HOW do you pronounce the consonant clusters DZ and TS??

Question

Maybe not a good question for some peole who speak English as their first language, but i'm an ESL learner. Even though i know how the speech mechanism works for these sounds, i'm still not confidently saying it. SO i would really appreaciate if you can write a few lines decribing how you feel when you say it, or dicussing about your experience; i have the most difficulties in saying DZ, i can say TS okay. I 've been doing research and a source says that your tounge pronounces D by momentarily touching the gum ridge and then swinging away while the vocal cord vibrating, and to pronouce the Z (to make it DZ) the tounge is also vibrating as swinging away. In addition, it is also said that voiced consonants (as DZ) is held shorter than voiceless consonants (as DS). I know that practice will make it better and make it "a part of me" (this is important ).But thats a long process and in the while i want to know what i will be doing, and what you are doing.
THANKS in advance =]

PS: i made a mistake: "voiced consonants (as DZ) is held shorter than voiceless consonants (as DS)" by DS i mean TS.

Answer 1

Since you already know that TS/DZ are the same except TS is voiceless and DZ is voiced you are ahead of the game. Here's how you do it: close your teeth with lips apart - place the tip of your tongue BEHIND the line where the TEETH MEET (not the alveolar ridge because that's too high and it's awkward for the tongue to move back quickly) and practice saying T & D. Once you are comfortable making the T & D sounds, begin pulling your tongue back a little, very quickly while you add the S & Z sounds. Here are some minimal pairs you can practice tats/tads cats/cads bits/bids....You might notice that since T & S are voiceless they make a much softer sound than the voiced D & Z. I noticed that you don't have trouble pronouncing the TS sound - then you should have absolutely no trouble with the voiced version - start by saying TS and then without moving lips/teeth or tongue from that position, start adding voice to it (hand on larynx) (imagine a woodpecker's bill pecking at a tree - same movement)

Answer 2

Practise saying both and notice the difference. TS has a slightly hissing sound. DZ causes the tongue to vibrate a little. Both are said as written.

Answer 3

for 'TS', you would pronounce it with a 'sss' sound, just like you would in 'tsunami'. not sure about 'DZ' though...