pronunciation - What's the rule for pronouncing “’s” as /z/ or /s/?


Is there a hard rule for what sound the 's makes? In words like John's, Dave's, man's, lord's, etc. it makes a /z/ sound, but in words like that's, it's, ship's, poet's, etc., it makes an /s/ sound.



Answer



If the final sound in the base of the word is voiced, we use the voiced alveolar sibilant /z/.


If the last sound in the base is an unvoiced consonant, we use /s/.


However, if the last sound in the base form is another sibilant of any description—/s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/—we need to insert a vowel /ɪ/ to make the ending audible. Because this vowel is voiced the very last sound will be /z/. In other words, if the last sound is a sibilant we add /ɪz/:



  • /bʌs/ ---> /bʌsɪz/ (buses)

  • /bʌz/ ---> /bʌzɪz/ (buzzes)

  • /bʊʃ/ ---> /bʊʃɪz/ (bushes)

  • /ru:ʒ/ ---> /ru:ʒɪz/ (rouges)

  • /hʌtʃ/ ---> /hʌtʃɪz/ (hutches)

  • /bʌdʒ/ ---> /bʌdʒɪz/ (budges)


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