Say and says

Question

The way say and says are pronounced has always puzzled me.  I am wondering if they are the only pair of English words that have different pronunciations in the vowel after adding an s.  I know unsay/unsays and gainsay/gainsays but  they also ends with say/says.  Any others?

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

Hi,
I just thought of "mouth" and "house".

CalifJim · Answer

Will you accept "adding es" as well?

do - does.

CJ

Pter · Answer

KooyeenHi,
I just thought of "mouth" and "house".

Sorry Kooyeen, I don't get it. Would you please explain?

Pter · Answer

CalifJimWill you accept "adding es" as well?

do - does.

CJ

That's a good one. I didn't think of that.

The pronunciation of ay in bays, days, fays, gays, hays, jays, lays, pays, rays, ways are all the time. Says is the only exception. I cannot find any word with ay or ai that is pronounced this way, except those with -says or -said at the end. Isn't it strange?

Kooyeen · Answer

Pter
KooyeenHi,
I just thought of "mouth" and "house".

Sorry Kooyeen, I don't get it. Would you please explain?

House - Houses
Mouth - Mouths

It's weird, isn't it?

Pter · Answer

KooyeenHouse - Houses
Mouth - Mouths

It's weird, isn't it?

What's weird about them? I thought they are quite common.

House /ha?s/
Houses /ha?ziz/

Mouth /ma??/
Mouths /ma?ðz/

However, I do have difficulty pronouncing the ðz in mouths. They are very difficult to me.

CalifJim · Answer

I cannot find any word with ay or ai that is pronounced this way, except those with -says or -said at the end.

I thought you were only looking for irregular verb forms.

again and against also have ai as a lax e, if that's what you want examples of.
And all the air combinations also have ai as a lax e. pair, hair, fair, ...
And those with aire: debonaire, millionaire, questionaire, solitaire, ...
________

aisle (with silent s and silent e) has ai as tense i. (Same pronunciation as I'll.) ai is tense i also in Sinai and Shanghai.

plaid has ai as lax a. (As if plad, to rhyme with sad.)

dais has two vowels: tense a and lax i. (day-iss) So does the old form saith (and the -aic's: laic, archaic, prosaic, Hebraic, voltaic, and mosaic; and the related archaism, Hebraism).

naive also has two vowels: broad a and tense e: (nah-eeve, or nigh-eve)

ai is a reduced sound (a high schwa, basically lax i) in bargain, captain, chaplain, portrait and porcelain.

If not pronounced with the lax i, as in the preceeding group, ai is silent in many tain endings, the t being unreleased and the following sound being "syllabic n".
mountain, fountain, curtain, certain(ly)

(AmE)
CJ

Pter · Answer

CalifJimI thought you were only looking for irregular verb forms.

I am indeed looking for something like irregular verb forms. The comparison with bays, days, etc. is just a remark. But what is intriguing is that says is not an irregular verb. It is formed by just adding an s. It's just a "normal" third person singular verb. That's why I find it strange and exceptional. As a comparison, go and went sound completely different and the spelling are completely different. Could it be possible that says was not spelt this way in the past?

It would also be interesting if we can find a "normal" plural form that sounds completely differently from the singular form.

CalifJimagain and against also have ai as a lax e, if that's what you want examples of.

Yes. Thank you. In the past, I pronounced again as /?'gein/, which is in fact one of the pronunciations listed in my Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary. But then I noticed that most people say /?'gen/.

CalifJim And all the air combinations also have ai as a lax e. pair, hair, fair, ....
And those with aire: debonaire, millionaire, questionaire, solitaire, ...

Yes, I understand that. An r very often change the pronunciation of the preceding vowel. This is very common.

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