GH: Difference between revisions
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'''ough''' is even a [[schwa]] ('''ə''') in British English '''bòrough, Scàrborough''' and '''thòrough''', though in American these are '''bòrôugh, Scàrborôugh''', and '''thòrôugh''', rhyming with '''fúrrôw'''. BrE pronounces '''fürlôugh''' this way too. | '''ough''' is even a [[schwa]] ('''ə''') in British English '''bòrough, Scàrborough''' and '''thòrough''', though in American these are '''bòrôugh, Scàrborôugh''', and '''thòrôugh''', rhyming with '''fúrrôw'''. BrE pronounces '''fürlôugh''' this way too. | ||
Initially the digraph merely represents a hard '''g''', as in '''ghôst, ghoûl, ghāstly''' and also spaghéttì'''; and an '''h''' serves to distinguish '''dínghy''' ''boat'' (which can have hard '''g''' or silent '''g''', but always the '''ng''' sound) from '''díngy''' ''dirty'' (soft '''g''': *dínjy). | Initially the digraph merely represents a hard '''g''', as in '''ghôst, ghoûl, ghāstly''' and also '''spaghéttì'''; and an '''h''' serves to distinguish '''dínghy''' ''boat'' (which can have hard '''g''' or silent '''g''', but always the '''ng''' sound) from '''díngy''' ''dirty'' (soft '''g''': *dínjy). | ||
'''gh''' uniquely sounds like '''p''' in '''híccoúgh''' (a variant spelling of '''híccup'''). | '''gh''' uniquely sounds like '''p''' in '''híccoúgh''' (a variant spelling of '''híccup'''). | ||
Revision as of 07:53, 14 April 2010
GH, gh is a digraph (a two-letter grapheme) used with various different values in a number of languages using the Latin alphabet, especially in English, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Italian, Romanian, Friulian and Corsican.
Use in English
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use in English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alphabetical word list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retroalphabetical list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common misspellings |
gh in English is a notorious digraph, representing as it usually does the sorry relic of a sound (IPA χ) no longer pronounced except in exclamations of disgust, úgh! yeùgh! (also found as Scottish ch in lóch, which in Ireland is indeed spelt lóugh; another Irish example is Drógheda) – or mutated into the sound of f and ph.
nîght and cóugh, for example, are pronounced *nîte and *cóff (the accents show pronunciation: see English spellings). It is pronounced 'f' in: cóugh, tróugh, Góugh, enoúgh, toúgh, roúgh, sloúgh skin.
More often, as in nîght, gh is silent, and quite a variety of vowel sounds and spellings can precede it: ŏught, sŏught, bŏught, cåught, nåughty, Våughan, Våughn, dôugh, èight, nèigh, wèigh, slèigh ride (= slây kill), wèight heavy (= wâit time), frèight, heîght, bòugh, throûgh, thôugh, Búrrôughs, sîght, nîght, nîgh, slòugh swamp and the English town Slòugh, both *slòu.
ough is even a schwa (ə) in British English bòrough, Scàrborough and thòrough, though in American these are bòrôugh, Scàrborôugh, and thòrôugh, rhyming with fúrrôw. BrE pronounces fürlôugh this way too.
Initially the digraph merely represents a hard g, as in ghôst, ghoûl, ghāstly and also spaghéttì; and an h serves to distinguish dínghy boat (which can have hard g or silent g, but always the ng sound) from díngy dirty (soft g: *dínjy).
gh uniquely sounds like p in híccoúgh (a variant spelling of híccup).