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Words that differ only by a /s/-/z/ exchange

Federal_Double2472
Dear English enthusiasts, My first language (Malayalam) doesn't have the /z/ sound and I have been pronouncing it as an /s/ all my life. I have heard that Spanish speakers have a similar problem. This is particularly tricky due to the existence of word pairs where the difference in pronunciation is purely an /s/->/z/ change. Examples: rice, rise precedent, President close, close loose, lose race, raise, face, phase, disease, decease price, prize Where can I find a complete and exhaustive list of such word pairs? Is it possible to use any Python package to find all such pairs in the English language?

6 comments

culdusaq•
What you're looking for are minimal pairs of /s/ and /z/. Searching for that will bring you plenty of pages with examples, like [this one.](https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-s-z-final.php)
SnooDonuts6494•
It's impossible to make a complete and exhaustive list, because English is an evolving language, with no central authority.
tiger_guppy•
You should know that the rice/rise and price/prize pairings have different vowel sounds too, so they don’t actually sound that similar. Rice rhymes with price, and rise rhymes with prize. Both are diphthongs but they use a different starting vowel sound.
ArvindLamal•
Loosing vs losing
Bud_Fuggins•
Ass, as
tomalator•
I guess you could find a definite list by looking at the IPA spelling of every word and se which ones differ by that one sound