English words with ch are usually pronounced with a voiceless affricate. This is the sound in words such as chair, cheese and church. However, in a number of loanwords from French, the ch is pronounced with a voiceless alveopalatal fricative.
Here is a list of words in which the ch is a voiceless alveopalatal fricative:
brochure
chalet
champagne
chandelier
chauffeur
chef
crochet
machine
mustache
parachute
The words in the list are French loanwords. The ch corresponds to the French pronunciation. The places Chicago and Michigan are native words. Though they are not from French, they are pronounced with a fricative because English adopted the French pronunciation. The ch of French was once pronounced as a voiceless affricate, but has been pronounced as a fricative for centuries. Loanwords from French with ch preserve the French pronunciation.
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