Practice question · True or false
The zh sound of "measure" is one of the most frequent consonants in English.
Hints
- Consider how many English words contain it and where it can occur.
- It entered largely through French loans and occurs in no native word initially.
Show the answer
False
Why
False: it is by some distance the rarest English consonant. It entered mainly through French borrowings, occurs in no native word in initial position, and is the least integrated member of the inventory, which is why some analyses hesitate over its phonemic status at all.
Practise English Consonants I: Plosives and Fricatives
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