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ArchivesRe: Joseph - how do you pronounce it? (and where are you from?)
in reply to a message by thegriffon
"The normal English pronunciation of /s/ between vowels and voiced consonants is /z/" is an overgeneralization.
There is a rule that /s/ is voiced to /z/, without exception, when it marks the plural or 3rd-person singular of a verb and follows a vowel or a voiced sound (e.g. dogs, combs, runs, goes). But this rule can't be extended to other applications. Sometimes /s/ is voiced to /z/ between voiced sounds in other words, and sometimes it is not (e.g. basis, crisis, precise, usage, also, et al.) So your statement is not helpful in determining whether "Joseph" is or should be pronounced with /s/ or /z/.
There is a rule that /s/ is voiced to /z/, without exception, when it marks the plural or 3rd-person singular of a verb and follows a vowel or a voiced sound (e.g. dogs, combs, runs, goes). But this rule can't be extended to other applications. Sometimes /s/ is voiced to /z/ between voiced sounds in other words, and sometimes it is not (e.g. basis, crisis, precise, usage, also, et al.) So your statement is not helpful in determining whether "Joseph" is or should be pronounced with /s/ or /z/.
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I've provided for those apparent exceptions — key vowels in those words are frequently pronounced as the unvoiced ə̥ˈ (or similar) forcing the s (or c pronounced as s) to be unvoiced as well, and without a final voiced vowel the s may (or may not) also remain unvoiced as well. Besides "normal" implies there are exceptions such as those anyway, and dialects where s is unvoiced where in others it would naturally be voiced (as noted many Americans often pronounce s as unvoiced where it would naturally be voiced and is in other English dialects). Another factor may be whether the following consonant is voiced or unvoiced. This may help explain divergent pronunciations of Joseph — the ph is unvoiced, and the e may also be unvoiced, so medial s could be either voiced if the e is voiced, but not if the e is unvoiced (as the ph is unvoiced).
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