sound at the end of a word

Asked Aug 03 '20 at 01:49

Active Aug 03 '20 at 10:48

Viewed 115 times

ESL students, whose L1 is Spanish, have a hard time paying attention to the /z/ sound, especially in end position: please, eyes, surprise. Learners assume that what sounds at the end is the /s/ sound.

When the /z/ sound is at the beginning or in mid-position, the are likely to hear it: zero or result. What's the reason for this? Is there a phonological concept shedding light on this?

edited Aug 03 '20 at 10:48

asked Aug 03 '20 at 01:49

Schwale

4

ESL of what language? Not all language learners have this problem. One explanation could be that the ESL learners you're used to don't have /z/ at the end of words – Mitch Aug 03 '20 at 01:59
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@Mitch ESL stands for English as a second language. – Schwale Aug 03 '20 at 02:49
@Alejandro, yes, but what is their first language? Mitch is suggesting (reasonably) that the students first language affects whether they will have this issue. – The Photon Aug 03 '20 at 05:10
Also this question might be a better fit on English Language Learners. – The Photon Aug 03 '20 at 05:12
@The Photon yes, I edited my post. – Schwale Aug 03 '20 at 10:50
Voiced sounds often get devoiced when they're at the end but I don't know the reason. – Decapitated Soul Aug 03 '20 at 10:51
I think the best place to ask this is on LanguageLearning.SE; it's not totally about the English language (as it does not ask about difficulties native speakers face). Nor, as Mitch says, does it involve all other languages. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 03 '20 at 11:31
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10 Pronunciation Mistakes Spanish Speakers Make. Spanish does not have /z/ (voiced version of 's'). So it is natural to pronounce 's' instead. Also, in many languages, and across all languages when a child is learning it, there is a tendency to devoice word-final sounds. – Mitch Aug 03 '20 at 13:29
Does this answer your question? Are "whores" and "horse" homophones? – Nardog Aug 04 '20 at 04:06

The /z/ sound at the end of a word

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