Consonants /z/ versus /h/, 26 pairs     [zaphap.html]

The /z/ sound is spelled with <z>. The /h/ sound is spelled with <h> or <wh> in who.

This is a contrast between a voiced alveolar sibilant fricative and a voiceless glottal fricative which can only occur initially. It is not a problem.

Interesting pairs include:

zephyr heifer
zither hither

The mean density value is very low at 0.2%. The list makes 15 semantic distinctions, a loading of 58%.

 	
Z head
  Z's heads
zap hap 
  zapped happed 
  zapping happing 
  zaps haps 
zealot helot 
  zealots helots 
zee he 
Zen hen
zephyr heifer 
  zephyrs heifers 
zero hero 
  zeros heroes 
zip hip 
  zips hips 
zippy hippy
zither hither 
zone hone 
  zoned honed 
  zones hones 
  zoning honing 
zoo Hoo 
zoo who
zoom whom 
zoos whose

John Higgins, Shaftesbury, November 2010
updated Chiang Mai, 2024