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How is "ch" pronounced in Anglo-Saxon (English)?
a) /ch/
b) /sh/
c) /th/
d) /k/

User Ameena
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

In Anglo-Saxon (Old English), the "ch" sound was pronounced as /k/, making option (d) the correct pronunciation for "ch". The pronunciation /k/ is also used in Modern English for words of Greek origin containing the Greek letter chi. The correct option is d.

Step-by-step explanation:

The pronunciation of "ch" in Anglo-Saxon (Old English) is different from Modern English. In Old English, the "ch" sound did not have the /ch/ sound as in "church" but was closer to the /k/ sound. Nowadays, when we encounter "ch" in words of Greek origin like chorus, school, or Christmas, we pronounce it as /k/.

This is because these words contain the Greek letter chi, which was originally pronounced as [k]. However, this is not reflective of the Old English pronunciation but rather a historical borrowing of the Greek pronunciation.

In current English, the "ch" sound is predominantly pronounced as /ch/ (as in church) or sometimes as /k/. About two-thirds of the time [ch] is spelled <ch> or <tch> with <ch> being about five times as common as <tch>.

For example, the sound [ch] is spelled <ch> in the words 'chalk', 'research', and 'teacher', while it is spelled <tch> in 'itch', 'watch', and 'patch'.

About one-third of the time [ch] is spelled <t>, as a result of palatalization in words like culture and intellectual. Therefore, when asked how "ch" is pronounced in Anglo-Saxon, the correct answer would be /k/, option (d). The correct option is d.

User Thomas Vetterli
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