Hi there this is the ʧ sound. As in the words:
- change /tʆeɪndʒ/
- choice /tʆɔɪs/
- church /tʆɜːtʆ/
How to Pronounce the ʧ Sound
The ʧ sound is from the ‘Consonants Pairs’ group and it is called the ‘Voiceless palato- alveolar affricate’. This means that you create friction by first stop the airflow with your tongue and the ridge behind your teeth, then release it through a narrow gap.
The /ʧ/ sound is made through the mouth and it is Unvoiced which means that you don’t use your vocal chords to make the sound.
It is defined by shape of you lips and the position of your tongue and it is an affricate, which is a sound made by closing the air flow but then opening it by forcing air through a narrow space. In this case it is the tip of your tongue that creates the narrow space between it and the ridge behind the top teeth.
To produce the sound touch your tongue to that ridge lightly and allow air pressure to force the tongue down opening the airway.
How the ʧ sound is Spelled
The /ʧ/ phoneme is normally spelled with the letters ‘ch’ as in the words: As in the word:
- choose
But can also be spelled with the letters ’t-u’ as in the words:
- culture
- century
- eventually /ɪˈventʆuəli/
Examples of the ʧ sound
Here are some words that begin with the /ʧ/ sound:
- check /tʆek/
- charge /tʆɑːdʒ/
- challenge /ˈtʆæləndʒ/
- chat /ʧæt/
Here are some words with the ʧ sound in the middle:
- future /ˈCuːtʆə/
- nature /ˈneɪtʆə/
- kitchen /ˈkɪtʆən/
- structure /ˈstrʌktʆə/
Here are some words with the /ʧ/ sound at the end:
- research /rɪˈsɜːtʆ/
- teach /tiːtʆ/
- approach /əˈprəʊtʆ/
- rich /rɪtʆ/
So, that’s it for the /ʧ/ sound.
