Use /ʃ/ (like 'sh' in ship) for voiceless sounds (no vocal cord vibration), common in '-tion', 'sh', 'ch' (sometimes), 'ss', 'sc' spellings; use /ʒ/ (like 'zh' in measure) for voiced sounds (vocal cords vibrate), typically in '-sion' (after a vowel), 'ge' (after a vowel), or foreign words like 'genre', as /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are the same mouth shape but one uses voice and the other doesn't.
The phonemes marked in red in the first column are voiceless (/ʃ/), whereas those in the second column are voiced (/ʒ/). Read them aloud and try to feel the difference. If you put your hand against your throat, you'll see that when you are saying /ʒ/ your vocal folds vibrate while in /ʃ/ the don't.
/dʒ/ is an affricate consonant; it can't last long. /ʒ/ is a fricative consonant; this means it is possible to make it sound for a long time: /ʒʒʒ/. However, in normal speech /ʒ/ has a length similar to other consonants.
There are very few minimal pairs /ʒ/ vs /ʃ/. One example is "measure" (a normal word) vs "mesher" (one who makes meshes, a word that doesn't appear in normal dictionaries).
These are both alveo-palatal, affricate consonants. However, /dʒ/ is a voiced consonant and /tʃ/ is a voiceless consonant.
In British English, "literally" has two common pronunciations: the more formal, dictionary version with four syllables (LIT-er-al-ly) and the more common, quicker, three-syllable version that sounds like LIT-rally, where the middle "er" becomes a merged "r" sound or a schwa. You'll often hear it pronounced as "lit-rally" (three syllables, stressing the first) in everyday speech, while the four-syllable version is also correct but less frequent.
The /ʒ/ sound is one of the nine fricative consonant sounds in American English. Note for geeks: the /ʒ/ sound is a palatal, voiced, fricative consonant.
Vowel /ɔ(:)/ is lowered (phonetic realization of /ɔ(:)/ is much lower in GA than in RP). However, "Short o" before r before a vowel (a short o sound followed by r and then another vowel, as in orange, forest, moral, and warrant) is realized as [oɹ~ɔɹ]. /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ differ entirely by length in Indian English.
Practise /ʒ/ in Example Words
We commonly use this sound in American English, as an /aʊ/ sound. However, for a British English pronunciation, we pronounce this as a /əʊ/ diphthong, a schwa followed by a /ʊ/. The /oʊ/ sound can be created in multiple ways, including by writing o, o plus “magic e”, ol, oa, oe, ow, ou, au.
Both sounds are made by pushing air between the lower teeth and the roof of the mouth, but dʒ begins with a brief "d" sound, and ʒ does not. The two sounds are similar, but the initial "d" in dʒ makes it a sharper sound.
The sounds /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ are both voiceless, alveo-palatal consonants. However, /tʃ/ is an affricate while /ʃ/ is a fricative. When you pronounce /tʃ/, the air in your mouth should stop (like a /t/) before it is released (like a /ʃ/).
Tongue Twisters for /ʒ/ Practice
Feel the vibration on each /ʒ/ sound! The treasure of pleasure is a measure beyond leisure. She had a vision of a luxurious occasion in a beige mansion. Usually, a casual measure of leisure brings great pleasure.
“Er” /ɚ/ (also transcribed as /ər/)
This sound is virtually the same as /ɝ/, but it occurs in unstressed syllables.
30 Super Common English Words with the ZH sound
English has nine fricatives – /f, v/, /θ, ð/, /s, z/, /ʃ, ʒ/ and /h/. Eight of these work in voiceless–voiced pairs and differ from each other in place of articulation.
The symbol [ʒ] is usually called "ezh" [ɛʒ] (but also sometimes "yogh"). It was often used in Old Irish and Old English manuscripts.