The German consonant 'z' is pronounced in the same manner as the English 'ts' sound that is found at the end of words such as 'cats', 'lots' or 'sits'.
How is the German Z pronounced? The German Z makes a different sound than in English. In German, Z is pronounced like the English “TS” sound in the middle of the word “pizza.” You can also think of the ending sound in the word “cats” or “hats.”
The zed pronunciation is older, and it more closely resembles the Greek letter, zeta, from which the English letter is derived. And zed is closer to other languages' spelling and pronunciation of the letter; for instance, the French say zède, German speakers say zet, and Spanish speakers say zeta.
In medieval times, there was no real problem with different languages using the same letter for different sounds. Thus, while Old English and Scandinavian used s to represent [s], Middle German used s to represent [z] and z to represent [s].
z: The letter z represents the sound /t͡s/. The sound, a product of the High German consonant shift, has been written with z since Old High German in the 8th century.
It did, after all, come first. Much of our modern alphabet comes directly from the Greek alphabet, including a letter, that looked just like our “Z,” that the Greeks called “zeta.” “Zeta” evolved into the French “zede,” which in turn gave us “zed” as English was shaped by Romance languages like French.
In most English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, the letter's name is zed /zɛd/, reflecting its derivation from the Greek zeta (this dates to Latin, which borrowed Y and Z from Greek), but in American English its name is zee /ziː/, ...
Zed is widely known to be used in British English. But it's also used in almost every English-speaking country. In England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia, India, Canada (usually), and New Zealand, Z is pronounced as zed. It's derived from the Greek letter zeta.
We say all the letters of the alphabet the same in British English and American English except for Z. In British English we say Zed. In American English we say Zee.
Why did Z get removed from the alphabet? Around 300 BC, the Roman Censor Appius Claudius Caecus removed Z from the alphabet. His justification was that Z had become archaic: the pronunciation of /z/ had become /r/ by a process called rhotacism, rendering the letter Z useless.
J in German is pronounced as “yott” (rhyming with “thought”). The German J is pronounced as an English Y. This can be observed in words like ja, Jammer, and Jahr. Q in German shares a similarity with English: it is always paired with a U.
'th' sounds
The sounds /θ/ and /ð/ do not exist in German. The sound /θ/, which is unvoiced (no vibration in the throat), tends to be replaced with a sound closer to /s/.
Ö = O-Umlaut
To pronounce “ö” as you should, you need to form your lips as in “o” first, and again imagine somebody pulling on your lips. We can compare it with when you say “her” in English. The sound between the letters “h” and “r” is the sound you need.
The Mandarin Chinese “z” is exactly like the /ds/ sound in “reads“. This is a different sound than the /z/ sound in “zebra”. In English, /z/ can be pronounced without touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth. In Chinese, it can't.
In Australia, Australian/British spelling is preferred. The letter 's' is used, rather than the letter 'z' (American spelling).
One key distinction between Australian English and American English in terms of orthography (spelling) is the use of, 's,' as opposed to, 'z. ' For example, in America, words such as, 'specialise,' 'authorise,' and, 'analyse,' are spelt with a, 'z,' as opposed to the, 's' that is used in Australian English.
Z is for ZINGER
Meaning: A witty remark.
'Innit? ' is a contraction of the tag question 'Isn't it? ' and people use it to prompt a response from the listener. So if someone says 'Nice weather, innit?
Its Pronounced “Zed” not “Zee”: NZ.
According to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field. The lower ranked soldier on the "left" protected the senior officers left side. Therefore, the term leftenant developed.
The primary exception, of course, is in the United States where “z” is pronounced “zee”. The British and others pronounce “z”, “zed”, owing to the origin of the letter “z”, the Greek letter “Zeta”. This gave rise to the Old French “zede”, which resulted in the English “zed” around the 15th century.
English speakers in other Commonwealth countries also prefer the pronunciation zed. As zed is the British pronunciation and zee is chiefly American, zed represents one of the rare occasions in which most Canadians prefer the British to the American pronunciation.
Many American words replace the “s” used in British spelling with a “z” for words such as “realize,” “apologize” and “cozy.” Using a “z” instead of an “s” makes more sense because we pronounce these words with a “z” sound. Besides, “z” is much more fun to use than “s”! Thus, “cozy” is the more logical spelling.
According to the orthography in use in German prior to the German orthography reform of 1996, ⟨ß⟩ was written to represent [s]: word internally following a long vowel or diphthong: Straße, reißen; and. at the end of a syllable or before a consonant, so long as [s] is the end of the word stem: muß, faßt, wäßrig.