Abstract

This paper explores the nature and the characteristics of affricate sounds /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ in three languages: English, Arabic and Persian. Each language is different from the other because they belong to different families’ origin. English is a west Germanic language, Arabic is a Semitic while Persian, an Indo-Iranian language, emerges from Indo-European language family. The paper is important: firstly, there is no paper studies the subject in three languages. Secondly, it reveals the misunderstanding and misconceptions of these sounds for second language learners. By focusing on their phonetic and phonological properties, the study identifies similarities and differences in affricates articulation, distribution and usage. Depending on descriptive analytical approach, the findings contribute to the broader understanding of cross-linguistic phonetic patterns and offer implications for second language acquisition and pedagogy.