| Voiceless postalveolar affricate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| tʃ | |||
| ʧ | |||
| IPA number | 103 134 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | t͡ʃ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0074 U+0361 U+0283 | ||
| X-SAMPA | tS or t_rS | ||
| |||
A voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant affricate or voiceless domed postalveolar sibilant affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to English-speakers as the "ch" sound in "chip".
This sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨tʃ⟩, ⟨t͡ʃ⟩, ⟨t͜ʃ⟩, or, in broad transcription, ⟨c⟩. There is also a ligature ⟨ʧ⟩, which was retired by the International Phonetic Association but is still used. An alternative commonly used in Americanist tradition is ⟨č⟩.
Historically, [tʃ] often derives from a former voiceless velar stop /k/ (as in English church; also in Gulf Arabic, Slavic languages, Indo-Iranian languages and Romance languages), or a voiceless dental stop /t/ by way of palatalization, especially next to a front vowel (as in English nature; also in Amharic, Portuguese, some accents of Egyptian, etc.).
Features of a voiceless domed postalveolar affricate:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adyghe | чэмы /čamë/چەمہـ | ⓘ | 'cow' | Some dialects contrast labialized and non-labialized forms. | |
| Albanian | çelur | [t͡ʃɛluɾ] | 'opened' | ||
| Aleut | Atkan dialect | chamĝul | [t͡ʃɑmʁul] | 'to wash' | |
| Amharic | አንቺ /anči | [ant͡ʃi] | 'you' | ||
| Arabic [1] | Central Palestinian | مكتبة (Normally unwritten)/mačtabe | [ˈmat͡ʃt̪abe] | 'library' | Corresponds to [k] in Standard Arabic and other varieties. See Arabic phonology |
| Iraqi | چتاب /čitaab | [t͡ʃɪˈt̪ɑːb] | 'book' | ||
| Jordanian | كتاب (Normally unwritten)/čitaab | [t͡ʃɪˈt̪aːb] | |||
| Aragonese | chuego | [ˈt͡ʃueɣo] | 'game' | ||
| Armenian | Eastern [2] | ճնճղուկ /čënčquk | ⓘ | 'sparrow' | |
| Assyrian | ܟ̰ܝܡܐ/č’yama | [t͡ʃˤjɑmɑ] | 'to shut' | Found in native terminology. Widespread usage in all dialect varieties. Developed from an original /tˤ/. | |
| Asturian | Chipre | [ˈt͡ʃipɾe] | 'Cyprus' | Mostly found in loanwords, if possible, usually replaced by x [ ʃ ]. | |
| Azerbaijani | Əkinçi /اکینچی | [ækint͡ʃʰi] | 'the ploughman' | ||
| Bengali | চশমা /čošma | [t͡ʃɔʃma] | 'spectacles' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology | |
| Basque | txalupa | [t͡ʃalupa] | 'boat' | ||
| Bulgarian | чучулига /čučuliga | [t͡ʃʊt͡ʃuˈliɡɐ] | 'lark' | See Bulgarian phonology | |
| Catalan | cotxe | [ˈko(t).t͡ʃə] | 'car' | See Catalan phonology. | |
| Central Alaskan Yup'ik | nacaq | [ˈnat͡ʃaq] | 'parka hood' | ||
| Choctaw | hakchioma | [hakt͡ʃioma] | 'tobacco' | ||
| Coptic | Bohairic dialect | ϭⲟϩ /čoh | [t͡ʃʰɔh] | 'touch' | |
| Czech | morče | [ˈmo̞rt͡ʃɛ] | 'guinea pig' | See Czech phonology | |
| Dhivehi | ޗަކަސް / čakas | [t͡ʃakas] | 'mud' | Relatively rare, usually occurs in loanwords / onomatoepic words | |
| Dutch | Tjongejonge | [t͡ʃɔŋəjɔŋə] | 'jeez' | An exclamation of (mild) annoyance, surprise, wonder or amazement. [3] Pronunciation is region dependent. | |
| English | beach | ⓘ | 'beach' | Slightly labialized [tʃʷ]. See English phonology | |
| Esperanto | ĉar | [t͡ʃar] | 'because' | See Esperanto phonology | |
| Estonian | tšello | [ˈtʃelˑo] | 'cello' | Rare, occurs only in loanwords. see Estonian phonology | |
| Faroese | gera | [t͡ʃeːɹa] | 'to do' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Faroese phonology | |
| Finnish | Tšekki | [ˈt̪ʃe̞kːi] | 'Czechia' | Rare, occurs only in loanwords. See Finnish phonology | |
| French | Standard | caoutchouc | [kaut͡ʃu] | 'rubber' | Relatively rare; occurs mostly in loanwords. See French phonology |
| Acadian | tiens | [t͡ʃɛ̃] | '(I/you) keep' | Allophone of /k/ and /tj/ before a front vowel. | |
| Galician | cheo | [ˈt͡ʃeo] | 'full' | Galician-Portuguese /t͡ʃ/ is conserved in Galician and merged with /ʃ/ in most Portuguese dialects. See Galician phonology | |
| Georgian [4] | ჩიხი /čixi | [t͡ʃixi] | 'impasse' | ||
| German | Standard [5] | Tschüss | [t͡ʃʏs] | 'bye' | Laminal or apico-laminal and strongly labialized. [5] See Standard German phonology |
| Greek | Cypriot | τσ̌άι /čai | [t͡ʃɑːiː] | 'tea' | |
| Hausa | ciwo/ثِيوُاْ | [t͡ʃíː.wòː] | 'disease, pain' | ||
| Hebrew | תשובה /čuva | [t͡ʃuˈva] | 'answer' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | |
| Hindustani | Hindi | चाय /cāy | [t͡ʃaːj] | 'tea' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology |
| Urdu | چائے /çāy | ||||
| Haitian Creole | match | [mat͡ʃ] | 'sports match' | ||
| Hungarian | gyümölcslé | [ˈɟymølt͡ʃleː] | 'fruit juice' | See Hungarian phonology | |
| Italian [6] | ciao | [ˈt͡ʃaːo] | 'hi' | See Italian phonology | |
| Javanese | cedhak /ꦕꦼꦣꦏ꧀/چۤڎَاك | [t͡ʃəɖaʔ] | 'near' | ||
| Kʼicheʼ | K'iche' | [kʼiˈt͡ʃeʔ] | 'Kʼicheʼ'' | Contrasts with ejective form | |
| Kabardian | чэнж /čanž/چەنژ | ⓘ | 'shallow' | ||
| Kashubian [7] | czësto | [t͡ʃəstɔ] | 'cleanly' | ||
| Kharia [8] | रओछओब | [rɔ̀.t͡ʃʰɔ́ʔb˺ᵐ] | 'side' | A low-tone pitch in the first syllable, then gradually turns high in the second one. See Anderson (2014) for discussion. | |
| Khortha [9] | चइन | [t͡ʃinʱ] | 'mark' | ||
| Kurdish | hirç /هرچ | [hɪɾt͡ʃ] | 'bear' | ||
| Ladino | kolcha/קולגﬞה | [ˈkolt͡ʃa] | 'quilt' | ||
| Macedonian | чека/čeka | [t͡ʃɛka] | 'wait' | See Macedonian phonology | |
| Malay | Malaysian | cuci /چوچي | [t͡ʃut͡ʃi] | 'to wash' | See Malay phonology |
| Indonesian | Palatal [ c ] according to some analyses. See Malay phonology | ||||
| Malayalam | ചതി/chathi | [t͡ʃɐd̪i] | 'betrayal' | See Malayalam phonology | |
| Maltese | bliċ | [blit͡ʃ] | 'bleach' | ||
| Manx | çhiarn | [ˈt͡ʃaːrn] | 'lord' | ||
| Marathi | चहा /čahá | [t͡ʃəhaː] | 'tea' | Contrasts with aspirated form. Allophone of /tɕ / and /ts/.See Marathi phonology | |
| Mongolian | Khalkha dialect | наргиж/nargič ᠨᠠᠷᠭᠢᠵ | [ˈnargit͡ʃ] | 'laugh' | |
| Nahuatl | āyōtōchtli | [aːjoːˈtoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi] | 'armadillo' | ||
| Norwegian | Some dialects | kjøkken | [t͡ʃøkːen] | 'kitchen' | See Norwegian phonology |
| Nunggubuyu [10] | jaro | [t͡ʃaɾo] | 'needle' | ||
| Occitan | chuc | [ˈt͡ʃyk] | 'juice' | See Occitan phonology | |
| Odia | ଚକ /caka | [t͡ʃɔkɔ] | 'wheel' | Contrasts with aspirated form. | |
| Persian | چوب /чӯб/çub | [t͡ʃʰuːb] | 'wood' | See Persian phonology | |
| Polish | Gmina Istebna | ciemny | [ˈt͡ʃɛmn̪ɘ] | 'dark' | /ʈ͡ʂ/ and /t͡ɕ/ merge into [t͡ʃ] in these dialects. In standard Polish, /t͡ʃ/ is commonly used to transcribe what actually is a laminal voiceless retroflex affricate. |
| Lubawa dialect [11] | |||||
| Malbork dialect [11] | |||||
| Ostróda dialect [11] | |||||
| Warmia dialect [11] | |||||
| Portuguese | Most northern and some central Portuguese dialects | chamar | [t͡ʃɐˈmaɾ] | 'to call' | Archaic realization of etymological ⟨ch⟩. Its use is diminishing due to influence of the standard language, being replaced by [ ʃ ]. |
| Most Brazilian dialects [12] | presente | [pɾe̞ˈzẽ̞t͡ʃi] | 'present' | Allophone of /t/ before /i,ĩ/ (including when [i,ĩ,j] is not actually produced) and other instances of [i] (e.g. epenthesis), marginal sound otherwise. See Portuguese phonology | |
| Most dialects | tchau | [ˈt͡ʃaw] | 'bye' | In Standard European Portuguese it occurs only in recent loanwords. | |
| Punjabi | ਚੌਲ / چول/čol | [t͡ʃɔːl] | 'rice' | ||
| Quechua | chunka | [t͡ʃʊŋka] | 'ten' | ||
| Romani | ćiriklo | [t͡ʃiriˈklo] | 'bird' | Contrasts with aspirated form. | |
| Romanian | cer | [ˈt͡ʃe̞r] | 'sky' | See Romanian phonology | |
| Rotuman [13] | joni | [ˈt͡ʃɔni] | 'to flee' | ||
| Scottish Gaelic | slàinte | [ˈsl̪ˠaːnʲt͡ʃə] | 'health' | Southern dialects only; standard pronunciation is [tʲ]. See Scottish Gaelic phonology | |
| Serbo-Croatian | Some speakers | čokoláda чоколада | [t͡ʃo̞ko̞ˈɫǎ̠ːd̪a̠] | 'chocolate' | In varieties that do not distinguish /ʈ͡ʂ/ from /t͡ɕ/. |
| Silesian | Gmina Istebna [14] | szpańelsko | [t̠͡ʃpaɲɛskɔ] | 'Spanish' | These dialects merge /ʈ͡ʂ/ and /t͡ɕ/ into [t͡ʃ]. |
| Jablunkov [14] | [t̠͡ʃpaɲɛlskɔ] | ||||
| Slovak | číslo | [t͡ʃiːslo] | 'number' | See Slovak phonology | |
| Slovene | koča | [ˈkòːt͡ʃáː] | 'cottage' | ||
| Solos | tsino | [t͡ʃinɔ] | 'bone' | ||
| Spanish [15] | chocolate | ⓘ | 'chocolate' | See Spanish phonology | |
| Swahili | jicho | [ʄit͡ʃo]/جِيچٗ | 'eye' | ||
| Swedish | Finland | tjugo | [t͡ʃʉːɡʉ] | 'twenty' | See Swedish phonology |
| Some rural Swedish dialects | kärlek | [t͡ʃæːɭeːk] | 'love' | ||
| Tagalog | tsuper | [t͡ʃʊˈpɛɾ] | 'driver' | See Tagalog phonology | |
| Tlingit | jinkaat | [ˈt͡ʃinkʰaːt] | 'ten' | ||
| Turkish | çok | ⓘ | 'very' | See Turkish phonology | |
| Tyap | cat | [t͡ʃad] | 'love' | ||
| Ubykh | Çəbƹəja/čëbžëya | [t͡ʃəbʒəja] | 'pepper' | See Ubykh phonology | |
| Ukrainian [16] | чотири /čotyry | [t͡ʃo̞ˈtɪrɪ] | 'four' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
| Uzbek | choʻl/çúl /چۉل | [t͡ʃɵl] | 'desert' | ||
| Welsh | tsips | [t͡ʃɪps] | 'chips' | Occurs in loanwords. See Welsh phonology | |
| Yiddish | טשאַטשקע/čačke | [t͡ʃat͡ʃkɛ] | 'knick-knack' | See Yiddish phonology | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan [17] | chane | [t͡ʃanɘ] | ||
Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Polish, Catalan, and Thai have a voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate /t͡ɕ/; this is technically postalveolar but it is less precise to use /t͡ʃ/.
There are several Unicode characters based on the tesh digraph (ʧ):
| Voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant affricate | |
|---|---|
| t̠ɹ̠̊˔ | |
| tɹ̝̊˗ | |
| Audio sample | |
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Australian [22] | tree | [t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊iː] | 'tree' | Phonetic realization of the stressed, syllable-initial sequence /tr/. [22] [23] In General American and Received Pronunciation, the less common alternative is alveolar [ tɹ̝̊ ]. [23] See Australian English phonology and English phonology |
| General American [23] | [t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊ʷi] | ||||
| Received Pronunciation [23] | [t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊ʷɪi̯] | ||||
| Scottish Gaelic | Lewis [24] | sitrich | [ˈʃiᶜ̧t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊iç] | 'to neigh' | Palato-alveolar. Phonetic realization of /t̪ɾ/ after palatal or palatalised consonants in medial clusters. |