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Proper Pronunciation Guide
birds
[bɝdz]
Tips:
Do not pronounce the letter “i.” (Its function is to make the following letter “r” a vowel:
/ɝ/ .)
Pronounce the final consonant cluster /dz/ as a single sound and make sure it is sufficiently voiced.
Practice Sentence:
The bird feeder attracts many different kinds of birds to their backyard.
Notes:
Many other words end in /dz/, too, such as “kinds” in the sentence above: feeds, needs, Dad’s—He buys seeds and feeds the birds in Ed’s garden.
If /dz/ is not sufficiently voiced, it may sound like its unvoiced cognate /ts/: Bert’s versus birds: Bert’s birds are fond of small seeds.
On the other hand, if /d/ is not pronounced, leaving /z/as a substitution for /dz/, then “seeds” turns into “sees”: That bird always sees the seeds.
The combination sounds /bz/and /gz/are pronounced similarly as single sounds: robs, Bob’s, bribes; bags, dogs, eggs. Try reading the following sentence aloud: Bob’s dog digs up the bones of other dogs, which rubs Dad’s dog the wrong way because she needs her bones, too.
