Back to Matrix [x] → [tʃ] Edit this Data

[tʃ]→[x]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 3/5

Retraction Revelarization Deaffrication Romance Sinitic

Voiceless postalveolar affricate to Voiceless velar fricative

The shift from 'ch' to 'x' is a process of retraction, moving the sound from the front of the mouth to the back.

Phonetic Effects

Retraction, Revelarization, Deaffrication

Language Examples

Old Spanish [ʃ] (via earlier [tʃ])→Modern Spanish [x]— 16th–17th century retraction: Old Spanish palatal [ʃ] (itself from earlier [tʃ]) backed to velar [x] (jota). The direct [tʃ]→[x] path went through [ʃ] as an intermediate stage.

Mandarin Dialects Sinitic

Standard Mandarin [tɕ]→[x] (some dialects)— In some non-standard Mandarin varieties, palatalized affricates may correspond to velar fricatives; verification of specific Sichuanese [tɕ]→[x] is pending.

Related Transformations

Reverse Deaffrication Retraction

More Romance Shifts

[ã] → [õ] — Raising [a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [ai] → [e] — Monophthongization

Sources & References

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