This seems like a no-brainer: 'T' before 'U' usually represents the /tʃ/ sound, like in NATURE or FUTURE. But, if you happen to have any Americans around, ask them how they pronounce ACTUALLY or PICTURE. Chances are you'll be surprised. 😜
If you hear the words ACTUALLY, PICTURE, or LECTURE pronounced with the /ʃ/ sound, don't worry! There's nothing wrong with your hearing - it's just English.
So, what's the difference between NATURE and PICTURE? Why is NATURE always pronounced with /tʃ/, but PICTURE can be pronounced with both /tʃ/ and /ʃ/?
Let's start with when the letter 'T' represents the /tʃ/ sound. Typically, this happens when 'T' occurs before a suffix that starts with the letters 'i' or 'U'. Why? To cut a long story short, let's say there are historical reasons for that. 😉 In phonetics, this phenomenon is called "palatalization."
This is exactly what's going on with NATURE.😊
What about PICTURE? Why does the /tʃ/ become /ʃ/?
To answer this, we need to take a closer look at the sound before /tʃ/. In PICTURE, it's the /k/ sound: /ˈpɪk·tʃɚ/. So, to pronounce this word, you have to link a stop sound and an affricate, which also begins with a stop: /k/ + /t+ʃ/. This is quite a consonant cluster!
In conversation, people tend to skip the second stop and move directly from /k/ to /ʃ/. This makes pronunciation a little easier: /ˈpɪk·tʃɚ/ → /ˈpɪk·ʃɚ/. Awesome, right? 😎
By the way, in most dictionaries, the words ACTUALLY, PICTURE, and LECTURE are transcribed with the /tʃ/ sound. That's a "perfect" pronunciation. In real life, you may often hear these words pronounced with /ʃ/. Especially the word ACTUALLY, which is actually just a buzzword. 😂
Don't hold back, tell us what you think in the comments!
And while you're at it, don't forget to check out these two videos:
