Gh (digraph)
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Gh is a digraph found in many languages.
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[edit] In Latin-based orthographies
[edit] English
In English, gh historically represented [x] (the voiceless velar fricative, as in the Scottish Gaelic word loch). In modern English, "gh" is almost always either silent or pronounced /f/ (see ough). It is thought that before disappearing, the sound became partially or completely voiced to [ɣx] or [ɣ], which would explain the new spelling - Old English used a simple h - and the diphthongization of any preceding vowel.
When gh occurs at the beginning of a word in English, it is pronounced /g/ as in "ghost", "ghastly", "ghoul", "ghetto", "ghee" etc. In this context, it does not derive from a former /x/.
[edit] Irish
In Irish, gh represents /ɣ/ (the voiced velar fricative) and /j/ (the voiced palatal approximant). Word-initially it represents the lenition of g, for example mo ghiall [mə jiəɫ] "my jaw" (cf. giall [gʲiəɫ] "jaw").
[edit] Italian
In Italian and Romanian, gh represents /g/ (the voiced velar plosive) before -e and -i.
[edit] Maltese
The Maltese language has a related digraph, għ. It is considered a single letter, called għajn (the same word for eye and spring, named for the corresponding Arabic letter 'ayin). 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 the same as ħ.
[edit] In romanization
In the romanization of various languages, gh usually represents the voiced velar fricative (/ɣ/). Like kh /x/, gh /ɣ/ may also be heard pharyngealized (like 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, gh represents a voiced velar aspirated plosive /gʰ/ (often referred to as a breathy murmurred voiced velar plosive)
[edit] See also
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| Digraphs |
Aa aa Ae ae Ai ai Au au Aw aw Ay ay Bh bh Ch ch Ck ck Cö cö Cs cs Cu cu Cz cz Dd dd Dh dh Dj dj Dx dx Dz dz Dž dž Dź dź Dż dż Ea ea Ee ee Ei ei Eu eu Ew ew Ey ey Ff ff Fh fh Gb gb Gh gh Għ għ Gi gi Gj gj Gn gn Gy gy Hs hs Hu hu Ie ie IJ ij Jö jö Kh kh Kp kp Ku ku Lh lh Lj lj Ll ll Ly ly Mb mb Mh mh Mp mp Nd nd Ng ng Nh nh Nj nj Nk nk Ns ns Nt nt Ny ny Nz nz Oa oa Oe oe Oi oi Oo oo Ou ou Ow ow Oy oy Ph ph Qu qu Rd rd Rh rh Rl rl Rn rn Rr rr Rt rt Rz rz Sh sh Sv sv Sy sy Sz sz Th th Tj tj Tr tr Ts ts Tx tx Ty ty Tz tz Ue ue Ui ui Vh vh Wh wh Xh xh Xö xö Yh yh Yk yk Zh zh Zs zs Zv zv |
| Trigraphs |
C'h c'h Dzs dzs Eau eau Ngb ngb Ngh ngh Ngk ngk Nkp nkp Nth nth Nyk nyk Rnd rnd Sch sch |
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