to get some cheese,

去拿一些奶酪。

I thought to myself:

我心想。

"Why am I going to the chemist to get cheese?"

"我為什麼要去化學家那裡買奶酪？"

And then I remembered.

然後我想起了。

  It's all to do with the letters 'CH'.

這一切都與字母 "CH "有關。

In the word 'nonchalantly', which means in a casual and relaxed manner,

在'nonchalantly'這個詞中，意味著以一種隨意和放鬆的方式。

the C H in the middle of the word is pronounced [sh].

該詞中間的C H發音為[sh]。

In chemist, the C H at the beginning is pronounced [k].

在化學家中，開頭的C H發音為[k]。

But C H in cheese is pronounced [tch].

但奶酪中的C H發音為[tch]。

So why is this?

那麼，為什麼會這樣呢？

The truth lies as ever in the history of English.

真相一如既往地存在於英語的歷史中。

English has evolved from many sources.

英語是由許多來源演變而來。

It has invented, absorbed and borrowed

它發明、吸收和借用了

vocabulary from those who invaded us and those who we have invaded.

從那些入侵我們的人和那些被我們入侵的人那裡獲得的詞彙。

The pronunciation of many words can give us a clue where they came from.

許多單詞的發音可以給我們提供它們來自哪裡的線索。

So what about our friend C H then? What do we know about the origins

那麼，我們的朋友C-H呢？我們對C H的起源瞭解多少？

of the words that pronounce these letters differently?

的單詞，這些字母的發音不同？

Words that originally came from the Greek language, like chemist,

最初來自希臘語的詞彙，如化學家。

school, mechanic, orchestra, pronounce the C H as [k] .

學校、機械師、管絃樂隊，C H的發音為[k] 。

These words may have travelled through other languages, but are

這些詞可能在其他語言中流傳，但卻是

often connected with the fields of study, science and politics.

往往與研究、科學和政治領域有關。

The [sh] pronunciation of C H is in words that originally come

C H的[sh]讀音是在最初的單詞中出現的

from French: nonchalant, machine, chauffeur, chivalry and quiche.

源自法語：不冷不熱、機器、司機、騎士精神和蛋餅。

Which brings us back to cheese again. Words like cheese, church,

這使我們再次回到了奶酪。像奶酪這樣的詞，教堂。

beach and child can trace their roots back to middle and old English.

海灘和孩子可以追溯到中、古英語的根源。

So how does this help us if we don't know any of this history?

那麼，如果我們不知道這些歷史，這對我們有什麼幫助呢？

The majority of words with C H are pronounced as [tch],

大多數帶有C H的單詞都讀作[tch]。

this is the biggest group.

這是最大的群體。

And words that end in C H are almost always pronounced [tch].

而以C H結尾的單詞幾乎都讀作[tch]。

Almost always, but not always always.

幾乎總是如此，但並非總是如此。

For example, take the words patriarch, monarch, oligarch,

例如，以族長、君主、寡頭這些詞為例。

they are of Greek origin and all end in the [k] sound.

它們都起源於希臘，都以[k]音結尾。

Interestingly, they are all based on the same root Greek word,

有趣的是，它們都是基於同一個希臘詞根。

which means rule: A R C H,

這意味著規則。A R C H。

which is, of course, pronounced 'ark'.

當然，它的發音是 "方舟"。

No, of course it isn't. It's arch.

不，當然不是。它是拱形的。

Even though it's a word which comes from Greek, the C H is pronounced [tch].

儘管這是一個來自希臘的詞，但C H的發音是[tch]。

And you can still get caught out on the odd,

而且你仍然可以在奇數上被抓到。

very odd,

非常奇怪。

word like yacht.

字，如遊艇。

The first time I saw this word, I thought it was pronounced 'yatchet'.

我第一次看到這個詞的時候，我以為它的發音是'yatchet'。

But of course, it's not. The C H is [silent].

但當然不是。C H是[無聲]的。

And don't get me started on the schedule/schedule debate,

不要讓我開始討論時間表/日程表的辯論。

Which is correct: [sh]edule or [sk]edule?

哪個是正確的？是[sh]edule還是[sk]edule？

Well, they both are.

嗯，他們都是。

In British English the pronunciation is [sh]edule,

英國英語的發音是[sh]edule。

but in American English, it's [sk]edule.

但在美國英語中，它是[sk]edule。

According to my schedule, it's time for that cheese.

根據我的時間表，現在是吃奶酪的時間。

I'm off to the chemist.

我去找藥劑師了。