A digraph, bigraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme (distinct sound) or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the two characters in sequence. The sound is often, but not necessarily, one which cannot be expressed using a single character in the orthography used by the language. Normally, the term "digraph" is reserved for graphemes whose pronunciation is always or nearly always the same. In human language, a phoneme is the theoretical representation of a sound. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ... In typography, a grapheme is the atomic unit in written language. ...

When digraphs do not represent a special sound, they may be relics from an earlier period of the language when they did have a different pronunciation, or represent a distinction which is made only in certain dialects, like wh in English. They may also be used for purely etymological reasons, like rh in English. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects. ...

In some languages, digraphs are considered individual letters, meaning that they have their own place in the alphabet, in the standard orthography, and cannot be separated into their constituent graphemes; e.g.: when sorting, abbreviating or hyphenating. In others, like English, this is not the case. A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ...

Some schemes of Romanization make extensive use of digraphs (e.g. Cyrillic to Roman for English readers), while others rely solely on diacritics (e.g. Cyrillic to the modified Roman used for Turkish). To avoid ambiguity, transliteration based on diacritics is generally preferred in academic circles. Many languages, like Serbian and Turkish, have no digraphs, and so transliterations into these languages also cannot use digraphs. In linguistics, romanization (or Latinization, also spelled romanisation or Latinisation) is the representation of a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages; (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A diacritical mark or diacritic, also called an accent mark, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. ... The Turkish alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet used for writing the Turkish language, consisting of 29 letters. ... Serbian (српски језик; srpski jezik) is one of the standard versions of the Shtokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and by Serbs in the Serbian diaspora. ...

Types of digraphs

There are two main kinds of digraphs, sequences and double letters.

Sequences

This is a pair of different letters in a specific order. Examples in English are: The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

• ch usually corresponds to /tʃ/ (voiceless postalveolar affricate), to /k/ (voiceless velar plosive) when used as an etymological digraph in words of Greek origin, more rarely to /ʃ/ (voiceless postalveolar fricative)
• ck represents /k/ (voiceless velar plosive)
• gh represents /g/ (voiced velar plosive) at the beginning of words. Represents /f/ (voiceless labiodental fricative), or is silent at the end of words, and in compounds formed from such words.
• ng represents /ŋ/ (velar nasal)
• ph represents /f/ (voiceless labiodental fricative)
• qu usually represents /k^w/ or /k/; q is conventionally followed by u in native words.
• rh represents /ɹ/ (alveolar approximant), and is an etymological digraph found in words of Greek origin.
• sc normally represents /s/ (voiceless alveolar fricative) before e or i
• sh represents /ʃ/ (voiceless postalveolar fricative)
• th usually corresponds to /θ/ (voiceless interdental fricative) or /ð/ (voiced interdental fricative). See also Pronunciation of English th.
• wh represents /ʍ/ (voiceless labial-velar fricative) in some conservative dialects; /w/ (voiced labial-velar approximant) in other dialects; and /h/ (voiceless glottal fricative) in a few words where it is followed by o, such as who and whole. See also Hwair.
• wr represents /ɹ/ (alveolar approximant). Originally, it stood for a labialized sound, while r was a non-labialized rhotic, but this distinction was lost, and the two sounds have merged into a single phoneme, which is allophonically labialized at the start of syllables, as in red [ɹʷɛd].

Digraphs may also be composed of vowels. Common examples in English are: Ch is a digraph in the Roman alphabet. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar affricate or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Ck is a digraph common in many languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... Gh is a digraph found in many languages. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In an alphabetic writing system, a silent letter is a letter that, in a particular word, does not correspond to any sound in the words pronunciation. ... In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (a word) that consists of more than one other lexeme. ... Ng is also considered a single character in the Maori and Filipino languages. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Ph is a digraph in the English language and many other languages that represents the sound // (voiceless labiodental fricative). ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Look up Q, q in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Rh is a digraph found in some languages. ... The alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. ... Sh is a digraph in the Roman alphabet. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Th is a digraph in the Roman alphabet. ... The voiceless dental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced dental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In English, the digraph 〈th〉 represents in most cases one of two different phonemes: the voiced dental fricative (as in this) and the voiceless dental fricative (thing). ... The digraph wh is used to express a phoneme: In the English language, (voiceless labial-velar fricative) the continuation of the PIE labiovelar (formerly spelled hw, see hwair). ... The voiceless labial-velar approximant (traditionally called a fricative) is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced labiovelar (actually labialized velar) approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages. ... The voiceless glottal transition, commonly called a fricative, is a type of sound used in some spoken languages which often behaves like a consonant, but sometimes behaves more like a vowel, or is indeterminate in its behavior. ... Some words with Hwair, in Joseph Wrights Grammar of the Gothic Language. ... The alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Labialisation is secondary articulatory feature of sounds in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ... Rhotic consonants, or R-like sounds, are non-lateral liquid consonants. ... In human language, a phoneme is the theoretical representation of a sound. ... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ...

• ea usually pronounced /i:/, /ɛ/ or /eɪ/.
• ie usually pronounced /i:/ or /aɪ/
• ai usually pronounced /ɛ/ or /eɪ/.
• ei usually pronounced /i:/, more rarely /aɪ/.
• au usually pronounced /ɔ/.
• eu usually pronounced /ju/.
• ou usually pronounced /aʊ/, more rarely /u:/.
• aw usually pronounced /ɔ/.
• ew usually pronounced /ju/.
• ow usually pronounced /oʊ/ or /aʊ/.

For further information on English, see English orthography. ea is a digraph used in many languages. ... Ie is a digraph found in many languages. ... ai is a digraph used in many languages. ... ei is a digraph used in many languages. ... au is a digraph that occurs in many languages. ... Ou is a digraph of the Latin alphabet. ... aw is a digraph that occurs in many languages. ... Ew is a digraph found in many languages. ... Ow is a digraph found in many languages. ... English orthography (or spelling), has relatively complicated rules when compared to other orthographic systems written with alphabetic scripts and contains many inconsistencies between spelling and pronunciation, necessitating rote learning for most people learning to read or write English. ...

In Dutch, the digraph ij, which often resembles a y in handwriting, represents the diphthong /ɛɪ/. Opinions are divided on whether it should be considered part of the alphabet. The words “ijsvrij” and “yoghurt” in various forms of handwriting. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ...

Double letters

These are pairs of identical letters that have a special pronunciation. In some languages they indicate consonant length or vowel length, a stressed syllable or a new sound, but in other cases they are just part of the spelling convention. Ll is the most common in English, though it does not represent a different sound from l, being essentially an etymological digraph. In Welsh, however, it stands for a voiceless lateral, and in Spanish it stands for a palatal consonant. Ee and oo are common English digraphs made up of vowels. Some more examples: In phonetics, gemination is when a spoken consonant is doubled, so that it is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a single consonant. ... In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. ... In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... ee is a digraph used in many languages. ... Oo is a digraph used in many languages. ...

• In several languages of western Europe, including English and French, ss is used between vowels for the voiceless sibilant /s/ (voiceless alveolar fricative), since an s alone between vowels is normally voiced, /z/ (voiced alveolar fricative). In German, an archaic version of this digraph originated the letter ß.
• In Romance languages such as Spanish or Italian, rr is used between vowels for the alveolar trill /r/, since an r alone between vowels represents an alveolar flap /ɾ/ (the two are different phonemes in these languages).
• In Italian, zz (as in the word pizza) is an affricate, /ts/ or /dz/.
• In several Germanic languages, including English, CC (where C stands for a given consonant) corresponds to C and signifies that the preceding vowel is short.

The voiceless alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. ... The voiced alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. ... ß as the combination of ſs on a Pirna street sign (Waldstraße) This article is about the letter ß in the German alphabet. ... RR stands for: Race Replica Rachael Ray, Award-winning US television chef, host and author Railroad Randy Rhoads Rational Recovery Regional Railways, a former sector of British Rail Repurchase agreement rate (= repo rate; as in the Reuters Instrument Code US10YT=RR) Request-reply, a synchronous messaging model commonly used in... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... The alveolar tap/flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ) but release as a fricative (such as or or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. ...

Ambiguity

Some letter pairs should not be interpreted as digraphs, but appear due to compounding, like in hogshead and cooperate. This is often not marked in any way (it is an exception which must simply be memorized), but some authors indicate it either by breaking up the digraph with a hyphen, as in hogs-head, co-operate, or with a diaeresis mark, as in coöperate, though this usage is rare in English. In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (a word) that consists of more than one other lexeme. ... A hyphen ( -, or ‐ ) is a punctuation mark. ... The umlaut mark (or simply umlaut) and the trema or diaeresis mark (or simply diaeresis) are two diacritics consisting of a pair of dots placed over a letter. ... Ä ä Ö ö Ãœ ü The umlaut mark (or simply umlaut) and the trema or diaeresis mark (or simply diaeresis) are two diacritics consisting of a pair of dots placed over a letter. ...

In Czech also (and analogically in other Slavic languages), double letters may appear in compound words, but they are not considered digraphs. Examples: bezzubý (bez + zubý, toothless), cenný (cen + ný, valuable), černooký (černo + oký, black-eyed).  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup...

Digraphs versus letters

In some languages, digraphs and trigraphs are counted as distinct letters in themselves, and assigned to a specific place in the alphabet, separate from that of the sequence of characters which composes them, in orthography or collation. Other languages, such as English, make no such convention, and split digraphs into their constituent letters for collation purposes. Some language alphabets that include digraphs are: A trigraph (from the Greek words tria = three and grapho = write) is a group of three letters used to represent a single sound. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ... Alphabetical redirects here. ...

• Croatian, Serbian. Note that in the Cyrillic orthography, these sounds are represented by single letters, rather than pairs of letters.
  • lj corresponds to /ʎ/, (palatal lateral approximant)
  • nj corresponds to /ɲ/ (palatal nasal)
  • dž corresponds to /dʒ/ (voiced postalveolar affricate)

• Hungarian.
  • cs represents /tʃ/ (voiceless postalveolar affricate)
  • dz represents /dz/ (voiced postalveolar affricate)
  • gy represents /ɟ/ (voiced palatal plosive)
  • ly originally represented /ʎ/ (palatal lateral approximant), but in the modern language stands for /j/ (palatal approximant)
  • ny represents /ɲ/ (palatal nasal)
  • sz represents /s/ (voiceless alveolar fricative) (s is pronounced as /ʃ/)
  • ty represents /c/ (voiceless palatal plosive)
  • zs represents /ʒ/ (voiced postalveolar fricative)

• Polish.
  • ch corresponds to /x/ (voiceless velar fricative)
  • cz corresponds to /tʂ/ (voiceless retroflex affricate)
  • dz corresponds to /dz/ (voiced alveolar affricate)
  • dź corresponds to /dʑ/ (voiced alveolo-palatal affricate)
  • dż corresponds to /dʐ/ (voiced retroflex affricate)
  • rz corresponds to /ʐ/ (voiced retroflex fricative)
  • sz corresponds to /ʂ/ (voiceless retroflex fricative)

• Scandinavian languages.
  • aa represents /ɔ/, and is alternatively spelt å.

• Spanish. The following digraphs are considered part of the alphabet. They used to be sorted as separate letters, but a reform in 1994 by the Spanish Royal Academy has allowed that they be split into their constituent letters for collation. Note: the digraph rr has never been included in the Spanish alphabet, in spite of having a distinct pronunciation (alveolar trill).
  • ch represents /tʃ/ (voiceless postalveolar affricate)
  • ll corresponds to /ʎ/ (traditionally a palatal lateral approximant, though it has several dialectal variants in modern Spanish)

• Welsh. The digraphs listed below represent distinct phonemes. On the other hand, the digraphs mh, nh, and the trigraph ngh, which stand for voiceless consonants, but only occur at the beginning of words as a result of the nasal mutation, are not included in the alphabet.
  • ch represents /x/ (voiceless velar fricative)
  • dd represents /ð/ (voiced dental fricative), like the English th in then.
  • ff represents /f/ (voiceless labiodental fricative), like English f, since Welsh f is pronounced like an English v.
  • ll represents /ɬ/ (voiceless alveolar lateral fricative)
  • ng represents /ŋ/ (velar nasal), the same sound as in English.
  • ph represents /f/ (voiceless labiodental fricative)
  • rh represents /r̥/ (voiceless alveolar trill), pronounced roughly like the combination hr.
  • th represents /θ/ (voiceless interdental fricative)

• Wymysorys
  • has the uncommon digraph ao.

The Serbian language is one of the standard versions of the Štokavian dialect (former standard was known as Serbo-Croatian language). ... The Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is actually a family of alphabets, subsets of which are used by a wide variety of Slavic languages—Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—as well as many other languages of the... Lj in uper- and lowercase See LJ for other meanings. ... The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Majuscule and minuscule Nj in sans-serif and serif fonts. ... The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. ... Dž (lowercase dž) is the seventh letter of the Croatian and Serbian (Latin form) alphabets, after D and before Đ. It is pronounced as . ... The voiced palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar affricate or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Linguistics & Pronunciation Dz is the seventh letter of the Hungarian alphabet. ... The voiced palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Linguistics & Pronunciation Gy is the thirtheenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet. ... The voiced palatal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Linguistics & Pronunciation Ly is the twentieth letter of the Hungarian alphabet. ... The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... Linguistics & Pronunciation Ny is the twenty-third letter of the Hungarian alphabet. ... The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. ... Linguistics & Pronunciation Sz is the thirty-second letter of the Hungarian alphabet. ... The voiceless alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. ... Linguistics & Pronunciation Ty is the thirty-fourth letter of the Hungarian alphabet. ... The voiceless palatal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The voiced palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless retroflex affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolo-palatal affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced retroflex affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced retroflex fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless retroflex fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ... AA, A∴A∴, Aa, Aa, aa and aA may refer to: // Aerolíneas Argentinas, an Argentine airline American Airlines, IATA airline code Air America was a CIA front that supplied covert operations during the Vietnam War Ann Arbor Railroad, a railroad connecting Ann Arbor, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio in... The letter Å represents various o sounds in the Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, North Frisian, Walloon, Chamorro and Istro-Romanian language alphabets. ... The Real Academia Española (Spanish for Royal Spanish Academy; often RAE) is the institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language. ... RR stands for: Race Replica Rachael Ray, Award-winning US television chef, host and author Railroad Randy Rhoads Rational Recovery Regional Railways, a former sector of British Rail Repurchase agreement rate (= repo rate; as in the Reuters Instrument Code US10YT=RR) Request-reply, a synchronous messaging model commonly used in... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... The voiceless palato-alveolar affricate or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The modern Welsh alphabet (Yr Wyddor) contains 28 letters, of which eight are digraphs: a, b, c, ch, d, dd, e, f, ff, g, ng, h, i, l, ll, m, n, o, p, ph, r, rh, s, t, th, u, w, y The acute accent, the grave accent, the circumflex... Mh is a digraph found in some languages. ... Nh is a digraph of the Latin alphabet, a combination of N and H. // African languages In African languages, nh may be used to represent a dental nasal (IPA: ). Asian languages Japanese Early romanizations of Japanese sometimes used nh to represent a prepalatal nasal (IPA: ). Today, this is usually written... The Vietnamese alphabet, called chữ quốc ngữ (script of the national language), usually shortened to quốc ngữ (national language), is the current writing system for the Vietnamese language. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... The morphology of the Welsh language shows many characteristics perhaps unfamiliar to speakers of English or continental European languages like French or German, but has much in common with the other modern Insular Celtic languages, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, and Breton. ... The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Dd is a digraph of the Latin alphabet, a combination of two Ds. ... The voiced dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Ff is a digraph of the Latin alphabet. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... LL may stand for: LL is the IATA code for Lineas Aeras Allegro airline LL is the production code for the Doctor Who serial The Evil of the Daleks. ... The voiceless alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... The voiceless dental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The Wilamowicean alphabet is an extension of the Latin alphabet and is used in Wymysorys. ...

In non-Latin alphabets

Digraphs also exist in languages that are not written with the Latin alphabet. For example, modern Greek has the following: The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... Greek ( IPA: or IPA: — Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language in that language family. ...

• αι (ai) represents /e̞/
• ει (ei) represents /i/
• οι (oi) represents /i/
• ου (ou) represents /u/
• υι (yi) represents /i/
• γγ (gg) represents /ɡ/
• γκ (gk) represents /ɡ/
• μπ (mp) represents /b/
• ντ (nt) represents /d/

See also

• Trigraph (orthography)
• Diphthong
• Ligature (typography)
• Diacritic
• Alphabets derived from the Latin
• Orthography
• List of all two-letter combinations
• Bigram