# Voiceless postalveolar affricate

The voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant affricate or voiceless domed postalveolar sibilant affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨t͡ʃ ⟩, ⟨t͜ʃ ⟩ ⟨tʃ ⟩ (formerly the ligature ⟨ʧ ⟩), or, in broad transcription, ⟨c⟩. This affricate has a dedicated symbol U+02A7 ʧ LATIN SMALL LETTER TESH DIGRAPH, which has been retired by the International Phonetic Association but is still used. The alternative commonly used in American tradition is ⟨č⟩. It is familiar to English speakers as the "ch" sound in "chip".
Historically, this sound 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 dental 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 the voiceless domed postalveolar affricate:
* Its manner of articulation is sibilant affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the air flow entirely, then directing it with the tongue to the sharp edge of the teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence.
* Its place of articulation is postalveolar, which means it is articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge.
* Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Adyghe | Adyghe | чэмы/čamë/چەمہـ | | 'cow' | Some dialects contrast labialized and non-labialized forms. |
| Albanian | Albanian | çelur | [t͡ʃɛluɾ] | 'opened' | |
| Aleut | Atkan dialect | chamĝul | [t͡ʃɑmʁul] | 'to wash' | |
| Amharic | Amharic | አንቺ/anči | [ant͡ʃi] | 'you' | |
| Arabic | Central Palestinian | مكتبة (Normally unwritten)/mačtabe | [ˈmat͡ʃt̪abe] | 'library' | Corresponds to [k] in Standard Arabic and other varieties. See Arabic phonology |
| Arabic | Iraqi | چتاب/čitaab | [t͡ʃɪˈt̪ɑːb] | 'book' | Corresponds to [k] in Standard Arabic and other varieties. See Arabic phonology |
| Arabic | Jordanian | كتاب (Normally unwritten)/čitaab | [t͡ʃɪˈt̪aːb] | 'book' | Corresponds to [k] in Standard Arabic and other varieties. See Arabic phonology |
| Aragonese | Aragonese | chuego | [ˈt͡ʃueɣo] | 'game' | |
| Armenian | Eastern | ճնճղուկ/čënčquk | | 'sparrow' | |
| Assyrian | Assyrian | ܟ̰ܝܡܐ/č’yama | [t͡ʃˤjɑmɑ] | 'to shut' | Found in native terminology. Widespread usage in all dialect varieties. Developed from an original /tˤ/. |
| Asturian | Asturian | Chipre | [ˈt͡ʃipɾe] | 'Cyprus' | Mostly found in loanwords, if possible, usually replaced by x [ʃ]. |
| Azerbaijani | Azerbaijani | Əkinçi/اکینچی | [ækint͡ʃʰi] | 'the ploughman' | |
| Bengali | Bengali | চশমা/čošma | [t͡ʃɔʃma] | 'spectacles' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology |
| Basque | Basque | txalupa | [t͡ʃalupa] | 'boat' | |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian | чучулига/čučuliga | [t͡ʃʊt͡ʃuˈliɡɐ] | 'lark' | See Bulgarian phonology |
| Catalan | Catalan | cotxe | [ˈkɔ(t).t͡ʃə] | 'car' | See Catalan phonology. |
| Central Alaskan Yup'ik | Central Alaskan Yup'ik | nacaq | [ˈnat͡ʃaq] | 'parka hood' | |
| Choctaw | Choctaw | hakchioma | [hakt͡ʃioma] | 'tobacco' | |
| Coptic | Bohairic dialect | ϭⲟϩ/čoh | [t͡ʃʰɔh] | 'touch' | |
| Czech | Czech | morče | [ˈmo̞rt͡ʃɛ] | 'guinea pig' | See Czech phonology |
| Dhivehi | Dhivehi | ޗަކަސް / čakas | [t͡ʃakas] | 'mud' | Relatively rare, usually occurs in loanwords / onomatoepic words |
| Dutch | Dutch | Tjongejonge | [t͡ʃɔŋəjɔŋə] | 'jeez' | An exclamation of (mild) annoyance, surprise, wonder or amazement. Pronunciation is region dependent. |
| English | English | beach | [biːt͡ʃ] | 'beach' | Slightly labialized [tʃʷ]. See English phonology |
| Esperanto | Esperanto | ĉar | [t͡ʃar] | 'because' | See Esperanto phonology |
| Estonian | Estonian | tšello | [ˈtʃelˑo] | 'cello' | Rare, occurs only in loanwords. see Estonian phonology |
| Faroese | Faroese | gera | [t͡ʃeːɹa] | 'to do' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Faroese phonology |
| Finnish | Finnish | Tšekki | [ˈt̪ʃe̞kːi] | 'Czechia' | Rare, occurs only in loanwords. See Finnish phonology |
| French | Standard | caoutchouc | [kaut͡ʃu] | 'rubber' | Relatively rare; occurs mostly in loanwords. See French phonology |
| French | Acadian | tiens | [t͡ʃɛ̃] | '(I/you) keep' | Allophone of /k/ and /tj/ before a front vowel. |
| Galician | Galician | cheo | [ˈt͡ʃeo] | 'full' | Galician-Portuguese /t͡ʃ/ is conserved in Galician and merged with /ʃ/ in most Portuguese dialects. See Galician phonology |
| Georgian | Georgian | ჩიხი/čixi | [t͡ʃixi] | 'impasse' | |
| German | Standard | Tschüss | [t͡ʃʏs] | 'bye' | Laminal or apico-laminal and strongly labialized. See Standard German phonology |
| Greek | Cypriot | τσ̌άι/čai | [t͡ʃɑːiː] | 'tea' | |
| Hausa | Hausa | ciwo/ثِيوُاْ | [t͡ʃíː.wòː] | 'disease, pain' | |
| Hebrew | Hebrew | תשובה/čuva | [t͡ʃuˈva] | 'answer' | See Modern Hebrew phonology |
| Hindustani | Hindi | चाय/cāy | [t͡ʃɑːj] | 'tea' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology |
| Hindustani | Urdu | چائے/çāy | [t͡ʃɑːj] | 'tea' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology |
| Haitian Creole | Haitian Creole | match | [mat͡ʃ] | 'sports match' | |
| Hungarian | Hungarian | gyümölcslé | [ˈɟymølt͡ʃleː] | 'fruit juice' | See Hungarian phonology |
| Italian | Italian | ciao | [ˈt͡ʃaːo] | 'hi' | See Italian phonology |
| Javanese | Javanese | cedhak/ꦕꦼꦣꦏ꧀/چۤڎَاك | [t͡ʃəɖaʔ] | 'near' | |
| Kʼicheʼ | Kʼicheʼ | K'iche' | [kʼiˈt͡ʃeʔ] | 'Kʼicheʼ'' | Contrasts with ejective form |
| Kabardian | Kabardian | чэнж/čanž/چەنژ | | 'shallow' | |
| Kashubian | Kashubian | czësto | [t͡ʃəstɔ] | 'cleanly' | |
| Kurdish | Kurdish | hirç/هرچ | [hɪɾt͡ʃ] | 'bear' | |
| Ladino | Ladino | kolcha/קולגﬞה | [ˈkolt͡ʃa] | 'quilt' | |
| Macedonian | Macedonian | чека/čeka | [t͡ʃɛka] | 'wait' | See Macedonian phonology |
| Malay | Malaysian | cuci/چوچي | [t͡ʃut͡ʃi] | 'to wash' | See Malay phonology |
| Malay | Indonesian | cuci/چوچي | [t͡ʃut͡ʃi] | 'to wash' | Palatal [c] according to some analyses. See Malay phonology |
| Maltese | Maltese | bliċ | [blit͡ʃ] | 'bleach' | |
| Manx | Manx | çhiarn | [ˈt͡ʃaːrn] | 'lord' | |
| Marathi | Marathi | चहा/čahá | [t͡ʃəhaː] | 'tea' | Contrasts with aspirated form. Allophone of /tɕ / and /ts/.See Marathi phonology |
| Mongolian | Khalkha dialect | наргиж/nargič ᠨᠠᠷᠭᠢᠵ | [ˈnargit͡ʃ] | 'laugh' | |
| Nahuatl | Nahuatl | āyōtōchtli | [aːjoːˈtoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi] | 'armadillo' | |
| Norwegian | Some dialects | kjøkken | [t͡ʃøkːen] | 'kitchen' | See Norwegian phonology |
| Nunggubuyu | Nunggubuyu | jaro | [t͡ʃaɾo] | 'needle' | |
| Occitan | Occitan | chuc | [ˈt͡ʃyk] | 'juice' | See Occitan phonology |
| Odia | Odia | ଚକ/caka | [t͡ʃɔkɔ] | 'wheel' | Contrasts with aspirated form. |
| Persian | Persian | چوب/чӯб/çub | [t͡ʃʰuːb] | 'wood' | See Persian phonology |
| Polish | Gmina Istebna | ciemny | [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. |
| Polish | Lubawa dialect | ciemny | [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. |
| Polish | Malbork dialect | ciemny | [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. |
| Polish | Ostróda dialect | ciemny | [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. |
| Polish | Warmia dialect | ciemny | [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. |
| 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]. |
| Portuguese | Most Brazilian dialects | presente | [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 |
| Portuguese | Most dialects | tchau | [ˈt͡ʃaw] | 'bye' | In Standard European Portuguese it occurs only in recent loanwords. |
| Punjabi | Punjabi | ਚੌਲ/ چول/čol | [t͡ʃɔːl] | 'rice' | |
| Quechua | Quechua | chunka | [t͡ʃʊŋka] | 'ten' | |
| Romani | Romani | ćiriklo | [t͡ʃiriˈklo] | 'bird' | Contrasts with aspirated form. |
| Romanian | Romanian | cer | [ˈt͡ʃe̞r] | 'sky' | See Romanian phonology |
| Rotuman | Rotuman | joni | [ˈt͡ʃɔni] | 'to flee' | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | slàinte | [ˈsl̪ˠaːnʲt͡ʃə] | 'health' | Southern dialects only; standard pronunciation is [tʲ]. See Scottish Gaelic phonology |
| Serbo-Croatian | Some speakers | čokoláda чоколада | [t͡ʃo̞ko̞ˈɫǎ̠ːd̪a̠] | 'chocolate' | In varieties that do not distinguish /ʈ͡ʂ/ from /t͡ɕ/. |
| Silesian | Gmina Istebna | szpańelsko | [t̠͡ʃpaɲɛskɔ] | 'Spanish' | These dialects merge /ʈ͡ʂ/ and /t͡ɕ/ into [t͡ʃ]. |
| Silesian | Jablunkov | szpańelsko | [t̠͡ʃpaɲɛlskɔ] | 'Spanish' | These dialects merge /ʈ͡ʂ/ and /t͡ɕ/ into [t͡ʃ]. |
| Slovak | Slovak | číslo | [t͡ʃiːslo] | 'number' | See Slovak phonology |
| Slovene | Slovene | koča | [ˈkòːt͡ʃáː] | 'cottage' | |
| Spanish | Spanish | chocolate | | 'chocolate' | See Spanish phonology |
| Swahili | Swahili | jicho | [ʄit͡ʃo]/جِيچٗ | 'eye' | |
| Swedish | Finland | tjugo | [t͡ʃʉːɡʉ] | 'twenty' | See Swedish phonology |
| Swedish | Some rural Swedish dialects | kärlek | [t͡ʃæːɭeːk] | 'love' | See Swedish phonology |
| Tagalog | Tagalog | tsuper | [t͡ʃʊˈpɛɾ] | 'driver' | See Tagalog phonology |
| Tlingit | Tlingit | jinkaat | [ˈt͡ʃinkʰaːtʰ] | 'ten' | |
| Turkish | Turkish | çok | [t͡ʃok] | 'very' | See Turkish phonology |
| Tyap | Tyap | cat | [t͡ʃad] | 'love' | |
| Ubykh | Ubykh | Çəbƹəja/čëbžëya | [t͡ʃəbʒəja] | 'pepper' | See Ubykh phonology |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian | чотири/čotyry | [t͡ʃo̞ˈtɪrɪ] | 'four' | See Ukrainian phonology |
| Uzbek | Uzbek | choʻl/çúl/چۉل | [t͡ʃɵl] | 'desert' | |
| Welsh | Welsh | tsips | [t͡ʃɪps] | 'chips' | Occurs in loanwords. See Welsh phonology |
| Yiddish | Yiddish | טשאַטשקע/čačke | [t͡ʃat͡ʃkɛ] | 'knick-knack' | See Yiddish phonology |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | chane | [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/.

### Related characters

There are several Unicode characters based on the tesh digraph (ʧ):
* U+107AE 𐞮 MODIFIER LETTER SMALL TESH DIGRAPH is an IPA superscript letter
* U+1DF17 𝼗 LATIN SMALL LETTER TESH DIGRAPH WITH PALATAL HOOK is used in phonetic transcription
* U+1DF1C 𝼜 LATIN SMALL LETTER TESH DIGRAPH WITH RETROFLEX HOOK has been used in phonetic descriptions of Polish

## Voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant affricate
### Features

* Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
* Its place of articulation is postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge.
* Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

### Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| English | Australian | tree | [t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷɪi̯] | '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 |
| English | General American | tree | [t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷɪi̯] | '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 |
| English | Received Pronunciation | tree | [t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷɪi̯] | '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 |
| Scottish Gaelic | Lewis | sitrich | [ˈʃiᶜ̧t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔iç] | 'to neigh' | Palato-alveolar. Phonetic realization of /t̪ɾ/ after palatal or palatalised consonants in medial clusters. |