How to Pronounce English Alphabets - Part I: Consonants (R S)

Alphabet R Alphabet R: (a) ‘r’ has the same sound wherever it occurs in a word as in Abnormal, Agree, Bring, Humorist, Rich, Porch, Tournament, Write. (b) ‘rr’ has the same sound wherever it occurs in a word as in Barrow, Carry, , Err, Hurry, Mirror, Parrot, Sparrow, Stirrup, Pyorrhea. (However there are exceptions)

Alphabet R (continued): (a) ‘rh’ (digraph) sounds ‘r’ as in Rhapsody, Rhino, Rhombus, Rhyme, Rhythm. (i.e. ‘h’ is silent) (b) ‘rrh’ (digraph) sounds ‘r’ as in Catarrh, Cirrhosis, Myrrh, Pyrrhic, Pyrrhonist. (i.e. ‘h’ is silent)

Alphabet S Alphabet S: Alphabet ‘s’ has four sounds, ‘s’ as in Absurd, ‘z’ as in Browse, ‘zh’ as in Adhesion and ‘sh’ as in Russian.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘s’: (a) ‘s’ has soft and same sound ‘s’ wherever it occurs in a word as in Abrasive, Absurd, Abysmal. Ensign, Fasten, Grisly, Handsome, Silk, Yeast. (b) ‘ss’ has same sound ‘s’ wherever it occurs in a word as in Assign, Assume, Fussy, Gauss, Kiss, Lesson, Passer, Puss, Trussed. (However there are exceptions)

Alphabet S: Sound ‘s’ (continued): (a) At the beginning of a word,‘s’ regularly sounds ‘s’ as in Sackbut, Safflower, Salt, Sanguine Sat, Say, Serial, Seventy, Sleep, Sound. (i.e. ‘s’ never sounds ‘z’ at the beginning and compound words except in Sure, Sugar, Assurance, Assure, Sugary and some other words where sound is ‘sh’) (b) If ‘s’ follows a consonant, it mostly sounds ‘s’ as in Burst, Censor, Cursor, Density, First, Gutsy, Himself, Mobster, Nursery, Polson, Pursuer. (c) If ‘s’ is between two vowels, it sounds ‘s’ as in Basin, Crisis, Delusive, Dinosaur, Focusing.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘s’ (continued): If ‘s’ is between a vowel and a voiceless consonant, in the middle of a word, it usually sounds ‘s’ as in Coleslaw, Duster Hospital, Phosphor, Prospect, Taste. (In a voiced sound ‘vocal cords’ vibrate, and in a voiceless sound ‘vocal cords’ do not vibrate. Vowels are usually voiced, and Consonants may be voiced or unvoiced. In the voiceless consonant, sound is not produced by ‘vocal cords’, where as in the voiced consonant, sound is produced by vibration of ‘vocal cords’ such as 'b' and 'g' and 'z'. Vocal cords are two pairs of mucous membrane in the throat that project into the larynx. Larynx is a part of the respiratory tract between the pharynx and the trachea; and contains elastic vocal cords that are the source of the vocal tone in speech.)

Alphabet S: Sound ‘s’ (continued): (a) If ‘s’ is behind ‘f’, at the end of a word, it has ‘s’ sound as in Beliefs, Chiefs, Cuffs, Handcuffs, Hoofs, Loafs, Midriffs, Roofs, Serfs. (b) If ‘s’ is behind ‘p’, at the end of a word, it has ‘s’ sound as in Biceps, Bumps, Carps, Chips, Cramps, Lips, Turnips. Whelps, Wraps. (c) If ‘s’ is behind ‘ght’, at the end of a word, it has ‘s’ sound as in Droughts, Firefights Gunfights, Heights, Knights, Nights, Plights, Twilights. (d) If ‘s’ is behind ‘at’, at the end of a word, it has ‘s’ sound as in Bleats, Carats, Cravats, Diplomats, Hemostats, Loquats, Raincoats Sweats.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘s’ (continued): (a) If ‘s’ is behind ‘ke’, at the end of a word, it has ‘s’ sound as in Dislikes, Dykes. Flakes, Jokes, Kites, Provokes, Rebukes, Stokes, Strokes. (b) If ‘s’ is behind ‘pe’, at the end of a word, it has ‘s’ sound as in Collotypes, Crepes, Forcipes, Hopes, Napes Recipes, Troupes, Windpipes. (c) If ‘s’ is behind ‘te’, at the end of a word it has ‘s’ sound as in Abrogates, Antidotes, Borates, Bytes, Debates, Kites, Nominates, Pastes.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘s’ (continued): ‘ps’ at the beginning of a word, has ‘s’ sound as in Psalm, Psychiatry, Psychic, Psycho, Psychology. (i.e. ‘p’ is silent)

Alphabet S: Sound ‘z’: (a) If ‘s’ follows a consonant, it has ‘z’ sound in some words as in Browse, Clansman, Clumsy, Desist, Drowsier, Observe, Quinsy, Whimsy. (b) ‘ss’ has ‘z’ sound in some words as in Dessert, Possess, Possession, Scissor, etc.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘z’ (continued): (a) If ‘s’ is between a vowel and a voiced consonant, in the middle of a word, it usually sounds ‘z’ as in Ageism, Egoism, Husband, Seismic, Wisdom. (However before silent ‘t’, ‘s’ always sounds ‘s’ as in Listen.) (b) If ‘s’ is between two vowels, it sounds ‘z’ as in Artisan, Easy, Phrasal, Pleasant, Poison, Refusal, Revisal, Thousand, Visa. (However there is no rule about sound ‘s’ or ‘z’, as such each word is to be pronounced according to its merits)

Alphabet S: Sound ‘z’ (continued): (a) If ‘s’ is followed by ‘e’, it has sometimes hard sound ‘z’ as in Advertisement, Desert, Loose, Nose, Presence, User. (b) If ‘s’ is behind, 'ge', at the end of a word, it has ‘z’ sound as in Ages, Bandages, Exchanges, Languages, Pages, Sabotages, Tribes, Wages, Wreckages.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘z’ (continued): (a) If ‘s’ is behind, 'ie', at the end of a word, it has ‘z’ sound as in, Academies, Babies, Eighties, Flies, Sorties, Spies, Stories, Taffies, (b) If ‘s’ is behind ‘y’, at the end of a word, it has ‘z’ sound as in Decoys, Inlays, Motleys, Railways, Rays, Toys, Whiskeys. (c) If ‘s’ is behind, ‘ee’, at the end of a word, it has ‘z’ sound as in Consignees, Devotees, Fiancées, Flees, Glees, Nominees.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘z’ (continued): (a) If ‘s’ is behind 'g', at the end of a word, it has ‘z’ sound as in Bags, Bugs, Clogs, Dogs, Eggnogs, Jugs, Hugs, Mugs. (b) If ‘s’ is behind, 'gg', at the end of a word, it has ‘z’ sound as in Eggs, Gloggs, Golliwoggs, Hoggs, Mah-jonggs. (c) If ‘s’ is behind ef, at the end of a word, it has ‘z’ sound as in Beliefs, Chiefs, Kerchiefs, Reliefs, Serfs.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘zh’: (a) If ‘s’ is between a vowel and ‘ion’, it has mostly ‘zh’ sound as in Adhesion, Decision, Division, Erosion, Explosion, Occasional, Vision. (b) If ‘s’ is followed by ‘ion’, at the end of a word, it has ‘zh’ sound as in Adhesion, Aversion, Cohesion, Decision, Delusion Elusion, Erosion, Fusion, Lesion, Version, Vision. (c) If ‘s’ is between a vowel and ‘ual’, it has mostly ‘zh’ sound as in Casual, Casually Unusual, Usual, Visual.

Alphabet S; Sound ‘zh’(continued): (a) If ‘s’ is between a vowel and ‘ure’, it has mostly ‘zh’ sound as in Leisure, Measure, Pleasure, Usurer. (b) If ‘s’ is between a vowel and ‘ian’, it has ‘zh’ sound as in Asian. (c) If ‘s’ is followed by ‘ia’, at the end of a word, it has mostly ‘zh’ sound as in Abasia, Amnesia, Asia, Baptisia, Ecclesia, Fantasia, Gymnasia, Moesia, Silesia, Symposia.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘sh’: (a) If ‘s’ is between a vowel and ‘ian’, it has ‘sh’ sound in some words as in Russian. (b) If ‘s’ or ‘ss’ is followed by ‘ia’, it has ‘sh’ sound in some words as in Aspasia, Cassia, Russia. (c) If ‘s’ or ‘ss’ is followed by ‘ion’ at the end of a word, it has ‘sh’ sound as in Aggression, Cession, Fission, Mansion, Mission, Passion, Pension, Session, Torsion.

Alphabet S: Sound ‘sh’(continued): (a) ‘s’ and ‘h’, pronounced together, sound ‘sh’ as in Ash, Banishment, Bushel, Crash, Flash, Gushy, Brush, Mashie, Shadow, Ship, Sushi, Usher, Windshield. (b) Other ‘sh’ sounds are as in Initial, National, Sugar, Sure.

Alphabet S (continued): ‘s’ is silent in Aisle, Apropos, Basle, Bourgeois, Debris, Illinois, Island, Isle, Viscount and some other words.