On the pronunciation of 's' in 'dislike' (/s/ vs /z/)
With a bit of a surprise I have recently learnt that most(all?) native English speakers pronounce the 's' in dislike (and similar words with the dis- prefix) as /s/, not /z/.
However, the /z/ variant also seems to exist, as a quick Google search by the "dizlike" pronunciation keywords has shown.
One of the links from the above search results leads to the following text from A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the English Language abridged from Webster in 1856:
§ 70. S unmarked has its regular sharp or hissing
sound, as in same, gas, mass, &c.
§ 71. S, when marked thus, $, s, has the sound of
z hard, as in has, xoas, &c.
Note. — There has been much diversity between
orthoepists as to the sound of s in words commencing
in dis, as disarm, disburse, &c. Walker laid down
this rule: "It (s) ought always to be pronounced
like z when unaccented, and followed by an ac-
cented flat mute (b, d, g hard, v), a liquid (I, m,
n, r), or a vowel." Hence he gave pronunciation
like the following, disbud, dizbud; disedify, diz-
edify; disjoin, dizjoin; dislike, dizlike; dislodge, <-- dizlike
cfelodge, &c. Scarcely any subsequent orthoepist
has gone so far. Webster's Dictionary gives s the
sound of z in only the following words, viz., dis-
arm, disaster, discern, disease, disheir, dishonest,
dishonor, dismal, disown, dissolve. The Imperial,
Craig, and Wright agree almost to a word with
Webster. Perry and Knowles give the z sound
even in fewer words ; Smart gives it in about eight
more; Jameson and Boag go still further; but, with
one or two exceptions, the orthoepists as a body
have condemned the extent to which Walker has
gone in this respect.
Source
So far, I failed to find any information on (and this is essentially my question:) whether this peculiarity (using the /z/ sound in dislike) can be attributed to a particular region, background or anything of that sort, or is it just some sort of a personal preference?
So I'm asking the community for some help with this matter.
Edit
A bit more on what lead me to believe that the 'dizlike' pronunciation exists:
David Hart on Twitter: "I dislike it when people pronounce dislike as though it is spelt dizlike."
Judging from the initial comments, though, it looks like English speakers strongly disagree with the very possibility of using /z/ in dislike. Other than to mock a foreign accent, I presume.
What would be the explanation of the quoted text, then? (The one provided as an image). Yes, I realise that the date is 1856 - does this mean the /z/ pronunciation existed at that time but completely disappeared by now? Or is it just a dictionary mistake and should be ignored?
Edit 2
Transcriptions of dislike in most popular dictionaries:
Macmillan: NOUN /dɪsˈlaɪk/
Cambridge: UK /dɪˈslaɪk/ US /dɪˈslaɪk/
Merriam-Webster: dis·like | \ (ˌ)dis-ˈlīk , ˈdis-ˌlīk \
Pronunciation examples on Forvo - 5 recordings by native speakers.
From a bit of research online, it appears that the pronunciation /dɪzˈlaɪk/ is essentially teutonic (found in Celtic, Scottish dialects, OE) and is considered archaic today.
Sources suggest it was the official pronunciation in the 1800s:
- 1805: Stephen Jones, "A General Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language," (Vernor & Hood), London.
- 1818: John Walker, "A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the English Language," (Ambrose Walker), Philadelphia.
- 1847: William James, "Dictionary of the English and French Languages for General Use," (B. Tauchnitz, Leipzig).
- 1872: William A. Wheeler, "A dictionary of the English language, … Mainly abridged from the quarto dictionary of Noah Webster," Springfield, Mass.