Pronunciation Continued 9: English Diphthongs (Consonants 1)

   (Part 1 of Long Description, Part 2 of Long Description can be found at Pronunciation Continued 10: English Diphthongs (Consonants 2) )

There are a number of consonant diphthongs which can be rather confusing.  One of the most problematic of them all is the ch.  Why?  That is a very easy question to answer.  The ch has at least four different pronunciations..   The fact that a consonant , vowel or diphthong has several different pronunciation is not a problem in itself.  The problem is when there is NO rule.   Do you know how to pronounce the following words with the ch but, much more importantly, why the following words have the pronunciation that they do:  chair, children, chilly, chose, chew, chin, much, pooch, punch, touch, cherry, clutch, lunch, Chloe, Machiavelli, chlorine, chronicle, Bach, chemistry, stomach, Christmas, chronic, Chrysanthemum, Chrysler, character, choir, machinate, mechanic, scholar, schooner, Chablis, champagne, Chevrolet, Champlain, charade, Charlotte, Chicago, Chang Tso-lin, Chao-chow, Chiang Kai-shek.?  If the answer to the both questions is no than you have a problem.

          You can not look at the ch without also examining the pronunciation of the sh.   The sh is a problem for those non-native speakers who do not distinguish between the sh and the ch.  The following words are NOT pronounced the same; that is, they are not homophones.  Rather, they are minimal pairs which are words which are ALMOST pronounced the same: chip vs. ship, chew vs. shoe, cheat vs. sheet, cheese vs. she’s, chin vs. shin.   It should be noted that there is one group of words, generally they are recent imports from France, where the diphthong ch sounds is pronounced like the sh. The following are a few examples: Chablis, chaise, chalet, champagne, chapeau, chaperon.  The following words are NOT minimal pairs; rather, they are homophones: chère vs. share, Cherie vs. Sherry, chanty vs. shanty.