English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)

ENGLISH SOUND SYSTEM

/s/ or /z/?

The letter s in the following words is pronounced as /z/ sound: phraSe, loSe, noiSe, pleaSe, waS, goalS, whoSe,

The letters s in the following words should be pronounced as /s/ sound, not /z/ sound: keroSene, baSe, baSic, baSis.

Now, two words deserve special attention: PRESIDENT and PRECEDENT.
The letter s in president is realised as sound /z/ while the letter c in precedent is pronounced as /s/. That is the only difference in how both words are pronounced.
GAB

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