IPA phoneme \ʒ\

**IPA consonants**

In English, both in Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic symbol **/ʒ/** corresponds to the consonant sound spelled "s" in words like "pleasure", and "usually". There aren't actually many words which have this sound on its own. The related phoneme **/dʒ/**, as in "job", is far more common.

This sound doesn't have its own letter, and the digraph "zh" was invented to represent it in some foreign transliterations. For example Solzhenitsyn is pronounced in English as /soʊlʒəˈniːtsɪn/. Even in English "zh" has been used, in the slang term "the /ju:ʒ/" (the usual) spelled "the yoozh" or "the uzhe".

/ʒ/ is a voiced consonant; its unvoiced counterpart is IPA phoneme /ʃ/.

/ʒ/ is a fricative; its affricate counterpart is IPA phoneme /dʒ/.

Note that in Chinese "zh" stands for [tʂ], a sound similar to /ts/ or /tʃ/ according to Wikipedia or to /dʒ/ according to the very well known linguist John Wells.

## Common words

Some common words which practice the pronunciation of **/ʒ/** include the following:

* equation - usually
* ending in "sion": conclusion - confusion - decision - division - occasion - provision - television - vision
* ending in "sual": usual - visual
* ending in "sure": exposure - measure - pleasure

## Less common words

Some less common words which practice the pronunciation of **/ʒ/** include the following:

* amnesia - genre - luxurious /lʌɡˈʒʊərɪəs/ - seizure
* ending in "ge": beige - collage - massage - mirage - rouge - sabotage
* ending in "sion": collision - exclusion - explosion - fusion - illusion - inclusion - invasion - lesion - persuasion - precision - revision
* ending in "sual": casual
* ending in "sure": disclosure - enclosure - leisure /ˈleʒər,*BrE* ˈliːʒər/*AmE* - treasure

## Proper names

* Bruges (Belgium) /bruːʒ/
* Indonesia /ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/
* Malasia /məˈleɪziːə, məˈleɪʒə, məˈleɪʃə/
* Micronesia /ˌmaɪkrəʊˈniːʒə/
* Tunisia /tuːˈniːʒə, tuːˈniːʃə, tuːˈnɪʒə, tuːˈnɪʃə, tjuːˈnɪziːə/
* Doctor Zhivago /ʒɪˈvɑːɡəʊ/ (a novel and a film)
* Slavoj Žižek /ˈslɑːvɔɪ ˈʒiːʒɛk/

## Variant pronunciations

* anaesthesia,*BrE* anesthesia*AmE* /ˌænəsˈθiːziə,*BrE* ˌænəsˈθiːʒə*AmE*/
* garage /ˈɡærɑːʒ,*BrE* ˈɡærɑːdʒ,*BrE* ˈɡærɪdʒ,*BrE* ɡəˈrɑːʒ,*AmE* ɡəˈrɑːdʒ*AmE*/
* lingerie /ˈlænʒəri,*BrE* ˌlɑːndʒəˈreɪ,*AmE* ˌlɑːnʒəˈreɪ*AmE*/
* massage /ˈmæsɑːʒ,*BrE* məˈsɑːʒ*AmE*/

See also Pronunciation exercises: /ʒ/ vs /ʃ/ § Variant pronunciations.

## Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

### Spanish

Many teachers don't teach the phoneme /ʒ/ explicitly in the belief that students will imitate the teacher. However most Spanish speakers can't hear the difference between /ʒ/ and /ʃ/ and they are not aware that *vision* /ˈvɪʒən/ and *mission* /ˈmɪʃən/ don't rhyme.

Once they learn the sound, since it doesn't exist in Spanish, many Spanish speakers tend to pronounce it like **/dʒ/**.

## References

1. ↑ Urban Dictionary, yoozh
2. ↑ The Economist, The abbrevs are my plezh, Jan 23rd 2012
3. ↑ Wikipedia, Voiceless retroflex affricate
4. ↑ John Wells’s phonetic blog, the digraph zh, 29 September 2010.

## See also

* Pronunciation exercises: /dʒ/ vs /tʃ/
* Pronunciation exercises: /dʒ/ vs /ʒ/
* Pronunciation exercises: /ʒ/ vs /ʃ/
* Decoding exercises: "sion"

## External links

* British Library, Received Pronunciation consonant sounds