Pronouncing the "s" in "conservative", "conserve" and "conversation"

[tetrahall]

Hi,
What is the correct pronunciation of the letter "s" in the following underlined words - "s" or "z":
1) The British Conservative Party

2) Is the UK a conservative society?

3) Conservation of Energy

4) I had a useful conversation with my supervisor yesterady.

I have heard "Conservative Party" pronounced both ways on the BBC!

I was told by an English language teacher from London that the "s" should always be pronounced as "s", not "z". However, there are regional variations within the UK, he said. it depends on where the speaker is from.

What do the experts say?

 

[Tarheel]

I have only heard it pronounced as es, but I suppose there are variations.

 

[tetrahall]

I have only heard it pronounced as es, but I suppose there are variations.

Could that be the American pronunciation?

On Cambridge dictionary online (Cambridge ORG), I've noticed the "s" is stressed more when pronounced the US way!

 

[Amigos4]

I was told by an English language teacher from London that the "s" should always be pronounced as "s", not "z". However, there are regional variations within the UK, he said. it depends on where the speaker is from.

What do the experts say?

Your "English language teacher" is wrong! The letter "s" is not always pronounced as "s". (AmE)
When the letter “s” comes between two vowel sounds, you pronounce it as the letter “z”: Some good examples of this are in the words cousin, reason, and teasing. In all of these examples and others like it, you find the "s" in between the two vowels.

 

[tetrahall]

Your "English language teacher" is wrong! The letter "s" is not always pronounced as "s". (AmE)

That was my mistake as I didn't phrase it accurately. The teacher said in "ALL" the above examples the letter "s" should always be pronounced as "s". She didn't say that the "s" should always be pronounced as "s".

Even then, I am not sure that she is right. The BBC is a reference, and I am sure I heard both variations by newsreaders.

By the way, she is not my teacher -

 

[Tarheel]

I was specifically talking about the "s" as in "consider", "conserve", "console" and "consume". (Apparently, that's what you meant.)

It's hard for me to believe that pronunciation would be a problem for you if your information is correct. It's also hard for me to believe you think we say "English language teacher" for the same reason.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, it's pronounced as an unvoiced /s/ in all your examples.