LingoflyZ z — zeta
«zeta» is a consonant of the Basque script, read as “plain s, as in English”. The second "s": the tongue lies flat, its tip down behind the lower teeth — close to an ordinary English "s". For example, in the word “zazpi” — seven. The Basque alphabet has 27 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. The s/z pair is what trains a Basque ear: zazpi ("seven") starts with the plain, flat s. It appears, for example, in the word “mesedez” — please (when asking).
In short
| Character | Z z |
| Name | zeta |
| Sound | plain s, as in English |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 28th of 32: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are y and ts, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How it sounds
The second "s": the tongue lies flat, its tip down behind the lower teeth — close to an ordinary English "s"
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- seven
The character in the “z, s, x and their pairs” group
The heart of Basque phonetics: three sounds, z, s and x, and each has its own "ts": tz, ts and tx. z is a plain English s, s has a hint of "sh" in it, x is simply "sh", and tx is "ch". Native ears tell all six apart.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «zeta» it is “plain s, as in English”, as in the word “zazpi”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 27 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Basque character z read?
As “plain s, as in English” — it is a consonant of the Basque script. The second "s": the tongue lies flat, its tip down behind the lower teeth — close to an ordinary English "s". For example, in the word “zazpi” — seven.
What is the letter z called?
Zeta. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Basque script: it is called “zeta” and reads as “plain s, as in English”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can z be confused with?
The s/z pair is what trains a Basque ear: zazpi ("seven") starts with the plain, flat s. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.