Section 1
Final –s before vowel sounds

A. As we saw in English 1 and 2 the final –s sound is heard as a fricative sound ONLY after the phonemes [f ], [ k ], [ p ] [ t ] and []. When followed by a vowel sound, the final –s still remains voiceless i.e. the vocal chords do not vibrate.

EXAMPLE A:

Frank’s_ *uncle has come.	Voiceless [ k ] ‘Frank’
Monica laughs_ a lot.	[ f ] ‘laugh’
Pete’s_ a new kid on the block	[ t ] etc.
Simple truths_ are rare in politicians.	[ ]
He always stops_ and thinks.	[ p ]

B. ALL other final –s sounds are voiced and they remain voiced before vowel sounds.

EXAMPLE B:

Mary’s_ *answer was , “NO!”	voiced [ i ] ‘ ‘ Mary’
John loves _apples_ and pears.	[ v ] and [ l ] etc.
Mums_ and Dads _enter at 9.00.	[ m] and [ d ]

 

*NOTE: The ‘ _ ‘ shows that the sound ‘runs on’ to the following vowel sound with no pause in pronunciation. This happens also in Spanish the words ‘ los_ arcos ‘ which sounds like ‘lo_sarcos’ when pronounced at normal speed. The final –s joins (runs on ) the ‘a’ of arcos. In English ‘Adam and Eve’ would be pronounced Ada man deve [‘aedmn’di:v ] when pronounced at normal speed.