Hello there!
This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video,
we're going to talk about the American consonant sound /z/,
as in the word "zoo."
You can also hear this sound in words like
"zebra" - "rose" - "music" or "exam."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol - /z/ - for this sound.
As always, let's begin with some phonology.
Fear not, it's all pretty simple.
The /z/ belongs to a category of consonant sounds called the fricatives.
This is the largest group of consonants in American English:
it consists of nine different sounds!
Take a look:
So, why are they called the fricative consonants?
All these sounds are made by partially blocking the air
moving through your mouth which creates an audible friction.
Speaking about the /z/ consonant,
this sound is made by partially blocking the air
flowing between the tip of your tongue and your alveolar ridge.
The /z/ sound exists in many languages,
so usually, non-native speakers think of the /z/ as an easy sound to make.
However,
many people still mispronounce it.
Why?
First of all,
this sound is not always represented by the letter 'z'
and this can often be a problem.
Take a look at these words:
This may be a surprise,
but in all these and many other words
the letter 's' is pronounced as the /z/ sound.
Even if it's not a surprise anymore,
know that when you see the letter 's'
you may still accidentally pronounce the /s/ sound.
Trust us, this happens all the time.
Why?
Because this is a hard habit to break.
And we specialize in breaking hard habits.
But only with pronunciation.
So, let's begin and find out how Americans pronounce the /z/ sound.
Slightly open your mouth.
Now, focus on the position of the tip of your tongue.
Raise the tip of your tongue to your alveolar ridge,
but don't touch it.
Make sure there's a small gap between them.
Now, release a stream of air over the tip of your tongue.
When the air flows between the tip of your tongue
and the alveolar ridge towards your upper teeth,
it creates a lot of noise.
Something like this:
The /z/ is a voiced consonant,
so don't forget to add your voice.
Same as all the other fricatives,
the /z/ is a continuous sound,
so you should be able to stretch it out,
like this:
Let's do it together:
Here are a few typical mistakes that people make
when pronouncing this sound.
The most common mistake
is that non-native speakers devoice the /z/ sound
when it occurs at the end of words.
Many people are not aware that they should pronounce the voiced /z/ sound.
Others simply don't realize that they pronounce the voiceless /s/.
Remember, the American /z/ is never devoiced at the end of words!
Compare:
By the way, don't forget to lengthen the vowel before the /z/ sound!
The /z/ is a voiced consonant,
so the vowel sound before the /z/ is typically longer
than before its voiceless counterpart,
the consonant sound /s/.
Compare:
This is called the Vowel Length rule
and we talked about it in detail in one of our videos.
As usual,
you can find the link in the Description box below.
Another typical problem is that the /z/ is distorted
or dropped at the end of words.
In some languages,
words don't end with fricative sounds,
but if you drop them in English,
you'll be misunderstood.
Compare:
Some people pronounce the /z/
by putting the tip of the tongue between the teeth.
As a result,
they make a different fricative consonant,
the /ð/ sound.
And this may lead to misunderstandings.
Compare:
Remember,
the /z/ is pronounced with the tip of your tongue raised to your alveolar ridge
and it's a continuous voiced fricative sound.
After all this theory, how about some practice?
This is how it works.
You’ll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation.
Like this.
You'll have a few seconds to pronounce the word.
♪
Try to practice as many words as possible,
this is the most important part of the whole lesson.
Let's start with words in which the /z/ sound is represented by the letter 'z'.
Good job!
Now we'll practice words with the /z/ sound written as the letter 's'.
Don't devoice it and make the vowel before it longer.
Let's do it.
You're done!
Congratulations!
OK.
We hope that now you've learned to be very suspicious
every time you see the letter 's' :)
And you should be suspicious.
Because in American English,
the /z/ sound is represented by the letter 's'
in 72 words out of 100!
Don't worry, though.
There are some bullet-proof rules for most of the cases.
We'll try to cover them in our future videos.
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