The effective charges of Si in both magnesium ͑Mg 2 Si͒ and calcium silicides ͑CaSi and Ca 2 Si͒ have been investigated by measuring high-resolution Si K␣ x-ray fluorescence spectra. CaSi showed small but positive chemical shifts ͑+0.03 eV͒, while the chemical shift of Mg 2 Si was negative ͑−0.14 eV͒, as expected from their electronegativity ͑Ca: 1.00; Mg: 1.31; Si: 1.90͒. The similarity of the chemical shift for the Fe silicides and the calculations for the free single Si atom suggested that the effective charge of Si for CaSi was positive. From the observations the effective charges on Si in CaSi and Mg 2 Si were estimated to be +0.1 and −0.3 electrons. The discrete variation Hatree-Fock-Slater calculations for Mg 2 Si and CaSi also showed opposite chemical shifts and effective charges: −0.09 eV and −0.35 electrons for Mg 2 Si and +0.09 eV and +0.26 electrons for CaSi, respectively. The composition of the nearest-neighbor atoms of Si, which are Si in CaSi and Mg in Mg 2 Si, cause the opposite effective charges between the two silicides.