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Voiced plural
A voiced plural is an English plural formed by inflecting the regular plural -s suffix but with pronunciation changes; the final sound is voiced from an unvoiced consonant to a voiced consonant, and the plural -s suffix is pronounced /z/. This frequently happens to English words ending /f/ voicing to /v/, less commonly in those ending -th /θ/ voicing to /ð/ and with the word house /haʊs/ which ends /s/ voicing to houses /haʊzɪz/.
Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
Ending in ⟨f⟩[edit | edit source]
There are several of these, enough that this is a semi-regular change: e.g. calf-calves, dwarf-dwarves, elf-elves, half-halves, hoof-hooves, knife-knives, leaf-leaves, life-lives, loaf-loaves, scarf-scarves, self-selves, sheaf-sheaves, shelf-shelves, thief-thieves, turf-turves, wharf-wharves, wife-wives, wolf-wolves, etc. And compounds based on these words, e.g. housewife-housewives. The final ⟨f⟩ mutates to ⟨ve⟩ when plural -s is added.
Roof is generally pluralised as roofs but may be pronounced /ru:fs/ or /ru:vz/ - though this may be written rooves, that’s considered non-standard.
This doesn't apply to words ending -⟨ff⟩. The exception is staff-staves.
Ending in ⟨th⟩[edit | edit source]
These are irregular in pronunciation only, as the English digraph ⟨th⟩ represents both /θ/ and /ð/ sounds. These often have both voiceless and voiced plurals.
e.g. bath-baths, truth-truths, mouth-mouths, youth-youths, etc.
Ending in ⟨s⟩[edit | edit source]
House-houses, and compound words ending -house change.
The plural of spouse is spouses, pronounced /ˈspaʊ.sɪz/ (regular) /ˈspaʊ.zɪz/ (irregular-voiced). However, the plural of grouse /ˈgraʊs/ is grouses /ˈgraʊ.sɪs/ (regular). Note other words ending -ouse /aʊs/ tend to be either (1) irregular plurals (e.g. mouse, louse) or (2) pronounced with /-z/ e.g. blouse.
