Pronunciation: Kh in English

[sb70012]

Hi,

In Persian language there is a letter which is pronounced as if an animal growled or something was stuck in your throat and you try to put it out or to force a small amount of saliva come out of your throat. When we/you do this we/you produce the (kh) sound.

I want to know if there is any English word to have such a pronunciation.
Or is there any English name to have such a pronunciation in it?

I know that there are many in French and other languages but I want to know if one exists in English.

For example the french word: Merci = The (R) is pronounce (Kh) as if something is stuck in the throat.

Is there any name or noun or a word in English containing the (kh) pronunciation or not?

Thank you.

[MikeNewYork]

Hi,

In Persian language there is a letter which is pronounced as if an animal growled or something was stuck in your throat and you try to put it out or to force a small amount of saliva come out of your throat. When we/you do this we/you produce the (kh) sound.

I want to know if there is any English word to have such a pronunciation.
Or is there any English name to have such a pronunciation in it?

I know that there are many in French and other languages but I want to know if one exists in English.

For example the french word: Merci = The (R) is pronounce (Kh) as if something is stuck in the throat.

Is there any name or noun or a word in English containing the (kh) pronunciation or not?

Thank you.

It sounds as if you are describing the "ch" in German. In English, we might call the sound "guttural". I have never heard "Merci" pronounced with such a sound, though.

guttural - definition of guttural by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

[emsr2d2]

sb70012, please remember that questions about pronunciation should be posted in the "Pronunciation and Phonetics" section of the forum, not Ask A Teacher.

The "r" in "Merci" (French) should be a guttural "r". It doesn't sound the same as the German "ch" though.

[Raymott]

In any event, no we don't have that sound in English. If it's the IPA /X/ as in German 'Bach', Scottish 'loch', then we use it only in loan words (not many). French /ʀ/ doesn't occur in English either.

Probably the best way to decide whether English has a certain sound is to identify the sound In IPA, and check to see if it's on an English IPA chart.

[probus]

For example the french word: Merci = The (R) is pronounce (Kh) as if something is stuck in the throat.

Not by any French speaker I ever heard. And not according to forvo either.