How do you pronounce the letter z in Pennsylvania Dutch words like: katz, zvay, zeit, butza, zung?
Some call it a ts sound (/ts/‑like sound). It’s the same sound as the 2nd z in the English word pizza. It also appears in words like pretzel, roots. It’s also the same sound as a z in German.
Listen to the audio sample of how to say words with the letter z in Pennsylvania Dutch →
How to make the z sound in Pennsylvania Dutch?
But how do you actually make that sound consistently? The answer: It’s on the tip of your tongue.
In English, most native speakers say words with a z by either leaving their tongue in the middle of their mouth, or touching their tongue to the middle of back of the roof of their mouth.
But in Deitsh, you need to put the tip of your tongue against the roof of the mouth just at the base of your upper teeth.
Try this:
- Say the English word zoo as you normally would.
- Now, put the tip of your tongue lightly against the base of your upper teeth.
- Try to say the English word zoo again. This time, it should naturally come out as the Deitsh word zu.
Any time you need to say a word with the z sound in Pennsylvania German, just make sure the tip of your tongue briefly touches the back of your upper teeth.