hello dear colleagues

 

I need help with the pronunciations of the lettre "ch" when it is pronounced tch and when it is pronounced k

 

are there any specific rules.

thanks in advance 

yes there specific rules according to the origin of the word:I found an interesting worksheet  here about this lesson make the  search about it in esl and you will find it.

 

There �s a helpful � and wonderfully brief � page about that particular letter combination here:

 

 

I usually add the Scots and Irish pronunciation /x/ which you �ll find in words like loch/lough as well as in a few other non-Celtic words with the ch combination (matriarch, parochial etc).

Here is what Samuel Johnson wrote in " A Grammar of the English Tongue"

 

C.

C has before e and i the sound of s; as sincerely, centrick, century, circular, cistern, city, siccity: before a, o, and u, it sounds like k, as calm, concavity, copper, incorporate, curiosity, concupiscence.

C might be omitted in the language without loss, since one of its sounds might be supplied by, s, and the other by k, but that it preserves to the eye the etymology of words, as face from facies, captive from captivus.

Ch has a sound which is analyzed into tsh, as church, chin, crutch. It is the same sound which the Italians give to the c simple before i and e, as citta, cerro.

Ch is sounded like k in words derived from the Greek, as chymist, scheme, choler. Arch is commonly sounded ark before a vowel, as archangel, and with the English sound of ch before a consonant, as archbishop.

Ch, in some French words not yet assimilated, sounds like sh, as machine, chaise.

C, according to English orthography, never ends a word; therefore we write stick, block, which were originally, sticke, blocke. In such words c is now mute.

It is used before l and r, as clock, cross.

Ah, dear Samuel Johnson:

 

 

 

Almaz,

where is the LOL smiley when you need it? 

Hi, azoura!

 

Yes, there is a problem with the main page that prevents you from seeing the new contributions on the left of the main page.

The webmaster will definitely see to this.

 

However, that is no problem!

You can have a look here to find them.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Giorgi 

 Tatiana,

 

I just wanted to say how impressed I am that you actually have such a list. Is there a �list 1 �? Backaches are hard to forget ;-)

 

And as for rules, we first need to know the origin of the word? So that kind of makes it hard. Might be easier to just use a dictionary or learn them as they appear?

 

Finally, are there any Canadians out there who can confirm the pronunciation of schedule? I am teaching some Canadian English next week and I am bound to be asked, eh.

 

Tap