# I'm looking for English words in which the digraph "sh" respresents a phoneme other than /ʃ/.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-english-words-in-which-the-digraph-sh-respresents-a-phoneme-other-than/602925>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 14, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-english-words-in-which-the-digraph-sh-respresents-a-phoneme-other-than/602925 "2011-11-14T19:26:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-english-words-in-which-the-digraph-sh-respresents-a-phoneme-other-than/602925/41 "2011-11-15T15:23:45Z")

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> [@Colophon](#):
>
> I know you didn’t ask for proper nouns, but as we’ve exhausted the other possibilities, here are a couple:
> 
> Cheshunt (a town north of London) is pronounced ˈtʃesənt or ˈtʃezənt.
> 
> Bosham, in Sussex, is ˈbɒzəm (but nearby Cosham is ˈkɒʃəm)

Oh, those are okay; I was just trying to avoid the currently-fashionable creative name spellings. I interviewed a woman named Hietyrh – pronounced “heather” – recently, and I’m still trying to recover.

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**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-english-words-in-which-the-digraph-sh-respresents-a-phoneme-other-than/602925/42 "2011-11-15T15:28:58Z")

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It sounds like I’m saying _“you’re full of it,”_ but only because the ‘sh’ is silent. 😉

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-english-words-in-which-the-digraph-sh-respresents-a-phoneme-other-than/602925/43 "2011-11-15T15:29:00Z")

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> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#):
>
> Oh, those are okay; I was just trying to avoid the currently-fashionable creative name spellings. I interviewed a woman named Hietyrh – pronounced “heather” – recently, and I’m still trying to recover.

I hope you haven’t hiert hyr.

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**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-english-words-in-which-the-digraph-sh-respresents-a-phoneme-other-than/602925/44 "2011-11-15T15:55:38Z")

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> [@Colophon](#):
>
> Bosham, in Sussex, is ˈbɒzəm (but nearby Cosham is ˈkɒʃəm)

That’s the village where my family’s from.

I think the US pronunciation of cashmere is the only example that actually counts. It may once have been a proper noun, but no more. There’s your answer, chuckles.

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**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-english-words-in-which-the-digraph-sh-respresents-a-phoneme-other-than/602925/45 "2011-11-15T15:58:12Z")

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> [@Colophon](#):
>
> I hope you haven’t hiert hyr.

No one could blame me for sending over the monkeys.

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