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Consonant
Z
The Z sound is a voiced alveolar fricative. It is made in the same mouth position as the S sound, but with the vocal cords vibrating.
z
Phonetic System (Merriam-Webster):
zWatch the Sound
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Example Words
Main Example
zoo
Phonetic:
/zu/Common Words
zoo
/zu/zip
/zɪp/buzz
/bʌz/easy
/ˈizi/rose
/roʊz/is
/ɪz/was
/wʌz/ or /wəz/Minimal Pairs
Listen and compare similar sounds
z
zip
/zɪp/Compare with
Z
sip
/sɪp/z
buzz
/bʌz/Compare with
B
bus
/bʌs/z
zeal
/zil/Compare with
Z
seal
/sil/z
prize
/praɪz/Compare with
P
price
/praɪs/Tongue Twister
Zany zebras zigzagged through the zoo zones.
Try it yourself
Practice saying this tongue twister
Technical Details
- CategoryConsonant
- VoicingVoiced
- Place of ArticulationAlveolar
- Manner of ArticulationFricative
- Mouth PositionThe mouth position is identical to the S sound: Bring the tip or blade of your tongue close to the alveolar ridge (the bumpy part behind your upper front teeth), but don't touch it. Create a narrow groove in the center of your tongue. Force air through this channel. The key difference is that your vocal cords must vibrate, creating a buzzing sound.