# 2.2.6. s/z
s/z 对所有人来说都没有什么具体的难度。s/z 发声时起始的舌尖位置贴近但没有接触到牙齿和牙龈的接缝处 —— 即，位置 ②（参见 [1.4](1.4-articulators)）。
The s/z sounds don't really pose a challenge for most people. When producing these sounds, the tip of the tongue is close to, but not touching, the *seam* between teeth and gums, i.e. position ② (as described in [1.4](1.4-articulators)).
中文里当然也有 s 这个音，但，中文里的 s 在发音时舌尖起始位置更接近下排牙齿，即，比位置 ② 更低一些 —— 虽然听不出什么区别。你可以再试着用中文普通话说一遍 “我踢死你！”（wǒ tī sǐ nǐ）…… 不过，作为中国人你需要新练一个 s，否则，说英文时经常遇到更费力的情况，比如，在说 st 这个组合的时候 —— 这恰好也是英文中使用频率相当高的一个组合。
Of course, the sound s exists in Chinese as well, but when you pronounce it, the tip of your tongue starts closer to the lower teeth—slightly lower than position ②, even though you can't really hear the difference. Again, you can try this out by saying "wǒ tī sǐ nǐ" (我踢死你！) in Mandarin.However, for Chinese speakers, it's necessary to practice a new s sound to make speaking English less strenuous, especially when saying combinations like st — which happens to be a very common combination in English.
另外，需要注意的是，s 之后的 p/t/tr/k 作为音节开头时会被浊化（比如，音节末尾的 st 中的 t 不会被浊化），相应读成 b/d/dr/g（但是，音标标注却保持原样）：
Also, it's important to note that, following an s that starts a syllable, p/t/tr/k are voiced, meaning they are pronounced like b/d/dr/g respectively, while the phonetic annotations remain unchanged. However, this rule doesn't apply when these consonants are at the end of a syllable, like the t in st:
> * *speak* spiːk → sbiːk
> * *student* ˈstudənt → ˈsdudənt
> * *school* skuːl → sguːl
> * *frustrate* ˈfrʌˌstreɪt → ˈfrʌˌsdreɪt
另外，英文的辅音并没有长短区分 —— 有些语言的辅音是有长短区分的，虽然亚洲语言基本都没有这种差别。然而，英文的 f/v、s/z、ʃ 以及 ts 是可以拉长的，尤其是 s 和 ts。
In addition, in English, there's no differentiation between long and short consonant sounds. This is a feature found in some languages but is generally not present in Asian languages. However, in English, the sounds of f/v, s/z, ʃ, and ts can be lengthened, especially s and ts.
## 拼写（Spellings）
### s
* **c**
- ceiling ˈsiː.lɪŋ
- cedar ˈsiː.dɚ
- concede kənˈsiːd
* **s**
- see siː
- sea siː
- sick sɪk
* **ss**
- boss bɑːs
- class klæs
- stress stres
* **sc**
- scene siːn
- science ˈsaɪ.əns
- sceptic ˈskep.tɪk
### z
* **z**
- zone zoʊn
- zebra ˈziː.brə
* **zz**
- buzz bʌz
- jazz dʒæz
- puzzle ˈpʌz.əl
* **s**
- present ˈprez.ənt
- raise reɪz
- rose roʊz
* **s** (forming plurals after vowels or voiced consonants)
- cars kɑːrz
- trees ˈtriːz
- brains breɪnz