Pronounce English Accurately

Video Text

/ʃ/ and its voiced counterpart, /ʒ/, are made by with the tip of the tongue further back in the mouth than for /s/ and /z/.

Listen to this: /sss - ʃʃʃ - sss - ʃʃʃ - sss - ʃʃʃ/.

You should be able to feel the tongue moving back to /ʃʃʃ/ and forward again to /sss/.

/ʒ/ and /z/ are the voiced equivalents: /zzz - ʒʒʒ - zzz - ʒʒʒ - zzz - ʒʒʒ/.

/s/ and /z/, as we saw, are alveolar fricatives as they are made with the tongue on the alveolar ridge. /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are post-alveolar, 'post' meaning 'behind', as the tongue is a step further back, behind the alveolar ridge.

Here is the speech organs diagram showing the difference between /s/ and /ʃ/:

/sss - ʃʃʃ - sss - ʃʃʃ - sss - ʃʃʃ/

and /z/ versus /ʒ/:

/zzz - ʒʒʒ - zzz - ʒʒʒ - zzz - ʒʒʒ/

So /ʃ/ is a voiceless post-alveolar fricative and /ʒ/ is a voiced post-alveolar fricative.

The typical spelling of /ʃ/ is 'sh', as in 'ship' and 'sharp' and 'shoe', but another common spelling is 'ch' in words of French origin, like 'champagne'. Other examples are 'chalet', 'charade', 'chic', 'crèche', 'moustache', 'machine' and 'parachute'.

Examples of /ʃ/ in initial position:

shape

shine

shallow

sure /ʃɔː/ or /ʃʊə/ - unusual spelling with s.

shoot, chute

In British English, 'schedule' is usually pronounced /ʃ-/, but Wells' pronunciation preferences poll shows a tendency for younger speakers to use /sk-/, and for older ones to say /ʃ-/.

In US English it is /sk-/.

In medial position:

'rashes'

'dishes'

'lotion'

'musician'

'tissue' /ˈtɪs.juː/ in careful speech; /ˈtɪʃ.juː/ or /ˈtɪʃ.uː/ in faster speech.

The /ʃ/ in this case is the result of the physically difficulty of pronouncing /sj/ 'properly' at speed, as /ˈtɪs.juː/. /sj/ naturally becomes /ʃ/ in faster speech.

This is called 'assimilation', from 'similar' - the two sounds become similar to each other due to the speed of speech production and inertia in the speech organs.

We'll look at assimilation in more detail later.

'fisher, fissure' - in normal speech these two words are homophones - they are pronounced identically as /ˈfɪʃ.ə/. However, in very careful speech, 'fissure' can have its full vowel in the second syllable, /ˈfɪʃ.ʊə/.

'Fisher' can only ever be /ˈfɪʃ.ə/.

And /ʃ/ in final position:

bush

rush

fresh

cash, cache

plush

fresh

/ʃ/ is also the sound in words containing '-tion-', such as 'nation', 'station', 'mention', 'accommodation', 'action', 'exertion', 'invention'.

'ocean' with a 'c' is also /ʃ/: /ˈəʊ.ʃən/.

The pronunciation of '-sion' is less reliable: some words with '-sion-' are pronounced with /ʃ/ and some with /ʒ/.

Examples pronounced /ʃ/ include all those spelt '-lsion': 'compulsion; revulsion; expulsion; emulsion; propulsion.'

If it has double 'ss' it is pronounced /ʃ/: 'commission; expression; aggression; admission; succession; impression; emission'.

When it has '-n' or the letter '-r' before the 'sion', it is /ʃ/: 'immersion, comprehension, aversion; conversion; apprehension; diversion; extension; version'.

Otherwise it's /ʒ/: 'collision; division; revision; persuasion; explosion; decision; seclusion.'

/ʒ/

/ʃ/ is a very common sound; /ʒ/ is much rarer. Often it is associated with words of French origin which have retained something of their French pronunciation, like 'genre' and 'camouflage'.

/ʒ/ in initial position:

'genre'

'Jacques' - if that counts as English!

In medial position:

Many words spelt '-sion-':

'confusion'

'erosion'

'division'

'inclusion'

also 'visual'

'treasure, measure' and 'leisure'.

And in final position:

'camouflage'

'mirage'

'beige'

'massage'.

The pronunciation of the '-age' ending is inconsistent according to what extent the word has been anglicised. 'Village' is always /-ɪdʒ/ because it was anglicised centuries ago; 'camouflage' is always /-ɑːʒ/, maintaining a French pronunciation. The word was introduced into English only in the 20th Century, during the First World War. 'Massage' is also always pronounced /-ɑːʒ/; it arrived in English in the 19th Century.

The pronunciation of 'garage' is much less regular, with a lot of variant pronunciations, showing uncertainty about whether to pronounce it an English way or a French way or a mixture of the two.

Some people stress it on the first syllable, /ˈgær.ɑːʒ/ with a full /ɑː/ vowel as in 'farm' in the second syllable, and the French-sounding /ʒ/ at the end.

Some have a more English-sounding /dʒ/ at the end: /ˈgær.ɑːdʒ/ instead of /ˈgær.ɑːʒ/.

Some pronounce it in a more French-sounding way, with stress on the second syllable and a weak first syllable and probably /ʒ/ rather than /dʒ/ at the end: /gəˈrɑːʒ/.

Others make it fully English-sounding, like 'village': /ˈgær.ɪdʒ/, in which case they will always give it an English-sounding /dʒ/ instead of /ʒ/ at the end.

Personally I recommend /ˈgær.ɑːdʒ/, stressed on the first syllable, with the 'farm' vowel, and an English /dʒ/ at the end.

Wells doesn't distinguish between /dʒ/ and /ʒ/ in his pronunciation preferences poll, but has /ˈgær.ɪdʒ/ strongly favoured by younger speakers, /ˈgær.ɑːdʒ/ or gær.ɑːʒ/ by older ones - like me.

Personally, I don't recommend /ˈgær.ɪdʒ/ - that's low class to me - or /gəˈrɑːʒ/, as that sounds affected.

You take your pick.

Practice sentences:

Such shiny shillings should surely be sought after.

These modern genres cause me much confusion, and give me little pleasure.

Its difficult to think of many examples of /ʒ/, but heres a rather risqué one:

Jacques looked rather louche, lounging in his beige lingerie.

/ʃ - ʒ/