Unit 16: Alveolar Fricatives

Hiss and buzz: voiceless /s/ and voiced /z/ at the alveolar ridge.

Lessons

/s/Sound /s/6 words /z/Sound /z/6 words /s/vs/z/Pair /s/ vs /z/12 words

Unit 16 — Alveolar Fricatives /s/ and /z/

These two sounds share the same place and manner of articulation. They differ only in voicing.

Articulation:

Teeth nearly closed, with a tiny gap between them.
Tongue tip raised toward (not touching) the alveolar ridge — the bony bump behind your upper teeth.
Sides of the tongue seal against the upper molars.
A narrow central channel funnels air into a high, sharp hiss.

Voicing:

/s/ — voiceless. Pure airflow, no vocal-cord vibration.
/z/ — voiced. Add a buzz from the vocal cords while you hiss.

Sustain test: Both sounds can be held for several seconds. Hold /sssss/, then switch on your voice to get /zzzzz/ without changing your tongue.

Why it matters: /s/ ↔ /z/ alternation appears in plurals, possessives, and third-person verbs (cats /s/, dogs /z/, buses /ɪz/). Mixing them up can blur grammatical meaning.

Common pitfalls: dropping final /s/ or /z/; making /s/ too dull (sounding like /θ/); failing to voice /z/.