Lies

[Edher]

Saludos,

I just want to make sure if "lies" is really pronounced with a "z" at the end. So is it really "liez." ?

Thanks,
Edher

 

[suzi br]

Yessss. (with a /s/ at the end!)

Lots of plurals are sounded as /z/

 

[Edher]

Hola SuZi,

Would you be so kind to list some of these plurals that have a "Z" sound rather than an "S" sound.

I just found out not to long ago that that "eyes" is really pronounce with a "z" at the end. Is there a rule to this or this is only done to avoid confusion when there are words that sound alike, such as:

lies and lice

eyes and ice

Thank you,
Edher

 

[suzi br]

Hola SuZi,

Would you be so kind to list some of these plurals that have a "Z" sound rather than an "S" sound.

I just found out not to long ago that that "eyes" is really pronounce with a "z" at the end. Is there a rule to this or this is only done to avoid confusion when there are words that sound alike, such as:

lies and lice

eyes and ice

Thank you,
Edher

I can see why you think this a pattern, but I don't think that is the reason!

Lets try some random plurals:
plurals /z/
pins /z/
apples /z/
cats /s/
dogs /z/
essays /z/
tasks /s/
grammars /z/
computers /z/
keyboards /z/
mice /s/
houses /ziz/
poster/z/

I think the /z/ sound is quite common really - though I've never done a systematic study!

 

[Kelly B]

Reading the list, it seems to me that if the ending sound of the word is voiced, so is the plural sound, z. If the final consonant is unvoiced, the plural sounds like s. This may not be a rule, but it'll get you close.

 

[Yôn]

I think a general thing to know is that usually:

If /s/ stands without other consonants (or at the beggining of the word), it will almost ALWAYS be /z/.

Some exceptions:

bus
serious
case
vase
this

There are others, but there are many more that follow what I said above than there are exceptions... at least what I've come across. <-- (notice, 2 /s/ make /s/, not /z/.)




Jon