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.

Hungarian language
Hungarian keyboard
Alphabet
ő ű cs dz dzs gy ly ny sz ty zs
Grammar
Noun phrases Verbs T–V distinction
History
Sound correspondences with other Uralic languages
Other features
Phonetics and phonology Vowel harmony Orthography Old Hungarian script Hungarian Braille Hungarian names
Hungarian and English
Hungarian pronunciation of English English words from Hungarian
Regulatory body

Polish

In Polish orthography, sz represents a voiceless retroflex fricative /ʂ/. Although being a different consonant, it is usually approximated by English speakers with the "sh" sound. It usually corresponds to ш or š in other Slavic languages.

Like other Polish digraphs, it is not considered a single letter for collation purposes.

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

Kashubian

In Kashubian, sz represents a voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, identical to the English "sh".

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 is almost 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.

German

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

Wade–Giles

In the Wade–Giles system of Romanization of Chinese, ⟨sz⟩ is used to represent the syllabic /s/ with the "empty rime". See Wade–Giles → Empty rime.

See also

• Hungarian alphabet
• Polish alphabet
• ß, called S-Sharp