Pronunciation of CH

[SKG_Scintill]

Yes I know, I don't ever come in this subgenre and already 2 threads? Whatever :P

I've been trying to figure out why it is that in some cases the diglyph "ch" is pronounced as a "tsh", in other cases as "k" and in even other cases as "sh": "chimpansee", "chiropractor" and "chic", respectively.

At first I thought it could be the vowel after "ch", but as just was shown, that certainly isn't true. Nor the consonant after "ch[aeiou]".
On the other hand, when "ch" is followed by a consonant, so far it's always been pronounced as a "k" (chrome, chlorine, chronic, etc).

I have yet to research the etymology of the words, if the land of origin is of any cause. That is research for another time.

Does anyone happen to know or have ideas as to what causes the difference in pronunciation?

[Pseudo Enigma]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

it might be another messed up thing that happened in the course of evolution for English. It might also depend on accent. I for one pronounce it kind of "tch" like.

what I mean is like how Library is no longer Li br ary, but Lie Berry or something in common tongue. Or February is Fe ber ary instead of Fe brue ary.

Certainly something interesting indeed. Let us know if you find the answer-- that is if no one posts it first.

[Izzy]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

I'm going to guess the origin of words coming from a lot of different places that ended up being conflicting.

[ilikexd]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

Language of origin means everything in this case.

I don't know what you mean by 'ch' vs. 'tsh' in the words 'chimpanzee' and 'chirping'. Both 'ch' clusters are pronounced identically.

'Chic' gets an 'sh' pronunciation because the language of origin is French. It is theorized to be related to the German word 'Schick' "tact", "skill", with the original meaning of 'chic' being " "subtlety". Other words like this are 'charlatan' and 'champagne'.

Words with 'ch' when it has a normal "ch" pronunciation generally come from Romance languages other than French. However, some words attested to very early French can have a 'ch' pronunciation rather than 'sh': 'challenger' from 'chalengeour'. These words still do come from other sources: 'chin' from Germanic 'cin'.

[SKG_Scintill]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

Sorry, I guess my mind went a bit double on that, changed "chirping" to "chiropractor" :P

Edit: rethinking the "ch" being a "k" sound, it does seem like they're all greek words

[ilikexd]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

Sorry, I guess my mind went a bit double on that, changed "chirping" to "chiropractor" :P

Edit: rethinking the "ch" being a "k" sound, it does seem like they're all greek words

yes

you can just look here for any specific word: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php

[SKG_Scintill]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

As discussed in prochat, "ache" is an exception to that rule. Well... not really... just haven't found another word with Proto-Germanic origin to confirm it

[UserNameGoesHere]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

it might be another messed up thing that happened in the course of evolution for English. It might also depend on accent. I for one pronounce it kind of "tch" like.

what I mean is like how Library is no longer Li br ary, but Lie Berry or something in common tongue. Or February is Fe ber ary instead of Fe brue ary.

Certainly something interesting indeed. Let us know if you find the answer-- that is if no one posts it first.

Where are you located that words are pronounced this way? If you pronounce "library" like "lie berry" you're just going to sound like Homer Simpson. (Seriously, he did exactly this on one episode of The Simpsons - it was the crayon in the brain episode)

And I and everyone I've ever heard pronounce February "Febuary" and never "Feberary". The first R is merely silent.

[justin_ator]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

Winsday

[ilikexd]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

Where are you located that words are pronounced this way? If you pronounce "library" like "lie berry" you're just going to sound like Homer Simpson. (Seriously, he did exactly this on one episode of The Simpsons - it was the crayon in the brain episode)

And I and everyone I've ever heard pronounce February "Febuary" and never "Feberary". The first R is merely silent.

I take the effort to pronounce it as it's spelled. The first 'r' isn't at all silent, and pronouncing it as such is an alternate pronunciation that is sometimes called incorrect but by now has become somewhat acceptable.

I do agree that dropping the first 'r' of 'library' sounds terrible. I hear children do it sometimes, but that's it.

[justin_ator]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

I used to say peppermoni as a kid

[ilikexd]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

I used to say peppermoni as a kid

epenthesis

[justin_ator]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

pasghetti

[ilikexd]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

pasghetti

metathesis

:P that one is very funny

[justin_ator]

Re: Pronunciation of CH

axe you a question?

or how about write a shedewul