Gh (digraph)

File:Latin digraph G H.svg

Latin Gh digraph.

Gh is a digraph found in many languages.

In Latin-based orthographies

Germanic languages

English

In English, Template:Angbr historically represented (the voiceless velar fricative, as in the Scottish Gaelic word ), and still does in lough and certain other Hiberno-English words, especially proper nouns. In the dominant dialects of modern English, Template:Angbr is almost always either silent or pronounced (see Ough). It is thought that before disappearing, the sound became partially or completely voiced to or , which would explain the new spelling — Old English used a simple Template:Angbr — and the diphthongization of any preceding vowel.

Alexander John Ellis reported it being pronounced as on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border and close to the Scottish border in the late nineteenth century.

It is also occasionally pronounced , such as in Edinburgh as well as in Keighley.

When gh occurs at the beginning of a word in English, it is pronounced as in "ghost", "ghastly", "ghoul", "ghetto", "ghee" etc. In this context, it does not derive from a former .

American Literary Braille has a dedicated cell pattern for the digraph Template:Angbr (dots 126, ⠣).

Middle Dutch

In Middle Dutch, Template:Angbr was often used to represent (the voiced velar fricative) before Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, and Template:Angbr. This usage survives in place names such as Ghent.

The spelling of English word ghost with a Template:Angbr (from Middle English ) was likely influenced by the Middle Dutch spelling (Modern Dutch ).

Latin languages

In Italian and Romanian, Template:Angbr represents (the voiced velar plosive) before Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr. In Galician, it is often used to represent the pronunciation of gheada.

Irish

In Irish, Template:Angbr represents (the voiced velar fricative) and (the voiced palatal approximant). Word-initially it represents the lenition of Template:Angbr, for example 'my jaw' (compare 'jaw').

Igbo

In Igbo, the <gh> digraph is used in words like agha (war).

Juǀʼhoan

In Juǀʼhoan, it's used for the prevoiced aspirated velar plosive .

Malay

In the Malay and Indonesian alphabet, Template:Angbr is used to represent the voiced velar fricative () in Arabic origin words.

Maltese

The Maltese language has a related digraph, Template:Angbr. It is considered a single letter, called għajn (the same word for eye and spring, named for the corresponding Arabic letter ʿayn). It is usually silent, but it is necessary to be included because it changes the pronunciation of neighbouring letters, usually lengthening the succeeding vowels. At the end of a word, when not substituted by an apostrophe, it is pronounced Template:IPAblink. Its function is thus not unlike modern English gh, except that the English version comes after vowels rather than before like Maltese għ (għajn would come out something like ighn if spelled as in English).

Swahili

In the Roman Swahili alphabet, Template:Angbr is used to represent the voiced velar fricative () in Arabic origin words.

Tlingit

In Canadian Tlingit Template:Angbr represents , which in Alaska is written Template:Angbr.

Taiwanese

In Daighi tongiong pingim, Template:Angbr represents (the voiced velar stop) before Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, and Template:Angbr.

Uyghur

In Uyghur Latin script, gh represents Template:IPAblink.

Vietnamese

In Vietnamese alphabet, Template:Angbr represents before Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr.

In romanization

In the romanization of various languages, Template:Angbr usually represents the voiced velar fricative (). Like Template:Angbr , Template:Angbr may also be pharyngealized, as in several Caucasian and Native American languages. In transcriptions of Indo-Aryan languages such as Sanskrit and Hindi, as well as their ancestor, Proto-Indo-European, Template:Angbr represents a voiced velar aspirated plosive (often referred to as a breathy or murmured voiced velar plosive).

The Ukrainian National transliteration system uses Template:Angbr to avoid occurrence of another digraph, usually Template:Angbr which is used for another type of phoneme. Such as the word "pack" (a group of animals) in Ukrainian would be Romanized as zghraia (Template:Langx) rather than zhraia, which could be misconstrued to intend . The Ukrainian transliteration standard DSTU 9112:2021 (based on ISO 9:1995) uses Template:Angbr to represent common Ukrainian letter г (the voiced glottal fricative ).

See also

• Phonological history of English consonants
• Yogh