The acoustic phase of a shear horizontal (SH) wave propagating into a nematic liquid crystal cell is measured. To investigate the acoustic phase depending oil the director angle of a liquid crystal, the two SH wave devices having different initial molecular orientations are fabricated. The acoustic phase change of the SH wave devices is measured for various applied electric fields. The numerical analyses are also pet-formed by considering director distribution in the nematic liquid crystal layer. The experimental acoustic phase changes are well accorded with the calculated shear stresses as a viscous resistance.