How to pronounce Z?

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Per Hansson

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When talking to The Planet tech support around 6 months ago I got introduced to saying the letter Z to an American...

I have been in Ireland and pronounced it as "Zed" and people understood me, and that was how they pronounced it also...

But Americans pronounce it as "Zee" now where my problem is is how to make the letters C and Z sound different...

In School you get thaught English as secondary language but it's the U.K English, not American...

So how do I pronounce it? Anyone dare to upload a wavefile? ;-)
 
easiest way is to use words to associate the sound of the letter. I find myself having to do this when taking on the phone to people all the time.

A-Alpha
B-Beta
C-Charlie
Z-Zebra

You just use a word that is easily associated with that letter.

To try and explain the C and Z sounds, the C(See) would sound a bit like a hissing. The Z(Zee) is more of a zipping sound.
 
I've never heard of anyone saying Zed instead of Zee....I'm american...So I guess thats all i've ever heard...
 
I'm an American who lived in the UK for a few years - I think it really depends on current company. When I'm around anyone who has lived in or currently lives in Europe I pronounce it Zed. I work with several Irish folk here so it's Zed for them and Zee for my US associates.
 
Just adding my vote for Zed...

It's not your fault those americans never learned how to pronounce the words properly ;) :D
 
Zed here. Now just try pronouncing that old BBC TV series 'Z Cars' ('Zed' Cars). It just just doesn't sound right with a 'Zee'. Unless maybe you are french. :D
 
Z is a letter, Zed is the old man who lives down the road, sits on his front porch cleaning his toenails with a hunting knife :p
 
You guys ever heard how the name "America" came into being?
About a thousand years ago, some vikings discovered land at the other side of the ocean.
They found some natives on the beach, who started jumping and shouting when they saw this big ship. So the Viking's chief, Eric, climbed onto the railing of the ship, and also started jumping, while shouting "I'm Eric, I'm Eric". Then his foot slipped, and the shout sounded like "I'm Eric, Aaaaggghhh".


PS: Zed for me (Irish), Zee for my wife (American)
 
IINM, it's "Zed" but Americans (like me) pronounce it "Zee".

In Pakistan, since they use British english, it's "Zed", and it's "Zeb-ra" not "Zee-bra".

It's cool :grinthumb
 
The little ABC's song you hear on kids shows in the US has lots of rhymes in it, and if you say Zed it just doesn't fit the rhyme of the rest of the song.
 
Originally posted by realblackstuff
You guys ever heard how the name "America" came into being?
About a thousand years ago, some vikings discovered land at the other side of the ocean.
They found some natives on the beach, who started jumping and shouting when they saw this big ship. So the Viking's chief, Eric, climbed onto the railing of the ship, and also started jumping, while shouting "I'm Eric, I'm Eric". Then his foot slipped, and the shout sounded like "I'm Eric, Aaaaggghhh".
hahahaha. actually America was named after the italian cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. he was the guy who finally said that North America, Central America, and South America (what it is now) were not part of Asia as Columbus thought. or at least that was the way i was taught by my teacher. funny story nevertheless.
 
Just use the phonetic alphabet :

alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo, foxtrot, golf, hotel, india, juliet, kilo, mike, november, october, papa, quebec, romeo, sierra, tango, uniform, victor, whiskey, x-ray, yankee, zulu...

It's pretty universal...
 
"Z" is never pronounced with a zed sound in any word therefore the American pronounciation would be correct when reffering to the letter in a non-mathmatical sense.
Zed is a throwback to the greek alphabet and apparently the only way for you thick-toungued Europeans to understand eachother.
 
It was Eric the red who descovered Greenland, and his son Lief Ericsson who discovered Newfoundland and later America.
 
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