Pronounce Question

[Nerd]

Hi everyone, I'm a bit confused over why the word "question" is pronounced "kwes-chun" instead of "kwes-shuhn" ?

Thanks for your help

[konungursvia]

Your first guess is correct.

[pyoung]

Dear Nerd:
Why? I am not an expert on the evolution of pronunciation, but my guess is that it's because the '-tion' is immediately preceded by /s/. In order to differentiate the two parts of the word, the 'tion' becomes 'chun.'
The same thing happens with 'bastion' and 'digestion' and probably a whole list of other words that are not springing to mind.

I hope this is helpful,

Petra

[Nerd]

Thanks everyone.
English is complicated, after all these years I come across such a basic difference! Now I'm afraid that I've got other words all messed up
I also found another post that dealt with the issue.

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/as...ffix-tion.html

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by Nerd

Hi everyone, I'm a bit confused over why the word "question" is pronounced "kwes-chun" instead of "kwes-shuhn" ?

Thanks for your help

If you look, those pronounced as "shuhn" all have a vowel preceding "tion" = expedi/tion; sta/tion; disserta/tion; eleva/tion.

Petra's answer covers the other pronunciation.