Sz is a digraph of the Latin alphabet, used in Hungarian, Polish, Kashubian, and formerly in German.
| Hungarian language |
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Closeup view of a Hungarian keyboard
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| Alphabet |
| ő ű cs · dz · dzs · gy ly · ny · sz · ty · zs |
| Grammar |
| Noun phrases · Verbs T-V distinction |
| History |
| Other features |
| Phonetics and phonology Vowel harmony Hungarian names Tongue-twisters |
| Hungarian and English |
| Hungarian pronunciation of English English words from Hungarian |
| Regulatory body |
Contents |
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/.
(area, territory)
(coat, cloak)
Compare ś:
(candle)
(to go)
(August)
In Kashubian, sz represents a voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, like English "sh".
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. (More commonly, the last syllable is rhymed with flashed rather than past.)
In German, it was used to represent /s/ after "long" vowels, later contracting to the ligature ß.