Why is sugar pronounced Shugar?
Etymologists are unsure about why the transition from the French sucre to the English sugar has resulted in the pronunciation of it with an sh instead of s sound. Some have theorised that this is because sugar was initially pronounced syugar, leading it to become an sh sound as it has in sure and pressure.
How do British say sugar?
What’s the correct pronunciation of sugar?
Sugar is from French sucre [sykʀ(ə)], and sure is from French sur (e) [syːʀ]. Middle English kept that vowel originally—as [sykrə] and [syːr(ə)], respectively—but over time it was transformed into [ju] (like modern you).