What is the right pronounciation of the word ' says "

chris   Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:14 am GMT
For non native speakers like me, Americans and English pronounce this word differently, or is it ? To me , Americans pronounce it more like " said " with a voiced Z at the end. English or Australians say it with a much softer z . Can someone explain?
Lazar   Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:25 am GMT
I'm not aware of any major dialectal variations in the pronunciation of /z/ (except in Singaporean English, which has final consonant devoicing, but that's not really relevant here).
Guy   Sun Oct 16, 2005 4:44 am GMT
For me it's /sEz/ but I sometimes here people say /seIz/ too... to me it sounds somewhat incorrect.
Lazar   Sun Oct 16, 2005 5:16 am GMT
That's interesting...I've never heard a native speaker say [seIz].
Uriel   Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:34 pm GMT
Either "sez" or "sess" depending on the sentence.
Guest   Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:45 pm GMT
I've never heard "sess". Form a sentence in which you would pronounce it this way.
Uriel   Sun Oct 16, 2005 4:21 pm GMT
I say it in lots of sentences, actually. It doesn't seem to depend on any specific factors that I can identify (emphansis or the sound at the beginning of the next word). It's just that sometimes I soften my z to an s. Maybe it's an individual thing.
Stan   Sun Oct 16, 2005 5:24 pm GMT
"sez"
Saif   Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:19 pm GMT
SEZ or SEIZ are what most native speakers use; interchangeably; as in THUH and THEE
american nic   Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:25 pm GMT
I only say 'sez', and 'thuh' and 'thee' are NOT interchangable. Thuh is before a consonant, thee is before a vowel. It like the difference between a and an. Maybe this is only in my dialect, but it's 'thee' elephant and 'thuh' shoes, not the other way around.
Lazar   Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:19 pm GMT
Like american nic, I also do the [Di] + vowel, [D@] + consonant alternation, but nowadays a lot of people do use [D@] before vowels.

<<SEZ or SEIZ are what most native speakers use; interchangeably;>>

I have to disagree with you; as I said above, I've never heard a native speaker say [seIz].
Guest   Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:31 pm GMT
m-w mentions /seIz/:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=say

"/'sez, sometimes 'sAz, esp when subject follows s&z/"

They even have a sound sample for it:
http://cougar.eb.com/sound/s/say00006.wav
Lazar   Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:37 pm GMT
<<m-w mentions /seIz/:>>

And I will repeat, I have never heard a native speaker say [seIz]. There *may* be some native speakers who do (as evidenced by this dictionary entry), but I have never heard one.
Guest   Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:06 pm GMT
"'thuh' and 'thee' are NOT interchangable. Thuh is before a consonant, thee is before a vowel."

No, you're right but "thee" is also sometimes used in English before a consonant for deliberate emphasis:

The Eiffel Tower! It's "THEE" place to visit in Paris!
Saif   Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:51 pm GMT
I have to disagree with you; as I said above, I've never heard a native speaker say [seIz].

I have to disagree with your disagreement! I base it on (or upon) 45 years' of listening to Londoners (most being native speakers)...