Ts–ch merger

{{Short description|Phonological feature}}

{{IPA notice}}

In phonology, the ts–ch merger is the merger of the voiceless alveolar affricate {{IPA|/ts/}} and the voiceless postalveolar affricate {{IPA|/tʃ/}}.

In Russian, it is the merger of the consonants rendered by letters Che and Tse. If the shift is towards Tse, it is called {{Lang|ru-latn|tsokanye}} ({{langx|ru|цоканье}}); the shift towards Che is called {{Lang|ru-latn|chokanye}} ({{langx|ru|чоканье}}).{{cite web|url=http://www.philol.msu.ru/~dialect/pict/color_16s.gif|language=ru|title=Карта. Различение или совпадение согласных на месте ч и ц|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323210949/http://www.philol.msu.ru/~dialect/pict/color_16s.gif|url-status=live|archive-date=2014-03-23}}{{cite web|url=http://www.philol.msu.ru/~dialect/auxy.php?ty=sng&id=164|language=ru|title=Легенда карты. Различение или совпадение согласных на месте ч и ц|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323211037/http://www.philol.msu.ru/~dialect/auxy.php?ty=sng&id=164|url-status=live|archive-date=2014-03-23}}

It is a regular sound change of Lower Sorbian, but not Upper Sorbian, as seen in the difference between Lower Sorbian {{lang|dsb|cas}} and Upper Sorbian {{lang|hsb|čas}}, both meaning "time".{{cite book |last=Stieber |first=Zdzisław |author-link=Zdzisław Stieber |date=1965 |title=Zarys dialektologii języków zachodnio-słowiańskich |pages=16–17 |language=pl |location=Warszawa |publisher=Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe }}

In Polish the {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/ → /t͡s/}} merger is part of a more general dialectal feature called {{lang|pl|mazurzenie}} (mazuration), present in many Polish dialects but named after the Masovian dialect.Stanislaw Gogolewski, "Dialectology in Poland, 1873-1997", In: Towards a History of Linguistics in Poland, by E. F. K. Koerner, A. J. Szwedek (eds.) (2001) {{ISBN|90-272-4591-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CTtT7-JTwioC&pg=PA128&dq=mazurzenie p. 128]

It also occurs in a few areas of the Chakavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian, known as tsakavism.

The sabesdiker losn feature of Northeastern Yiddish includes the {{IPA|/tʃ/ → /ts/}} merger.

Greek-speaking people may merge {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} (and {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}) into {{IPA|/t͡s/}} (and {{IPA|/d͡z/}}) when speaking foreign languages that contain those sounds.