Notes:

• A kerchief [kɝ ʧif] is a scarf-like covering for the head. Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) uses this word in his famous poem, “The Night Before Christmas”:
  “The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
  While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads:
  And Mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
  Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
  When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
  I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.”
  
• So a handkerchief is a kerchief that you would use with your hand. Over a long period of time, the “d” stopped being pronounced, leaving the “n” to precede the “k,” thereby causing it to be pronounced /ŋ/. Similarly, the long vowel /i/ in “chief” over time became the short vowel /ɪ/ , especially since it is not stressed, thereby being a partial vowel reduction.