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Maple Posted 20 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

How to pronounce "ch" in "mischievous"?

Hi

Please tell me how to pronounce "ch" in "mischievous"?

(I hear it is pronounced in a Cambridge dictionary like ch in chicken, but shouldn't it be like g in gene?)

(I also checked it on the m-w site, it seems that when the accent on the first syllable, it sounds like g; when the accent one the second syllable, it sounds like ch in chicken, Is there any rule?)

Emotion: smile

A lot of thanks!
  

Top answer

I'd say that the ch sound is closer to the ch in chicken with the only difference being that the ch in mischievous is not aspirated as it is preceded by the s sound; this is the reason why it sounds like the g in gene. The unaspirated ch is very similar to the g in gene, even more so if your native language is Chinese. As far as I know, I might be wrong though, Chinese does not differentiate between the two sounds; both are represented by the pinyin ji.

— Orpheus

  • I'd say that the ch sound is closer to the ch in chicken with the only difference being that the ch in mischievous is not aspirated as it is preceded by the s sound; this is the reason why it sounds like the g in gene.
  • The unaspirated ch is very similar to the g in gene, even more so if your native language is Chinese.
  • As far as I know, I might be wrong though, Chinese does not differentiate between the two sounds; both are represented by the pinyin ji.
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8 Answers
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I'd say that the ch sound is closer to the ch in chicken with the only difference being that the ch in mischievous is not aspirated as it is preceded by the s sound; this is the reason why it sounds like the g in gene. The unaspirated ch is very similar to the g in gene, even more so if your native language is Chinese. As far as I know, I might be wrong though, Chinese does not differentiate betw
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Thank you.

we are required to distinguish t--d s-z, p-b, k-g ch--g, tr--dr
the ch in mischievous is not aspirated as it is preceded by the s sound
I know this rule, but why more dictionaies pronounce it aspirated? (not TTS engine, but records of real persons' voices)
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Well the first version on the Merriam-Webster website is not aspirated. The second version however is because the stress falls on the second syllable, i.e. the ch. My Oxford dictionary pronounces it unaspirated as well. Perhaps you could give us the links to the dictionaries that pronounce it otherwise?
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Perhaps you could give us the links to the dictionaries that pronounce it otherwise?
They're loaded on the PC.
Well the first version on the Merriam-Webster website is not aspirated. The second version however is because the stress falls on the second syllable, i.e. the ch. My Oxford dictionary pronounces it unaspirated as well.
My Oxford Dict. does
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I checked the m-w site, and could not hear the g in gene there in either pronunciation.
Maybe it went by too fast for my slow brain.
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CJ

It does go by too fast to be heard clearly. Thank you very much for your correction. Emotion: smile

What's more interesting
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pronounces "discard", unaspirated (BE), clearly aspirated (AE)
Which consonant are you talking about? the d, s, c, r, or d???!!!
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Hi,

I'm sorry for being ambiguous.

It's "c".

The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary pronounces "C" in "discard" unaspirated (BE), clearly aspirated (AE). (Maybe you've already known, this dictionary gives pronunciations of a word both in British and in America, if they're different.)

Maple
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