I have always pronounced the th in "posthumous" as if it was the "th" in think (/θ/), but when I searched itd it was actually the ch /tʃ/:
- UK: /ˈpɒs.tʃə.məs/
- US: /ˈpɑːs.tʃə.məs/
I found a language log discussion, but it has not explained it.
Why is the in "posthumous" pronounced as (/tʃ/)?
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Void
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5
I always pronounce the first 7 letters like those of 'lost human', with the emphasis on the first syllable.
– Michael Harvey
Jan 07 '21 at 13:02
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8
I think I pronounce /tj/, but I can see how it could be /tʃ/ for some speakers. The "h" is silent.
– rjpond
Jan 07 '21 at 13:07
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@rjpond Texas here, and the h most definitely is not silent; there's unvoiced air while forming the "o" vowel.
– chrylis -cautiouslyoptimistic-
Jan 08 '21 at 09:17
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I pronounce it as 'post - hummus' like after you eat some ground chickpea paste, seasoned with tahini (sesame paste), minced garlic, and extra virgin olive oil.
– Mitch
Jan 08 '21 at 14:04
2 Answers
25
TL;DR
The reason why the ⟨th⟩ in posthumous is pronounced /t͡ʃ/ (ch) is the coalescence/assimilation1 of the t and the following u.
Explanation
'Posthumous' is made up of the prefix post- and humous. Post ends in a /t/ and the ⟨h⟩ in humous is silent so it starts with a u which is basically /juː/ (the same as the u in 'cue'). We could say that humous starts with a glide /j/.
- post + (h)umous
the letter u is /juː/:
- pos/t/ + /juː/mous
In fact, Lexico gives /ˈpɒstjʊməs/ for posthumous i.e. /t/ + /j/.
You might have noticed that when a /t/ comes before a /j/, there's a tendency to assimilate them to /t͡ʃ/ ('ch' as in chip). The /t/ is normally articulated at the alveolar ridge, but when it comes before a /j/ (which is articulated further back in the mouth—at the hard palate), it's usually pronounced /t͡ʃ/. What happens here is that the /t/ is articulated further back in the mouth in anticipation of the following /j/, so it becomes /t͡ʃ/ i.e. they coalesce/assimilate to a /t͡ʃ/:
- pos /t͡ʃuː/ mous
That's where the /t͡ʃ/ came from. The same goes for the tu in nature (na/t͡ʃ/re).
1. Assimilation is a process that makes nearby sounds more similar to each other. The kind of assimilation in posthumous is called 'coalescent assimilation'. The following sounds often coalesce:
- /t/ and /j/ coalesce to /t͡ʃ/ (as in posthumous)
- /d/ and /j/ coalesce to /d͡ʒ/ (as in education)
- /s/ and /j/ coalesce to /ʃ/ (bless you is sometimes pronounced bleshoo)
- /z/ and /j/ coalesce to /ʒ/ (as in vision)
/t/ is the T in time
/j/ is the Y in you
/t͡ʃ/ is the CH in chin
/d͡ʒ/ is the J in join
/ʃ/ is the SH in ship
/ʒ/ at the end of massage
Toby Speight
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I think you get the same effect with “posthumanism”, where you'd usually expect the ‘h’ to be pronounced as [ç] rather than completely silent.
– mudri
Jan 08 '21 at 11:39
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@Suncat2000: *Mature, prostitute, substitute, posture, institute, astute, tune etc. (at least in BrE)*
– Void
Jan 08 '21 at 17:10
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In my US English dialect, only mature and posture assimilate like that. I'm not sure what the rule is.
– WaterMolecule
Jan 09 '21 at 18:01
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'Post' is a common prefix in English, from the Latin for 'last' which to us essentially means 'after'.
The English 'posthumous' literally means after burial. For the full etymology of the word from Latin, see this reference.
Some words that use this prefix are not compound words but hyphenated, for example, 'post-mortem' (an examination after one's death).
So the reason why the 'th' are not pronounced together as in the word 'think' is because they are in effect part of different words - the 't' is the end of the prefix and the 'h' is the beginning of the root word. A comparable example would be the word 'lighthouse' - a compound of 'light' and 'house'.
However, the 'h' isn't really pronounced at all in 'posthumous'. There are plenty of other words where an 'h' following a 't' is not pronounced - such as neanderthal, thyme. These do seem to be exceptional though, as 'h' is pronounced more often than not. Etymology is very often the reason, and unfortunately, there is no 'rule' to guide you on how to pronounce 'th' in an unfamiliar word.
Astralbee
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@rjpond it appears to have changed over time - I'm not getting into that as the definition isn't part of the question anyway, so I've removed that and added a link.
– Astralbee
Jan 07 '21 at 13:09
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1
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@Void the "th" isn't pronounced /t͡ʃ/. The "thu" is /tju:/ (the "h" is silent), which, due to yod-coalescence, can become /t͡ʃu:/.
– rjpond
Jan 07 '21 at 13:11
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1
@rjpond: I know! I'm in the middle of explaining it. But this answer doesn't explain that
– Void
Jan 07 '21 at 13:11
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*neanderthal* and *thyme* are of course toponyms and those often withstand pronunciation rules
– Hagen von Eitzen
Jan 07 '21 at 23:09
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2
@HagenvonEitzen I accept that neanderthal is a toponym, but ,,, thyme... really?
– JavaLatte
Jan 08 '21 at 06:55
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@HagenvonEitzen I think that more importantly, it's not a natively English word.
– Acccumulation
Jan 08 '21 at 07:49
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It doesn't ***really*** mean after-burial. That’s just [a Roman folk etymology handed down to us from yesteryear](https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/56683748#56683748).
– tchrist
Jan 08 '21 at 15:19
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1
@tchrist It came to mean that in Latin before it became the root of the English word. It started out as the superlative of the word for 'late', but was changed to incorporate the word *humare* (to bury). When that change was made, it ceased to be a superlative, so without overcomplicating the answer, I think it is safe to say that is what the root of the English word meant.
– Astralbee
Jan 08 '21 at 16:22
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1
Here I thought _posthumous_ meant after (post) being turned into dirt (humus). Live and learn.
– Suncat2000
Jan 08 '21 at 17:11
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@Acccumulation What makes something a “native English word” anyway? One written in runes by seventh-century Saxons like *wall* and *wine* and *mile*? :)
– tchrist
Jan 08 '21 at 19:39
Asked
Active
Viewed 2,658 times
12
Void
- 17,778
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5I always pronounce the first 7 letters like those of 'lost human', with the emphasis on the first syllable. – Michael Harvey Jan 07 '21 at 13:02
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8I think I pronounce /tj/, but I can see how it could be /tʃ/ for some speakers. The "h" is silent. – rjpond Jan 07 '21 at 13:07
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@rjpond Texas here, and the h most definitely is not silent; there's unvoiced air while forming the "o" vowel. – chrylis -cautiouslyoptimistic- Jan 08 '21 at 09:17
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I pronounce it as 'post - hummus' like after you eat some ground chickpea paste, seasoned with tahini (sesame paste), minced garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. – Mitch Jan 08 '21 at 14:04
2 Answers
25
TL;DR
The reason why the ⟨th⟩ in posthumous is pronounced /t͡ʃ/ (ch) is the coalescence/assimilation1 of the t and the following u.
Explanation
'Posthumous' is made up of the prefix post- and humous. Post ends in a /t/ and the ⟨h⟩ in humous is silent so it starts with a u which is basically /juː/ (the same as the u in 'cue'). We could say that humous starts with a glide /j/.
- post + (h)umous
the letter u is /juː/:
- pos/t/ + /juː/mous
In fact, Lexico gives /ˈpɒstjʊməs/ for posthumous i.e. /t/ + /j/.
You might have noticed that when a /t/ comes before a /j/, there's a tendency to assimilate them to /t͡ʃ/ ('ch' as in chip). The /t/ is normally articulated at the alveolar ridge, but when it comes before a /j/ (which is articulated further back in the mouth—at the hard palate), it's usually pronounced /t͡ʃ/. What happens here is that the /t/ is articulated further back in the mouth in anticipation of the following /j/, so it becomes /t͡ʃ/ i.e. they coalesce/assimilate to a /t͡ʃ/:
- pos /t͡ʃuː/ mous
That's where the /t͡ʃ/ came from. The same goes for the tu in nature (na/t͡ʃ/re).
1. Assimilation is a process that makes nearby sounds more similar to each other. The kind of assimilation in posthumous is called 'coalescent assimilation'. The following sounds often coalesce:
- /t/ and /j/ coalesce to /t͡ʃ/ (as in posthumous)
- /d/ and /j/ coalesce to /d͡ʒ/ (as in education)
- /s/ and /j/ coalesce to /ʃ/ (bless you is sometimes pronounced bleshoo)
- /z/ and /j/ coalesce to /ʒ/ (as in vision)
/t/ is the T in time
/j/ is the Y in you
/t͡ʃ/ is the CH in chin
/d͡ʒ/ is the J in join
/ʃ/ is the SH in ship
/ʒ/ at the end of massage
Toby Speight
- 2,138
- 13
- 26
Void
- 17,778
- 7
- 71
- 106
-
-
I think you get the same effect with “posthumanism”, where you'd usually expect the ‘h’ to be pronounced as [ç] rather than completely silent. – mudri Jan 08 '21 at 11:39
-
-
@Suncat2000: *Mature, prostitute, substitute, posture, institute, astute, tune etc. (at least in BrE)* – Void Jan 08 '21 at 17:10
-
-
In my US English dialect, only mature and posture assimilate like that. I'm not sure what the rule is. – WaterMolecule Jan 09 '21 at 18:01
12
'Post' is a common prefix in English, from the Latin for 'last' which to us essentially means 'after'.
The English 'posthumous' literally means after burial. For the full etymology of the word from Latin, see this reference.
Some words that use this prefix are not compound words but hyphenated, for example, 'post-mortem' (an examination after one's death).
So the reason why the 'th' are not pronounced together as in the word 'think' is because they are in effect part of different words - the 't' is the end of the prefix and the 'h' is the beginning of the root word. A comparable example would be the word 'lighthouse' - a compound of 'light' and 'house'.
However, the 'h' isn't really pronounced at all in 'posthumous'. There are plenty of other words where an 'h' following a 't' is not pronounced - such as neanderthal, thyme. These do seem to be exceptional though, as 'h' is pronounced more often than not. Etymology is very often the reason, and unfortunately, there is no 'rule' to guide you on how to pronounce 'th' in an unfamiliar word.
Astralbee
- 85,169
- 1
- 93
- 179
-
1@rjpond it appears to have changed over time - I'm not getting into that as the definition isn't part of the question anyway, so I've removed that and added a link. – Astralbee Jan 07 '21 at 13:09
-
1
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1@Void the "th" isn't pronounced /t͡ʃ/. The "thu" is /tju:/ (the "h" is silent), which, due to yod-coalescence, can become /t͡ʃu:/. – rjpond Jan 07 '21 at 13:11
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1@rjpond: I know! I'm in the middle of explaining it. But this answer doesn't explain that – Void Jan 07 '21 at 13:11
-
-
*neanderthal* and *thyme* are of course toponyms and those often withstand pronunciation rules – Hagen von Eitzen Jan 07 '21 at 23:09
-
2@HagenvonEitzen I accept that neanderthal is a toponym, but ,,, thyme... really? – JavaLatte Jan 08 '21 at 06:55
-
@HagenvonEitzen I think that more importantly, it's not a natively English word. – Acccumulation Jan 08 '21 at 07:49
-
It doesn't ***really*** mean after-burial. That’s just [a Roman folk etymology handed down to us from yesteryear](https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/56683748#56683748). – tchrist Jan 08 '21 at 15:19
-
1@tchrist It came to mean that in Latin before it became the root of the English word. It started out as the superlative of the word for 'late', but was changed to incorporate the word *humare* (to bury). When that change was made, it ceased to be a superlative, so without overcomplicating the answer, I think it is safe to say that is what the root of the English word meant. – Astralbee Jan 08 '21 at 16:22
-
1Here I thought _posthumous_ meant after (post) being turned into dirt (humus). Live and learn. – Suncat2000 Jan 08 '21 at 17:11
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@Acccumulation What makes something a “native English word” anyway? One written in runes by seventh-century Saxons like *wall* and *wine* and *mile*? :) – tchrist Jan 08 '21 at 19:39