Sz (digraph)

Sz is a digraph of the Latin script, used in Hungarian, Polish, Kashubian and German, and in the Wade–Giles system of Romanization of Chinese.

Polish

In Polish orthography, sz represents a voiceless retroflex fricative /ʂ/, similar to English "sh". It usually corresponds to ш or š in other Slavic languages.

sz should not be confused with ś (or s followed by i), termed "soft sh", a voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative /ɕ/.

Examples of sz

 obszar  (area, territory)
 płaszcz  (coat, cloak)
 Tomasz  (Thomas)

Compare ś:
 świeca  (candle)
 iść  (to go)
 sierpień  (August)

Kashubian

In Kashubian, sz represents a voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, like English "sh".

Examples

These examples are Kashubian words that use the letter sz, with the English translation following.

Hungarian

Sz is the thirty-second letter of the Hungarian alphabet. Its name is (using English pronunciation with letter romanization) "ess" in the alphabet. It represents /s/. Thus, names like Liszt are pronounced /list/ list.

In Hungarian, even if two characters are put together to make a different sound, they are considered one letter (a true digraph), and even acronyms keep the letter intact.

Hungarian usage of s and sz are the reverse of the Polish usage. In Hungarian, s represents /ʃ/ (a sound similar to /ʂ/). Therefore, the Hungarian capital of Budapest is natively pronounced (/ˈbudɒpɛʃt/), rhyming with standard English fleshed rather than pest.

There is also a zs in Hungarian, which is the last (forty-fourth) letter of the alphabet, following z.

Examples

These examples are Hungarian words that use the letter sz, with the English translation following.

German

In German, it was used to represent /s/ after "long" vowels, later contracting to the ligature ß.

Wade–Giles

In the Wade–Giles system of Romanization of Chinese, ⟨sz⟩ (or alternatively ⟨ss⟩) is used to represent /s/ before the "empty rime". See Wade–Giles → Empty rime.

See also

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