Rules for Predicting S or Z sound (besides 3rd person/plural endings)

Many sources have published the rules for pronouncing s or z at the end of a 3rd person singular or plural word.  Fewer sources have published other rules governing S and Z.  This is what I've come up with:

1)      The following letter combinations often make the “S” sound: ce, ci, cy, x, psy, consonant +se, cc +e, i or y, sc, ss and s

a.      Ce: Ice, rice, price, entrance, since, face, trace, peace, place, niece, procedure, necessary, police, office, license, cent, certain, receive, cell

b.      Ci: Accident, decision, circulate, acid, aerobicize, anglicize, annunciate, carcinogen, cigar, anticipate, homicide, society, athleticism, calcium, cinch, circus, civil, crucify, decimal, docile

                                                               i.      Exceptions: (sh instead) ancient, commercial, artificial, social, appreciate, atrocious, suspicious

c.      Cy: Lucy, lacy, fancy, juicy, cylinder, cycle, vacancy, conspiracy, cymbal, cyanide, cyber, cypress, cyst

d.      X + consonant, unstressed vowel or final X: excavate, exceed, exhale, axle, expire, expert, expect, extreme, extra, next, elixir, toxic, axon, fix

                                                               i.      Exception: (sh instead) sexual, luxury, complexion

e.      Ps (beginning of word): Psychology, pseudo, psalm, psyllium

f.        Consonant +se: Course, worse, disperse, hoarse, corpse, eclipse, tense, expense, censor, rinse, immense, defense, Farsi, absent, false, curtsey

                                                               i.      Exception: observe, birdseye, cleanse

g.      Cc + e, i or y: accent, accept, accident, success, eccentric, accessory, vaccine

                                                               i.      Exception: bocci, soccer, cappuccino

h.      Sc: ascent, crescent, descend, disciple, fascinate, fluorescent, isosceles, luminescent, miscellaneous, muscle, obscene, resuscitate, scenario, scene, scent, science, scissors

i.        Ss: lesson, gloss, chess, bassoon, assign, assist, assassinate, address

j.        s: soft, escape, small, statistics, mistake, chemistry, minister, register, miniscule, slow, snow, spout, spray, display, squeak, sweet

2)      The following letter combinations often make the “Z” sound:

a.      X + stressed vowel: examine, example, exact, exist, executive, exotic, exude, exuberant, exult

                                                               i.      Exception: ation words: taxation. relaxation

b.      S is between two vowel sounds: music, reason, season, cousin, disease, easy, posie, resign, isn’t, present, physician, position, positive, president, preside, visit, physique

                                                               i.      Exception:  second vowel sound begins plural or 3^rd person ending or other suffix:  leases, places, nooses, houses (noun), defenses, busing, curiosity

                                                             ii.      Exception: (zh instead) ambrosia, corrosion

                                                            iii.      Exception: atherosclerosis

c.      Vowel + se: use (verb), these, lose, cause, because, choose, phase, tease, raise, cruise 

                                                               i.      exceptions: promise, house (noun), use (noun), close (adj.), mouse, lease, loose, moose, noose, caboose, chartreuse, dose

d.      ZZ:  dizzy, puzzle, fuzz

                                                               i.      Exception: (Italian words) pizza, pizzicato

e.      Z: Zipper, crazy, doze, razor

f.        Other: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, lens

3)      S can be silent:  aisle, island, isle, debris, Arkansas, Illinois, rendezvous, corps

4)   Z can be silent: rendezvous, laissez-faire

Invisible Y Before Some Long U Sounds

(After P, B, K, G, F, V, H and M, there always seems to be a Y sound before the long U unless the long U is spelled "oo" or "ou" as in papoose, cougar, acoustic, gooey or food. (exception = buoy, jacuzzi, guru, hula, and other foreign words. also "move") 
There also seems to be a Y sound after L and N if the L or N occurs at the end of a stressed syllable. example: value, cellular, salutation- but not salute or illuminate 
continue, venue - but not manure, nuclear ) 

How do you know which syllable to stress?   Try this online course on word stress

Beginning of Word:  (Insert a y before eu, ew, u vowel) Unicorn.  Utensil.  Ewe.  Unison. Eulogy.

P:  Computer.  Pewter.  Puke.  Reputation.  Puny.  Population.  Copulate.  Impunity.  Putrid.  Amputate.  Pure.  Opulence.    Pupil.  Puberty.  Scapula.  Stipulate.  Spew.  Deputy, Puget Sound   (But no Y in: Papoose, spoon)

B:  Rebuke.  Beauty.  Busey.  Tribunal.  Tribute.  Abuse.  Distribute.  Nebula.  Ambulance.  Attribute.  Bugle.  Butane.  Fabulous.  Debutant.  Nebulizer.  Bureaucrat.  Tabulate.  Tribulations.  Tubular  (But no Y in: Buoy, boost, boomerang)

K:  Cue.  Queue. Cute. Curious.  Incubate.  Cube.  Accuse.  Cupid.  Curator.  Accumulate.  Matriculate.  Articulate.  Speculate.  Innoculation.  Molecule.  Accurate.  Barbecue.  Calculus.  Obscure.  Procure.  Rescue.  Ridicule.  Secular.  Skewer. Vacuum,  Vascular.  Innocuous.  Mercury.  Excuse.  Occupy.  Mucus.  Binocular. Acuity, acupuncture (But no Y in:  coo, cool, coon, acoustic, cougar)

G:  Argue.  Singular.  Angular.  Regulate.  (But no Y in: guru, gooey, goofy, goose)

F:  Few.  Confusion.  Fuse.  Feud.  Fuel.  Fume.  Fuse.  Infusion.  Funeral.  Futile.  Refuge.  Refuse.  Diffuser.  Refute.  Coiffure.  Sulfuric, phew  (But no Y in food, fool)

V:  View.  Ovulation.  Interview.  (But no Y in voodoo)

H:  Huge.  Hugh.  Hue.  Humor.  Houston.  Human.  Humid.  (But no Y in hula)

L:  Value.  Cellular.  Volume.  Soluble.  Salutation.  Telluride.  Failure  (But no Y in salute, conclude, absolute, aluminum, lewd, illuminate) Notice that each word has a stressed syllable that ends in l.

M: Music.  Amuse.  Museum.  Mutant.  Mural.  Mutual.  Mule.  Mute.  Mucous. 

(But no Y in move, moo, moody)

N:  Continue.  Insinuate.  Venue.  Granular.  Manual.  Monument.  Minuet.  Sinuous.  Tenuous.  Tenure.  Annual.  Annuity (optional)  (But no Y is manure, nuclear, nude)  Notice that each word has a stressed syllable that ends in an N.

Practice:   (Play this audio to hear these sentences repeated several times.  Use the space between each repetition to imitate the sentence yourself.  Try to imitate exactly what you hear.  Each time you repeat a sentence, you will catch something you didn't hear the previous time.)

1. He’s curious about how to do the computation.
2. The deputy has a fabulous reputation at the tribunal.
3. Everyone in the ambulance was confused.  Would he need his leg amputated?
4. The levels of mercury are regulated in Houston.
5. He refused to stipulate the requirements of his tenure in the interview.

When to use Voiced or Voiceless TH/th

When to use voiced or voiceless TH / th

1) In the initial position, the "TH" is voiced in "function words". This includes pronouns, articles, demonstrative adjectives, etc. The list is finite and not very long. They, them, their, theirs, the, this, that, these, those, then, than, though, although, thus, there, (therefore, thereby, etc.)
(Exception =  through)

2) In medial position, the "th" is voiced when followed by "er" or a final silent "e":  feather, mother, brother and breathe, teethe, seethe, writhe, etc. Note: "er" means the spelling, "er", not "or".
"author" is not voiced.   (Also, notice how well the rule works with:
south/ southern, north/northern.)

Exception = Katherine, ether, panther, anther,

3) Words with final thm are voiced: rhythm, algorithm, logarithm.   The following words have a voiceless th, silent th or alternate sound because the thm is not final or the spelling is “them” or “thom.”  voiceless th: arithmetic, anthem, xanthoma, birthmark, bathmat.  Silent th: Isthmian, Isthmus.  Z: asthma.   Exception = fathom (voiced TH)

4) "th" is final position is voiceless with one exception: "smooth".
5) Note:  I've come up with these rules through research and the input of other teachers.  If you find any more exceptions or know of other rules, please share.

Use the rules to determine how to pronounce the “th” in each of these words:

Th and TH list:

Together           Nothing           Thirst               Mother             Thursday

Those               fathom             Everything        These               Thing

There               Authority          Thin                 Then                 Thesaurus

Wrath               Bath                Katherine         ethereal             panther 

anther               algorithm         rhythm              bathmat             With                

Pathetic            Catheter          Faithful             Gothic               Lethal

Mathematics    Seethe             Teethe               Teeth                The     

Bother              Father             Mother             Leather             Feather

North               Northern          South               Southern          Atheist            

Author             Smooth             Myth                Either               Ether               

Isthmus             logarithm

Rules and Examples for How to Pronounce -ng-

Rules and Examples for How to Pronounce -ng-

"ng" in a word can be pronounced -ng-, -ng-+-g-, -n-+-j-, or -ng-+-k-.  How do you know which one?

Ng: swing, swinger, swinging, ring, ringer, ringer, ringed, rang, rung, spring, sprang, sprung, springer, springy, springing, sting, stinging, stinger, string, stringing, stringy, hang, hanging, hanger, hangable, long, longness, long ago, fang, gang, gangster, king, pang, song, sing, sang, sung, singer, singing, tang, tango, tongs, tongue, tonguing, tongued, meringue, harangue, wing, wrong, wronger, wronging  (If a word ends in "ng" it is pronounced -ng-.  If a word ending in ng has a suffix, such as er, ing, ed, y, able) the pronunciation usually stays ng, and not ng+g)  exception:  longer, longest are pronounced ng+g.  Tongue, meringue, and harangue also end with the -ng- sound even though they contain "ngue"

Ng+g:  anger, anguish, finger, linger, angle, bangle, dangle, hunger, jungle, jingle, longer, longest, mangle, mingle, mongoose, kangaroo, flamingo, single, shingle, tangle, tingle, wrangle, bungalo, fungus, fungal, tango, strangle, bingo, Bengal, bungle, merengue, distingue (the syllable after the ng is not a suffix (but is part of the root) so you pronounce it ng+g)  exception:  longer, longest are pronounced ng+g

Either ng or ng+g: hangar, English, Singapore

N+j: angel, ginger, stingy, swinge, tinge, fringe, engine, lunge, singe, singer (that singes), tangent, tangible, manger, danger, ranger, stranger (nge#, nger#,ngen, ngible, and ngel are pronounced n+j)  # means the end of the word.

Either Ng+g or n+j: fungicide

Ng+k: stinker, funk, funky, junk, monk, monkey, tank, ankle, link, bank, extinct, function, uncle, sprinkle

Either Ng or Ng+k: function, extinct, angst, amongst