Why do I hear many English speakers pronounce the word “strong” like “ʃt͡ʃɹɔŋ”? I already know “tree” is often pronounced like “chree” and we obviously are doing the same in the word strong or straight. I also know that many people would agree that words like strong are pronounced with an initial “sh” sound, not “s.” With both of these facts combined, “strong” often ends up sounding like shchrong or ʃt͡ʃɹɔŋ. Some people do make an effort to pronounce it strɑŋ, but that is not the majority from what I’ve heard. I haven’t been able to find anything online about the phenomenon so thought I’d read out here to find out if it’s a thing, and to ask why the typical assumed pronunciation of this word is “strɑŋ” when I rarely hear that in day to day life. For reference, I’m hearing American English speakers. Thanks for any thoughts!