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This sound, sometimes transcribed /zh/, occurs in the pronunciation of si in vision / ˈ v ɪ ʒ ən / and precision / p r ɪ ˈ s ɪ ʒ ən /, the s in treasure / ˈ t r ɛ ʒ ər /, and the g in beige / b eɪ ʒ /. Ezh is also used as a letter in some orthographies of Laz and Skolt Sami, both by itself, and with a caron ( Ǯ ǯ ).
Its pronunciation is the same as that of the digraph rz , except that rz (unlike ż ) also undergoes devoicing when preceded by a voiceless obstruent. The difference in spelling comes from their historical pronunciations: ż originates from a palatalized /ɡ/ or /z/ , while rz evolved from a palatalized r .
The voiced alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents these sounds depends on whether a sibilant or non-sibilant fricative is being described. The symbol for the alveolar sibilant is z , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is z.
Words ending in unstressed -ile derived from Latin adjectives ending -ilis are mostly pronounced with a full vowel in BrE / aɪ l / but a reduced vowel or syllabic L in AmE / əl / (e.g. fertile rhymes with fur tile in BrE but with furtle in AmE). AmE will (unlike BrE, except when indicated with B2) have a reduced last vowel:
It commonly represents the voiced alveolar fricative /z/, like the pronunciation of z in "zebra". Ze is romanized using the Latin letter z . The shape of Ze is very similar to the Arabic numeral three 3 , and should not be confused with the Cyrillic letter E Э .
/z/ was found as a rendering of the Greek ζ in borrowings starting around the first century BC. (In earlier borrowings, the Greek sound had been rendered in Latin as /ss/.) In initial position this appears to have been pronounced [z], and between vowels it appears to have been doubled to [zz] (counted as two consonants in poetry). [10] [11]
Most commonly, the change is a result of sound assimilation with an adjacent sound of opposite voicing, but it can also occur word-finally or in contact with a specific vowel. For example, the English suffix -s is pronounced [s] when it follows a voiceless phoneme (cats), and [z] when it follows a voiced phoneme (dogs). [1]
For the first portion of the list, see List of words having different meanings in American and British English (A–L). Asterisked (*) meanings, though found chiefly in the specified region, also have some currency in the other dialect; other definitions may be recognised by the other as Briticisms or Americanisms respectively.