When is “x” pronounced as “gz”?
October 13th, 2005 by MarkAs many readers realize, the pronunciation of many English consonants change based upon whether or not the preceding consonant was voiced. For example, consider the word “cards”. The pronunciation of “z” and “s” is the same, except for the fact that “z” is voiced and “s” is unvoiced. The same can be said for “d” and “t”, “g” and “k”, “v” and “f”, as well as several other pairs. The “s” in “cards” is pronounced as a “z” because the preceding “d” is a voiced sound. In “carts” on the other hand, the “s” follows an unvoiced letter, and so the “s” sounds like an “s”. Observe the words “beads”, “beets”, “rags”, “racks”, “stops”, and “snobs”. The rule is very clear with for these letters. In fact if you tried to pronounce a word like “beads” with an “s” instead of a “z” it would become very clear how strong this rule is in English.
Note: The above rule doesn’t apply to every voiced consonant. “R”s for example, can be followed by either “s” or “z” sounds. An example of this would be the words “peers” and “pierce”. In such situations it’s impossible to tell from the spelling alone whether an “s” is pronounced as an “s” or as a “z”. “ce” on the other hand is always pronounced as an “s”. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine which voiced consonants can be followed by unvoiced consonants in the same syllable. If anyone’s really interested in the answer, just post below.
Okay, all of that is stuff I’ve known for a long time. However, I came to a new realization last month while I was tutoring my one of my boss’s daughters. There’s also a rule about when “x” is pronounced as a “ks” and when it’s pronounced as a “gz”. Surprisingly it is not based on whether the preceding letters are stressed or not. It’s based on which syllable is stressed. In “exercise”, “Mexico”, “mix”, “axle” and “extra” the syllable ending in “x” is stressed. In each of those words, the “x” is pronounced as a “ks”. In contrast, “examine”, “exalt” and “example” are stressed on a syllable starting with “x”, and the “x” is pronounced as “gz” in all three words.
Can you think of any words with “x” that don’t follow the rule?
Update: Thanks to Mike’s comment, there’s an addition to this rule:
If a word begins with “x”, the first syllable is stressed and the “x” is pronounced as a “z” instead of the normal “gz”.
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October 15th, 2005 at 8:23 pm
xanadu
October 27th, 2005 at 3:14 am
Xanadu’s a foreign word, popularized by the poem, “Kubla Khan. Heck, if you can use foreign words, ANY Chinese word with “x” would break the rule. Xi’an, Deng Xiao Ping.
October 27th, 2005 at 8:58 pm
Actually, “Xanadu” follows the rule. “Xan” is the stressed syllable in Xanadu. And just like the x’s in “example”, “exactly”, the x in “Xanadu” is voiced. Maybe people leave off the k/g part of the sound. But you guys voice it, right?
Pronouncing it with an “s” sound instead of a “z” sound would be weird to me. I say that word just supports the rule. Even foreign words we take into English follow the rule about when to voice an x. I can’t say about the Chinese words, though…
October 30th, 2005 at 11:37 am
I grepped a file of words I have for x and here are some possibilities. What do you think?
taxonomy
taxation
vexation
Also, what about English words that start with x? For example, one you might use on this very page, xenophobic.
October 31st, 2005 at 4:25 am
Mike! It’s great to hear from you. I’d stress the first syllables in taxonomy, taxation, and vexation. That means that the x’s all come at the end of the stressed syllable and the rule says they should NOT be voiced. That’s how I pronounce them too: “ks”, not “gz”. So, at least with my accent, they follow my rule. Do you pronouce them as “gz”?
Anonymous and Mike both brought up words beginning with “x”, such as “Xanadu” or “Xenophobic”. I mostly agree with the 8:58 Anonymous who said they follow the rule because they’re voiced, but I don’t know ANYONE that pronounces the “g” sound at the beginning, too. Everyone I know just prounounces those x’s as “z” sounds.