Usage of sound /ʒ/ in English (not /dʒ/)

Question

I'm trying to explain to an English speaker how to pronounce the letter j in French, and was looking for cases where it appears in English. It seems that j is almost always pronounced /dʒ/. Examples of the /ʒ/ without /d/ in English are very rare: Asia, vision (many words ending in -sion), measure. In those words the vowel after /ʒ/ is always the same.

Where else in English does this consonant appears?

This question is just asking for a list. It is not constructive, for that reason. — Matt E. Эллен, Apr 16 '12 at 11:54
Related: Are “zh” and “j” pronounced in the same way?. Which is to say: look out for all the possible spellings! The answers to that question mention Zhivago, beige, lesion, Jacques... — RegDwigнt, Apr 16 '12 at 11:56
It might be better to rephrase your question to get at the heart of your problem (teaching people to pronounce j in French) and ask it on French Language and Usage — Matt E. Эллен, Apr 16 '12 at 11:59
@Matt Эллен: I don't think so, because I'm looking for cases where this sound appears in the English language. But I will rephrase the question a bit. — Benoit, Apr 16 '12 at 12:00
Isn't what you are looking for quite like the English soft *g? In which case, you could look at words with the soft g*. — Kris, Apr 16 '12 at 12:19
This question might be interesting for you :D http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/57252/how-to-spell-d-and-what-does-it-mean — Armen Ծիրունյան, Apr 16 '12 at 12:27

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 16 '12 at 12:00

2

The /ʒ/ sound only occurs initially in loan words, normally from French, such as Gillet. But the following vowel sound in this instance is different from measure and vision.

answered Apr 16 '12 at 12:00

Danger Fourpence

547

Usage of sound /ʒ/ in English (not /dʒ/)

1 Answers1