Voiceless postalveolar affricate

Voiceless postalveolar affricate
tʃ
t̠ʃ
ʧ
IPA number103 134
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)t​̠​ʃ
Unicode (hex)U+0074 U+0320 U+0283
X-SAMPAt_S or tS

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 some broad transcriptions ⟨c⟩ (though this is the symbol for a voiceless palatal plosive). 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 alveolar 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

Features of a voiceless domed postalveolar affricate:

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Adygheчэмы/čamë/چەمہ[t͡ʃamə]ⓘ'cow' Some dialects contrast labialized and non-labialized forms.
Albaniançelur[t͡ʃɛluɾ]'opened'
AleutAtkan dialectchamĝul[t͡ʃɑmʁul]'to wash'
Amharicአንቺ/anči[ant͡ʃi]'you'
ArabicCentral Palestinianمكتبة (Normally unwritten)/mačtabe[ˈmat͡ʃt̪abe]'library'Corresponds to [k] in Standard Arabic and other varieties. See Arabic phonology
Iraqiچتاب/čitāb[t͡ʃɪˈt̪ɑːb]'book'
Jordanianكتاب (Normally unwritten)/čitāb[t͡ʃɪˈt̪aːb]
Aragonesechuego[ˈt͡ʃueɣo]'game'
ArmenianEasternճնճղուկ/čënčquk[t͡ʃənt͡ʃʁuk]ⓘ'sparrow'
Assyrianܟ̰ܝܡܐ/č’yama[t͡ʃˤjɑmɑ]'to shut'Found in native terminology. Widespread usage in all dialect varieties. Developed from an original /tˤ/.
AsturianChipre[ˈt͡ʃipɾe]'Cyprus'Mostly found in loanwords, if possible, usually replaced by x [ʃ].
AzerbaijaniƏkinçi/اکینچی[ækint͡ʃʰi]'the ploughman'
Bengaliচশমা/čošma[t͡ʃɔʃma]'spectacles'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology
Basquetxalupa[t͡ʃalupa]'boat'
Bulgarianчучулига/čučuliga[t͡ʃʊt͡ʃuˈliɡɐ]'lark'See Bulgarian phonology
CatalanSome speakerscotxe[ˈko(t)t͡ʃə]'car'Its pronunciation varies between an alveolo-palatal [t͡ɕ] and a postalveolar [t͡ʃ] fricative. See Catalan phonology.
Some Valencian speakersxec[ˈt͡ʃek]'cheque'
Some speakerstots[ˈt̪ot͡ʃ]'all, everyone'
Central Alaskan Yup'iknacaq[ˈnat͡ʃaq]'parka hood'
Choctawhakchioma[hakt͡ʃioma]'tobacco'
CopticBohairic dialectϭⲟϩ/čoh[t͡ʃʰɔh]'touch'
Czechmorče[ˈmɔrt͡ʃɛ]ⓘ'guinea pig'See Czech phonology
Dhivehi ޗަކަސް / čakas [t͡ʃakas] 'mud' Relatively rare, usually occurs in loanwords / onomatoepic words
DutchTjongejonge[t͡ʃɔŋəjɔŋə]'jeez'An exclamation of (mild) annoyance, surprise, wonder or amazement.

Pronunciation is region dependent.

Englishbeach[biːt͡ʃ]ⓘ'beach'Slightly labialized [tʃʷ]. See English phonology
Esperantoĉar[t͡ʃar]'because'See Esperanto phonology
Estonian tšello [ˈtʃelˑo] 'cello' Rare, occurs only in loanwords. see Estonian phonology
Faroesegera[t͡ʃeːɹa]'to do'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Faroese phonology
Finnish Tšekki [ˈt̪ʃe̞kːi] 'Czechia' Rare, occurs only in loanwords. See Finnish phonology
FrenchStandardcaoutchouc[kaut͡ʃu]'rubber'Relatively rare; occurs mostly in loanwords. See French phonology
Acadiantiens[t͡ʃɛ̃]'(I/you) keep'Allophone of /k/ and /tj/ before a front vowel.
Galiciancheo[ˈt͡ʃeo]'full'Galician-Portuguese /t͡ʃ/ is conserved in Galician and merged with /ʃ/ in most Portuguese dialects. See Galician phonology
Georgianჩიხი/čixi[t͡ʃixi]'impasse'
GermanStandardTschüss[t͡ʃʏs]'bye'Laminal or apico-laminal and strongly labialized. See Standard German phonology
GreekCypriotτσ̌άι/čai[t͡ʃɑːiː]'tea'
Hausaciwo/ثِيوُاْ[t͡ʃíː.wòː]'disease, pain'
Hebrewתשובה/čuva[t͡ʃuˈva]'answer'See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani Hindiचाय/cāy[t͡ʃaːj]'tea'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology
Urdu چائے/çāy
Haitian Creolematch[mat͡ʃ]'sports match'
Hungariangyümölcslé[ˈɟymølt͡ʃleː]'fruit juice'See Hungarian phonology
Italianciao[ˈt͡ʃaːo]'hi'See Italian phonology
Javanesecedhak/ꦕꦼꦣꦏ꧀/چۤڎَاك[t͡ʃəɖaʔ]'near'
KʼicheʼK'iche'[kʼiˈt͡ʃeʔ]'Kʼicheʼ''Contrasts with ejective form
Kabardianчэнж/čanž/چەنژ[t͡ʃanʒ]ⓘ'shallow'
Kashmiriچاے/cāy/[t͡ʃaːj]'tea'
Kashubianczësto [t͡ʃəstɔ]'cleanly'
Khariaरओछओब[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.
Khorthaचइन[t͡ʃinʱ]'mark'
Kurdishhirç/هرچ[hɪɾt͡ʃ]'bear'
Ladinokolcha/קולגﬞה[ˈkolt͡ʃa]'quilt'
Macedonianчека/čeka[t͡ʃɛka]'wait'See Macedonian phonology
Malay Malaysian cuci/چوچي [t͡ʃut͡ʃi] 'to wash' See Malay phonology
IndonesianPalatal [c] according to some analyses. See Malay phonology
Malayalam ചതി/chathi [t͡ʃɐd̪i] 'betrayal' See Malayalam phonology
Maltesebliċ[blit͡ʃ]'bleach'
Manxçhiarn[ˈt͡ʃaːrn]'lord'
Marathiचहा/čahá[t͡ʃəhaː]'tea'Contrasts with aspirated form. Allophone of /tɕ / and /ts/.See Marathi phonology
Mongolian Khalkha dialect наргиж/nargič
ᠨᠠᠷᠭᠢᠵ		 [ˈnargit͡ʃ] 'laugh'
Nahuatlāyōtōchtli[aːjoːˈtoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi]'armadillo'
NorwegianSome dialectskjøkken[t͡ʃøkːen]'kitchen'See Norwegian phonology
Nunggubuyujaro[t͡ʃaɾo]'needle'
Occitanchuc[ˈt͡ʃyk]'juice'See Occitan phonology
Odiaଚକ/caka[t͡ʃɔkɔ]'wheel'Contrasts with aspirated form.
Persianچوب/чӯб/çub[t͡ʃʰuːb]'wood'See Persian phonology
PolishGmina Istebnaciemny[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
Malbork dialect
Ostróda dialect
Warmia dialect
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 dialectspresente[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 dialectstchau[ˈt͡ʃaw]'bye'In Standard European Portuguese it occurs only in recent loanwords.
Punjabiਚੌਲ/ چول/čol[t͡ʃɔːl]'rice'
Quechuachunka[t͡ʃʊŋka]'ten'
Romani ćiriklo [t͡ʃiriˈklo] 'bird' Contrasts with aspirated form.
Romaniancer[ˈt͡ʃe̞r]'sky'See Romanian phonology
Rotumanjoni[ˈt͡ʃɔni]'to flee'
Russianчеловек[ˈt͡ʃɪlɐˈvʲek]'person'Allophone of /tɕ/. See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelicslàinte[ˈsl̪ˠaːnʲt͡ʃə]'health'Southern dialects only; standard pronunciation is [tʲ]. See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Serbo-CroatianSome speakersčokoláda чоколада[t͡ʃo̞ko̞ˈɫǎ̠ːd̪a̠]'chocolate'In varieties that do not distinguish /ʈ͡ʂ/ from /t͡ɕ/.
SilesianGmina Istebnaszpańelsko[t̠͡ʃpaɲɛskɔ]'Spanish'These dialects merge /ʈ͡ʂ/ and /t͡ɕ/ into [t͡ʃ].
Jablunkov[t̠͡ʃpaɲɛlskɔ]
Slovak číslo [t͡ʃiːslo]ⓘ 'number' See Slovak phonology
Slovene koča [ˈkòːt͡ʃáː] 'cottage'
Solos tsino [t͡ʃinɔ] 'bone'
Spanishchocolate[t͡ʃo̞ko̞ˈlät̪e̞]ⓘ'chocolate'See Spanish phonology
Swahilijicho/جِيچٗ[ʄit͡ʃo]'eye'
SwedishFinlandtjugo[t͡ʃʉːɡʉ]'twenty'See Swedish phonology
Some rural Swedish dialectskärlek[t͡ʃæːɭeːk]'love'
Tagalogtsuper[t͡ʃʊˈpɛɾ]'driver'See Tagalog phonology
Tlingitjinkaat[ˈt͡ʃinkʰaːt]'ten'
Turkishçok[t͡ʃo̞k]ⓘ'very'See Turkish phonology
Tyapcat[t͡ʃad]'love'
UbykhÇəbƹəja/čëbžëya[t͡ʃəbʒəja]'pepper'See Ubykh phonology
Ukrainianчотири/čotyry[t͡ʃo̞ˈtɪrɪ]'four'See Ukrainian phonology
Uzbekchoʻl/çúl/چۉل[t͡ʃɵl]'desert'
Welshtsips[t͡ʃɪps]'chips'Occurs in loanwords. See Welsh phonology
West FrisianTytsjerksteradiel[tiˈt͡ʃɛrkstəraˌdiə̯l]'Tytsjerksteradiel'See West Frisian phonology
Yiddishטשאַטשקע/čačke[t͡ʃat͡ʃkɛ]'knick-knack'See Yiddish phonology
ZapotecTilquiapanchane[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

Voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant affricate
t̠ɹ̝̊

Features

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
EnglishAustraliantree[t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊iː]'tree'Phonetic realization of the stressed, syllable-initial sequence /tr/. In General American and Received Pronunciation, the less common alternative is alveolar [tɹ̝̊]. See Australian English phonology and English phonology
General American[t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊ʷi]
Received Pronunciation[t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊ʷɪi̯]
Scottish Gaelic Lewis sitrich [ˈʃiᶜ̧t̠͡ɹ̝̠̊iç] 'to neigh' Palato-alveolar. Phonetic realization of /t̪ɾ/ after palatal or palatalised consonants in medial clusters.

Notes

  1. ↑ Watson (2002:17)
  2. ↑ Dum-Tragut (2009:13)
  3. ↑ "Tjongejonge". 2 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Shosted & Chikovani (2006:255)
  5. 1 2 Mangold (2005:51–52)
  6. ↑ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:117)
  7. ↑ Jerzy Treder. "Fonetyka i fonologia". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Gregory D. S. (2016). "Austroasiatic languages of South Asia". In Hock, Hans Henrich; Bashir, Elena (eds.). The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide. Volume 7 of The World of Linguistics. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 107–130. doi:10.1515/9783110423303-003.
  9. ↑ Paudyal, Netra P. (2025). A Grammar of Khortha, in Brill's Studies in South and Southwest Asian Languages. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004712676. ISBN 978-90-04-71266-9.
  10. ↑ Ladefoged (2005:158)
  11. 1 2 3 4 Dubisz, Karaś & Kolis (1995:62)
  12. ↑ Barbosa & Albano (2004:228)
  13. ↑ Blevins (1994:492)
  14. 1 2 Dąbrowska (2004:?)
  15. ↑ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
  16. ↑ Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  17. ↑ Merrill (2008:108)
  18. ↑ Miller, Kirk; Ashby, Michael (2020-11-08). "L2/20-252R: Unicode request for IPA modifier-letters (a), pulmonic" (PDF).
  19. ↑ Miller, Kirk (2020-07-11). "L2/20-125R: Unicode request for expected IPA retroflex letters and similar letters with hooks" (PDF).
  20. ↑ Anderson, Deborah (2020-12-07). "L2/21-021: Reference doc numbers for L2/20-266R "Consolidated code chart of proposed phonetic characters" and IPA etc. code point and name changes" (PDF).
  21. ↑ Miller, Kirk; Everson, Michael (2021-01-03). "L2/21-004: Unicode request for dezh with retroflex hook" (PDF).
  22. 1 2 Cox & Fletcher (2017), p. 144.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Cruttenden (2014), pp. 177, 186–188, 192.
  24. ↑ Oftedal (1956), p. 129.

References