Is or iz?

Question

Hi. I believe learning phonics is the best way for a person who hasn't learned to read to learn to read. Now, why is the word "is" doesn't have what I think is the sound represented by the letter "s," which I believe is the "s" sound, and instead has the "z" sound? Many words (perhaps too numerous to mention) do not seem to follow the sounds represented by the letters that make up them. Why is that? Thank you for your help in advance.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Anonymouswhy is the word "is" doesn't have what I think is the sound represented by the letter "s," which I believe is the "s" sound, and instead has the "z" sound?

Many words (too numerous to mention) do not follow the sounds represented by the letters that make them up.

AnonymousWhy is that?

The various reasons, historical and etymological, are also too numerous to mention. This, for instance from the Online Etymological Dictionary:

is (v.)
third person singular present of 'be', Old English 'is', from Germanic stem *'es-' (cognates: Old High German, German, Gothic 'ist', Old Norse 'es', 'er'), from PIE *'es-ti-' (cognates: Sanskrit 'asti', Greek 'esti', Latin 'est', Lithuanian 'esti', Old Church Slavonic 'jesti'), from PIE root *'es-', "to be." Old English lost the final -t-. Until 1500s, pronounced to rhyme with 'kiss'.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous"is" doesn't have what I think is the sound represented by the letter "s,"

The final /s/ sound is usually represented by "ss": miss, fuss, kiss, pass, moss

The final /z/ sound is usually represented by "s", specifically in as, has, is, his, and was, but also in countless plural endings and verb inflections (maids, times, loves, fades, ...).

However, final /s/ is represented by "s" in a few words, the most common and shortest being us, yes, bus, gas, this, and thus. Certain endings also represent final /s/ as "s", for example, 'ous', 'us', and 'sis': furious, focus, analysis.

There are few rules and a lot of exceptions when it comes to the pronunciation of English. It is by no means a phonetically written language.

CJ

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