.
two cats [kæts]
He puts [pʊts] on his hat
It's [ɪts] easy
Pat's [pæts] book
'-s' is pronounced [z] after non-sibilant voiced consonants and all vowels for plurals, verbs in the third person singular present, contractions, and the genitive.
two pins [pɪnz]
He pins [pɪnz] a ribbon to his hat
He's [hiz] late for work.
Sue's [suz] book
'-s' is pronounced [ɪz] for sibilants. Often the spelling changes 's' to 'es'.
two horses [hɔrsɪz]
The bee buzzes [bʌzɪz].
The church's [tʃɜrtʃɪz] pastor.
0
It's not quite as severe as a 'z', but 's' is sounded in more than one way in English.
Here, Google Translate can say it out loud for you. Click the speaker icon on the English side.
https://translate.google.fr/?hl=en&tab=rT1#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&tl=zh-TW&text=Adam's%20apple
0
@Catcher, 多谢你的建议:)
0
In my opinion they sound more like s, 其實像這種物主代詞 表示它前後從屬關係的s(adam's /lily's/his/)在整個詞組裏只是很輕的一個輔音,説出來的時候一般就是蜻蜓點水地過去,不需要太糾結這一點哦。但是個人意見是當然不要太偏向z,不然這個發音會聽起來太重,不自然。;)
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