Ch (digraph)

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Ch in Braille (Braille)
The ch ligature in Gothic script
Example for the ch in the locking sentence (Fraktur script)

The letter combination Ch is a digraph in German and some other languages ​​(such as Polish ) that is used for voiceless fricatives ; in other languages ​​it is also used for affricates or other consonants (e.g. English , Spanish [tʃ]; Italian [k]). In some alphabets, for example in Slovak or Sorbian , the digraph is a separate letter .

The digraph is in Morse code with - - - -illustrated, but not as an independent character in Unicode encoding, as it generally no longer be a day ligature is. In the fracture sentence , however, a ch ligature must be used. This can be recognized, among other things, in the locking clause (a text markup method that is very common in Fraktur), since the ch ligature is not locked.

German pronunciation

In German, Ch is pronounced as a strong (voiceless) fricative in two different ways:

  • After the "dark" ( velar ) vowels (a, o, u , or au) as a voiceless velar fricative (rear palate sound) x or unvoiced uvular fricative χ if it is not part of the diminutive - suffix chen is. Examples: also [ ʔaux ] / [ ʔauχ ], book [ buːx ] / [ buːχ ], hole [ lɔx ] / [ lɔχ ], after [ naːx ] / [ naːχ ] (in words from the Greek even if vowel and fricative originally belonging to two different word elements: autochthonous, hypochondriac , sometimes comes in the adoption of words from other languages [⁠ x ⁠] or [⁠ χ ⁠] also the letters before, for example in words from Yiddish. , Hebrew and Russian also written with ch: chutzpah ). ​​ ​​
  • In all other positions in which ch is spoken as a fricative ( after light vowels and after consonants, at the beginning of the word before light vowels and at the beginning of the suffix -chen ), as a voiceless palatal fricative (front palate sound) ç . Examples: I [ ʔɪç ], milk [ mɪlç ], chemistry [ çe'miː ], Autochen [ 'ʔaʊtoçən ], you [ ʔɔʏ̯ç ].​​

(In some southern German varieties such as the Swiss Germans but each ch in these cases as [⁠ x ⁠] or [⁠ χ ⁠] pronounced.)

In German it depends exclusively on the preceding vowel, the following one plays no role in the decision [ ç / x ] (in contrast to χ in Greek). (But it is different with the decision [ k ] or not [ k ], especially with words from Greek, as shown below.)

In addition, ch is a German spelling for the sound [ k ] that is only used in certain cases. ch is spoken [ k ]

  • regularly in connection with one of the following s: grow, drawbar ,
  • the letters of dark vowels (a, o, u) and before consonants: Choir, chlorine, chronic (in technical terms or learned pronunciation of Greek origin is in these positions with words pronunciation with [⁠ ç ⁠] before: Charisma , chthonical ), generally at the beginning of the word in southern German varieties instead of [ ç ] (Chemie, China) and at the beginning of the word German geographical proper names (Chiemsee, Chemnitz, Cham) ,
  • in certain, non-integrated foreign word spellings, especially from Italian: Chianti, Pinocchio .

The pronunciation as [ k ] (and not as fricative [ ç / x ]) depends on the meaning and structure of a word ( morphological structure): cf. grows (to grow ) vs. grows (to watch ); Choirs [ 'køːʁə ], derived from choir .

In addition, the pronunciations as sch [ ʃ ] and tsch [ tʃ ] occur for ch :

  • like [ʃ] as a colloquial or variety-specific variant of [ ç ] at the beginning of the word (chemistry, China) ,
  • in not (fully) integrated foreign word spellings, especially from French and Portuguese (as [ ʃ ]: Champignon, Charlotte, Recherche ), English and Spanish (as [ tʃ ]: Chip, chatten, macho ).

Pronunciation in other languages

In the alphabets of the following languages, the Ch is a separate letter and each has a different phonetic meaning.

The pronunciation of the Ch in other languages ​​is as follows:

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Max Mangold (edit.): Duden Aussprachewictionary: Dictionary of German standard pronunciation . 3. Edition. Dudenverlag, Mannheim 1990, ISBN 3-411-20916-X , p. 37 .