Inflectional Endings

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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/:

3rd. 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/:

3rd 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/:

3rd. 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

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