Pronunciation of inflexional suffix endings -s, -es of the third personal singular affirmative of the present simple, plurals of regular nouns, and genitives

In chapter 4 (pages 676 to 68) we looked at alveolar fricatives: /s/ and /z/. These are very important as they play a major part in the pronunciation of inflectional endings in English. What follows is an explanation of their role followed by exercises.

Pronunciation of inflectional suffix endings -s, -es of the third personal singular affirmative of the present simple, plurals of regular nouns, and genitives. Take into account that /r/ does not appear after vowels in RP and that /h/ is not found at the end of a syllable, nor are /j/ and /w/.

1) after unvoiced consonant (except sibilant) = /s/:

	3^rd. person singular affirmative of present simple.	Plural of regular nouns	Genitives
p	pops	pups	Zip’s
t	hits	hats	Pat’s
k	cooks	ducks	Rick's
f	laughs	laughs	Geoff’s
θ	unearths	sheaths	Smith’s

2) after vowel/voiced consonant (except sibilant) = /z/:

	3^rd person singular affirmative of present simple	Plural of regular nouns	Genitives
b	rubs	ribs	Bob’s
d	rids	pads	Dad’s
g	hugs	rags	Dug’s
v	loves	gloves	Dave’s
ð	breathes	wreathes	Hythe’s
l	lulls	dolls	Lil’z
m	hums	hams	Mum’s
n	sins	sons	Don’s
ŋ	sings	songs	Hang’s
Some examples of words ending in vowels:
i	pities	cities	Crissy’s
ə	bothers	mothers	Hoover’s
iː	sees	keys	Dee’s
uː	sues	shoes	Lou’s
ɜː	errs	furs	Kerr’s
ɑː	bars	cars	Marr’s
ɔː	snores	floors	Gore’s
aɪ	dies	flies	Di’s
eɪ	weighs	days	May’s
ɔɪ	cloys	toys	Joy’s
əʊ	goes	toes	Joe’s
au	ploughs	cows	Mao’s
ɪə	rears	tears	Mia’s
eə	bears	shares	Pear’s
ʊə	moor	sewers	Moor’s

3) After word ending in sibilant = /ɪz/:

	3^rd. person singular affirmative of present simple	Plural of regular nouns	Genitives
dʒ	dodges	badges	Madge’s
tʃ	hatches	churches	Rich’s
z	gazes	blazes	Liz’s
s	passes	places	Ross’s
ʒ	rouges	beiges	Serge’s
ʃ	wishes	flashes	Cash’s

by Barry Pennock-Speck - ict4u2learn

Inflexional endings

Pronunciation of inflexional suffix endings -s, -es of the third personal singular affirmative of the present simple, plurals of regular nouns, and genitives