The pronunciation of the suffixes –s and –ed

Árvay Erzsébet

The –s suffix

Noun plural : dogs, cats, horses

Verb third person: he likes, she knows, he surprises

Possessive of nouns: Dorothy’s

Contracted form of ‘is’: It’s raining.

Contracted form of ‘has’: The question’s been asked.

The –s suffix/z/ : dogs, knows, owns, loves, beds

/s/ : likes, its, it’s, cats, bets

/ɪz/ : horses, dishes, surprises

Guess the rules!

The –s suffix/z/ - after voiced sounds: /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /m/,

/n/, /ƞ/, /l/, /r/, /j/ + vowel sounds e.g. dogs, beds

/s/ - after voiceless sounds: /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /ɵ/, /h/

e.g. cats, caps

/ɪz/ - after sibilant consonant sounds: /ʧ/, /ʤ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/,

/s/, /z/

e.g. dishes, horses

Let’s practise!

apples, bags, files, videos, chickens, moths,

benches, hats, Dickens’, boxes, chairs, keys,

watches, pages, baths, bathes, garages, tomatoes,

eyes, Ivy’s, crosses, leaves, pounds, laughs, hates

Let’s practise a bit more!• mouths, houses, youths, shelves, leaves, wolves

• /maʊɵ/ → /maʊðz/

• /haʊs/ → /haʊzɪz/

• /juːɵ/ → /juːðz/

• /ʃelf/ → /ʃelvz/

• /liːf/ → /liːvz/

• /wʊlf/ → /wʊlvz/

The –ed suffixPast tense and past participle: heated, finished,

stuffed, lived

/d/: played, arranged, robbed, cared

/t/: wiped, kissed, danced

/ɪd/: hated, added, ended, permitted

The –ed suffix/d/ - after voiced sounds: /b/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /ʤ/, /m/,

/n/, /ƞ/, /l/, /r/, /j/ + vowel sounds

e.g. lived, bathed, loathed

/t/ - after voiceless sounds: /p/, /k/, /f/, /ɵ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /h/, /ʧ/

e.g. laughed, pushed

/ɪd/ - after root-final alveolar stops: /t/, /d/

e.g. wanted, founded

Let’s practise!

managed, fixed, sniffed, halved, jogged, fined,

dropped, kicked, used, pushed, backed,

stopped, fired, doomed, filled

Fill in the gaps with /z/, /s/ or /ɪz/

/bəʊt_/ /desk_/ /mɒs_//sɑːm_/ /'wɪndəʊ_/ /wɒʧ_//'rɪvə_/ /bʌs_/ /'kɪdni_//pɪʧ_/ /steriəʊ_/ /'neɪbə_//'bɒtl_/ /siː_/ /eə_/ Fill in the gaps with /d/, /t/ or /ɪd/

/ə'laʊ_/ /kəʊm_/ /dɪ'veləp_//dɑːns_/ /ʤɔɪn_/ /mɔːn_//əʊ'beɪ_/ /rɪ'gret_/ /rɒk_//treɪd_/ /jɔːn_/ /ə'nɔɪ_//griːs_/ /hæƞ_/ /gɑːd_/ 

Conclusion

Thank you for your attention!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g10jFL423ho

SourcesBalogné Bérces, K., & Szentgyörgyi, S.

(2006). The Pronunciation of English. Budapest: Bölcsész Konzorcium.

Nádasdy, Á. (2006). Background to English Pronunciation. Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó.