Graphemes for /s/ and Related Phonemes
Alveolars
Section titled “Alveolars”/s/ - voiceless alveolar fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| apd-Latn | <s> | samak ‘fish’ | |
| ar-Arab | <س> | مستشفى ‘hospital’ | |
| ast-Latn | <s> | sosu ‘tasteless’ | |
| bcy-Latn | <s> | sake ‘dog’ | |
| bec-Latn | <s> | saŋgɛ ‘write’, isi ‘eye’, ɛkas ‘sifter’ | |
| blt-Tavt | <ꪎ> | ꪎꪲ꪿ ‘four’ | low tone series (syll. init.) |
| blt-Tavt | <ꪏ> | ꪏꪳ꫁ ‘to buy’ | high tone series (syll. init.) |
| de-Latn | <chs> | Wachs ‘wax’ | |
| de-Latn | <ss> | Wasser ‘water’ | |
| de-Latn | <s> | das ‘the’, anders ‘different’ | Syllable-final |
| de-Latn | <ß> | Straße ‘street’ | Post 1996 spelling reform, ‹ß› at send of syllables and before consonants is usually changed to ‹ss› |
| dv-Thaa | <އ◌ް> | މައްސަލަ | Occurs before ‹ސ› to indicate a geminate. |
| dv-Thaa | <ސ> | ސުކުން | |
| en-Latn | <c> | cent | Before e and i |
| en-Latn | <ps> | psychology | |
| en-Latn | <s> | sand | |
| es-Latn | <c> | ciento ‘hundred’ | ‹c› can be used for /s/ before e and i (Latin American only) |
| es-Latn | <s> | sin ‘without’ | |
| es-Latn | <x> | texto ‘text’ | |
| es-Latn | <z> | zapato ‘shoe’ | Latin American only |
| fub-Arab | <س> | سٜي ‘happy’, کِسْندَمْ ‘salvation’, نٛوغَسْ ‘twenty’, سَ! ‘Wow!’ | |
| fub-Latn | <s> | seyo ‘happy’, kisndam ‘salvation’, noogas ‘twenty’, Sa! ‘Wow!’ | |
| ha-Latn | <s> | sata ‘to steal’ | |
| id-Latn | <s> | sisir ‘comb’ | |
| ii-Latn | <s> | si ‘choose’ | |
| lbw-Latn | <s> | sala ‘path’, aso ‘one’ | |
| nat-Latn | <s> | sata ‘five’, a̱sa̱la̱ ‘rain’ | |
| ne-Deva | <स> | सेतो ‘white’ | |
| png-Latn | <s> | sakaru, sabu | |
| srr-Arab | <س> | سࣹدْ ‘to be ashamed’, فُسْ ‘pustule’ | |
| srr-Latn | <s> | sed ‘to be ashamed’, fus ‘pustule’ | |
| wo-Arab | <س> | سُوفْ ‘ground’ | |
| wo-Latn | <s> | suuf ‘ground’ | |
| xnz-Copt | <ⲝ> | Obsolete | |
| xnz-Copt | <ⲥ> | ||
| xnz-Latn | <s> |
/sʷ/ - labialized voiceless alveolar fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| bec-Latn | <sw> | sweŋ ‘silent’, ɔswaŋɛ ‘compound’ | |
| png-Latn | <sw> | swa, ta̱swee |
/sˤ/ - pharyngealized voiceless alveolar fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| apd-Latn | <ᶊ> | ᶊaabuun ‘soap’ | Persson orthography |
| apd-Latn | <ṣ> | ṣaabuun ‘soap’ | Hillelson orthography |
| ar-Arab | <ص> | صورته ‘his picture’ | |
| dv-Thaa | <އ◌ް> | ޚާއްޞަ | Only in words of foreign origin; occurs before ‹ޞ› to indicate a geminate. |
| dv-Thaa | <ޞ> | މަޤްޞަދު | A letter devised to transliterate Arabic ‹ص›. Occurring only in loanwords, it may be pronounced simply as /s/. |
| fub-Arab | <ص> | صَوْتُ ‘voice’, مِصْرَ ‘Egypt’ | borrowed words only |
| fub-Latn | <s> | sawtu ‘voice’, Misra ‘Egypt’ | borrowed words only |
/sː/ - geminate voiceless alveolar fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ar-Arab | <س◌ّ> | السّودان Sudan’ | |
| fub-Arab | <س◌ّ> | ڢَسِّتِرِ |
Dentals
Section titled “Dentals”/θ/ - voiceless dental fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ar-Arab | <ث> | ثالث ‘third’, ثلاثة ‘three’ | |
| ast-Latn | <c> | poces ‘holes’ | 'c' can be used for [θ] before i and e |
| dv-Thaa | <އ◌ް> | ޙައްޘިއްޔަތު | Only in words of foreign origin; occurs before ‹ޘ› to indicate a geminate. |
| dv-Thaa | <ޘ> | ޘާނަވީ | A letter devised to transliterate Arabic ‹ث›. Occurs only in words of foreign origin. |
| en-Latn | <th> | thin | |
| es-Latn | <c> | ciento ‘hundred’ | ‹c› can be used for /θ/ before e and i (Iberian only) |
| es-Latn | <z> | zapato ‘shoe’ | /θ/ occurs in Iberian only |
| fub-Arab | <ث> | مِثَالُ ‘example’ | borrowed words only |
| fub-Latn | <c> | ceede ‘money’, accugo ‘to let’, hacci ‘smells bad’, mi hooci ‘I took’ | dialect variants in pronunciation |
| fub-Latn | <th> | mithaalu ‘example’ | borrowed words only |
| ru-Cyrl | <з> | ска́зка ‘fairy tale’, глаз ‘eye’ | Preceding a voiceless consonant or if word-final |
| ru-Cyrl | <с> | соба́ка ‘dog’ | Preceding either ‹а, о, э, у, ы›, a voiceless consonant, or ‹л, м, н, р, в›, or if word-final |
/θʲ/ - palatalized voiceless dental fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ru-Cyrl | <зь> | резь ‘pain’ | Preceding a voiceless consonant or if word-final |
| ru-Cyrl | <сь> | здесь ‘here’ | Preceding either a vowel, voiceless consonant, or ‹л, м, н, р, в›, or if word-final |
| ru-Cyrl | <с> | си́ний ‘blue’, есть ‘to eat’ | Preceding ‹я, ё, е, ю, и› |
/θː/ - geminate voiceless dental fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ar-Arab | <ث◌ّ> | ممثّل ‘representative’ |
Linguolabials
Section titled “Linguolabials”/s̼/ - voiceless linguolabial fricative
| Writing System | Grapheme | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| nat-Latn | <sw> | eswo ‘drink’, swatana ‘inherit’ | 1 dialect pronounces s̼ as f, e.g. efo |