[jiz-z krayst]

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 5/11/07 10:30:19 PM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:


>
> But I think you're right about the "Jesus Christ" context making
> voicing of that -s more likely, which is pretty odd when you think
> about it.
>
More likely before a vowel, as in "Jesus H. Christ" and in "Jesus is mine."
But "Jesus Christ" as [jizIz krayst] sounds OK to me--just the way my dad
(1914-1994) said "Jesus Christ" (as an expletive--I never heard him use "Jesus
Christ" in any other way) in Iowa--the voicing of the [z] becoming more pronounced
when the schwa/barred-I is reduced in the direction of dropping out
completely until the [z] becomes a syllable by itself.

Of course, what happens in Cedar Rapids may stay in Cedar Rapids, for all I
know.

However, it is important to note that the difference between an [s] and a [z]
is not just a matter of voicing. In English, [z] is lenis, [s] is fortis, so
the reduction of the [Is] to a syllabic consonant--particularly in an
expletive, where the first syllable may be heavily stressed--may make tend to create a
lenis [s] which will sound more like a [z], even with less voicing. And the
voicing of the preceding [z] may be heard as carrying over into the following
[s], whether it is really there or not. Of course, if one is pronouncing a [zs]
sequence, the voicing may well carry over into the [s].





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