The “Extra Consonant Letters: sh, wh, ch, th, ng, si
Many alphabet books show the picture of a ship for the letter S.
No wonder children get confused!
“S” is for “seal.” “SH” is for “ship.”
Here are eight letter combinations that need to be taught as “letters” in their own right.
SH
The letter combination sh represents the consonant sound /ʃ/ as in ship and wish.
It is the sound we make when we want someone to be quiet.
WH
The /wh/ sound is a sound like blowing out a candle. Many Americans make no distinction between /wh/ and /w/), but I’d still avoid an ABC book that shows the illustration of a whale for the letter W. “W” is for “web.” “WH” is for “whale.”
CH
The letter combination ch is used to represent three different English sounds:
/k/ as in Christmas
/ʧ/ as in chicken
and
/ʃ/ as in chef
Only the second sound, /ʧ/ can be spelled only with the letter combination ch.
TH
The letter combination th is used to represent two distinct consonant sounds:
the unvoiced sound /θ/ heard in thin
and
the voiced sound /ð/ heard in this.
NG
People learning English as a second language try to pronounce the letter g in words like sing and singing as if it had the sound /g/.
The the letter g occurs after the letter n, it is part of a letter combination.
The combination ng has a sound that is different from the combined sounds of /n/ and /g/. It is a sound made deep in the throat, a little higher in the through than the sound /g/. It is not voiced. It is, to some extent, swallowed.
SI
The letter combination represents the eighth extra consonant sound /zh/,
as in vision. A variation, ssi, can also represent the sound /ʃ/ as in mission.
That takes care of the extra consonants. Now for the extra vowels!
