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The US secretary of state says America is working with Arab nations to cut the private pipeline of funds to Islamic State. (Aussie ABC news; part of it)

I listened to and wrote the above audio down, and I couldn’t catch there was ‘d’ in ‘funds.’ Is there no pronunciation difference between ‘funs’ and ‘funds’? If there is, how to pronounce differently?

Void
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Listenever
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    They're identical in my speech, at least. –  Sep 23 '14 at 00:16
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    /n/, /d/, /z/ are all voiced and all articulated at the same point in the mouth. Only a speaker trained by an 'elocutionist' of the old breed could make their distinct pronunciation sound natural, and as far as I know that breed has been extinct for a generation. – StoneyB on hiatus Sep 23 '14 at 00:47
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    Hmm, I didn't hear this particular broadcast so of course I don't know just how he pronounced the word. But when people around me use the word "funds", they distinctly pronounce the "d". I don't recall ever being confused about that one. Maybe the fact that there is no such word as "funs" helps. – Jay Sep 23 '14 at 13:54

1 Answers1

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"Funs" is an verb form, likely infrequently used:

He funs around every weekend.

So it would be grammatically incorrect there and also makes no sense in the context.

What I hear is the "d" covered over by the end of the "n" and the beginning of the "s". (Perhaps partly due to the speakers Aussie accent.)

As far as the sound difference, it depends on the speaker - s/he may or may not subtly articulate part of the "d" sound. It could well sound the same. However, since "funs" as verb is likely far less common, it would be unlikely that the two would be confused in context.

Howard Pautz
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