List of Latin-script tetragraphs

This is a list of tetragraphs in the Latin script. These are most common in Irish orthography. For Cyrillic tetragraphs, see tetragraph.

Arrernte

Tetragraphs in Arrernte transcribe single consonants, but are largely predictable from their components.

⟨kngw⟩ represents /ᵏŋʷ/.

⟨rtnw⟩ represents /^ʈɳʷ/.

⟨thnw⟩ and ⟨tnhw⟩ represent /ᵗ̪n̪ʷ/.

⟨tnyw⟩ represents /ᶜɲʷ/.

English

The majority of English tetragraphs make vowel sounds:

⟨aigh⟩ represents /eɪ/, as in straight.

⟨aire⟩ represents /ɛː/ in Received Pronunciation (RP), as in millionaire.

⟨arre⟩ can represent /ɑː/ in RP, as in bizarre.

⟨arrh⟩ represents /ɑː/ in RP, as in catarrh.

⟨augh⟩ can represent /ɔː/, as in caught.

⟨ayer⟩ can represent /ɛː/ in RP, as in prayer.

⟨ayor⟩ represents /ɛː/ in RP, as in mayor.

⟨eigh⟩ can represent three different sounds: /eɪ/ as in weigh, /aɪ/ as in height, and /iː/ as in Leigh.

⟨ough⟩ has ten possible pronunciations, five of which make vowel sounds: /aʊ/ as in drought, /ɔː/ as in bought, /oʊ/ as in though, /uː/ as in through, and /ə/ as in thorough.

⟨ueue⟩ represents /juː/, as in queue.

⟨yrrh⟩ represents /ɜː/ in RP, as in myrrh.

There are four examples of vowel tetragraphs that are found only in proper nouns:

⟨eare⟩ represents /ɪə/ in RP, as found in

Shakespeare

.

⟨orce⟩ represents /ʊ/ in RP, as found in Worcestershire.

⟨oore⟩ represents /ɔː/ in RP, as in Moore.

⟨ughe⟩ can represent /juː/, as in Hughes.

Three consonant tetragraphs exist in English that are more commonly sounded as two separate digraphs. However, when used in word-initial position they become one single sound:

⟨chth⟩ at the start of a word represents /θ/, as in chthonian.

⟨phth⟩ at the start of a word represents /θ/, as in phthisis.

⟨shch⟩ at the start of word represents /ʃ/ as in shcherbakovite, a mineral named after Russian geochemist and mineralogist,

Щ and usually read as two separate digraphs, /ʃ.t͡ʃ/ as in pushchairs or /s.t͡ʃ/ as in Pechishche, a place name in Belarus.^[2]

In word-final position, the French tetragraph ⟨cque⟩ is sometimes used for /k/ in some loan words, such as sacque (an old spelling of sack).

French

⟨illi⟩ is pronounced [j] in words such as joaillier and quincaillier (which can also be written as joailler and quincailler since 1990).

Additionally, trigraphs are sometimes followed by silent letters, and these sequences may be considered with tetragraphs:

⟨cque⟩ is pronounced [k] in words such as grecque and Mecque, where the trigraph ⟨cqu⟩ is followed by the feminine suffix -e.

⟨eaux⟩ represents [o] when the silent plural suffix -x is added to the trigraph ⟨eau⟩; e.g., oiseaux.

German

⟨dsch⟩ represents [

").

⟨tsch⟩ represents [t͡ʃ], which is a relatively common phoneme in German, appearing in words like deutsch ("German"), Deutschland ("Germany"), Tschechien ("Czech Republic"), and tschüss ("bye").

⟨zsch⟩ represents [t͡ʃ] in a few German names such as Zschopau and Zschorlau.

Hmong

There are several sequences of four letters in the

. Between these is a digraph, one of ⟨dl⟩ /tˡ/, ⟨pl⟩ /pˡ/, ⟨ts⟩ /ʈ͡ʂ/, or ⟨tx⟩ /t͡s/, which may itself be predictable.

⟨ndlh⟩ represents /ndˡʱ/.

⟨nplh⟩ represents /mbˡʱ/.

⟨ntsh⟩ represents /ɳɖʐʱ/.

⟨ntxh⟩ represents /ndzʱ/.

Irish

Between two broad velarized consonants:

⟨adha⟩ and ⟨agha⟩ represent /əi̯/ .

⟨abha⟩, ⟨obha⟩, ⟨odha⟩ and ⟨ogha⟩ represent /əu̯/ (/oː/ in Donegal).

⟨amha⟩ represents /əu̯/.

⟨omha⟩ represents /oː/.

⟨umha⟩ represents /uː/.

Between two slender (palatalized) consonants:

⟨eidh⟩ and ⟨eigh⟩ represent /əi̯/ (/eː/ in Donegal).

Between a broad and a slender consonant:

⟨aidh⟩, ⟨aigh⟩, ⟨oidh⟩ and ⟨oigh⟩ represent /əi̯/.

Between a slender and a broad consonant:

⟨eabh⟩ represents /əu̯/ (/oː/ in Donegal).

⟨eadh⟩ represents /əi̯/ (/eː/ in Donegal) and when unstressed word finally /ə/ (/uː/ in Mayo and Donegal).

⟨eamh⟩ represents /əu̯/ and when unstressed word finally /uː/ in Mayo and Donegal.

Juǀʼhoan

The apostrophe was used with four trigraphs for click consonants in the 1987 orthography of Juǀʼhoan. The apostrophe is considered a diacritic rather than a letter in Juǀʼhoan.

⟨dcgʼ⟩ for [ᶢǀ^ʢ]

⟨dçgʼ⟩ for [ᶢǂ^ʢ]

⟨dqgʼ⟩ for [ᶢǃ^ʢ]

⟨dxgʼ⟩ for [ᶢǁ^ʢ]

Piedmontese

Piedmontese does not have tetragraphs. A hyphen may separate ⟨s⟩ from ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩, when these would otherwise be read as single sounds.

⟨s-c⟩ and ⟨s-cc⟩ represent /stʃ/, to avoid confusion with the digraph ⟨sc⟩ for /ʃ/.

⟨s-g⟩ and ⟨s-gg⟩ are similarly used to represent /zdʒ/.

Others

⟨eeuw⟩ and ⟨ieuw⟩ are used in Dutch for the sounds [eːu̯] and [iːu̯], as in sneeuw, "snow" and nieuw, "new". ⟨Uw⟩ alone stands for [yːu̯], so these sequences are not predictable.

⟨gqxʼ⟩ is used in the practical orthography of the

affricate [ɢqχʼ].

⟨ngʼw⟩ is used for [ŋʷ] in Swahili-based alphabets. However, the apostrophe is a diacritic in Swahili, not a letter, so this is not a true tetragraph.

⟨nyng⟩ is used in Yanyuwa to write a pre-velar nasal, [ŋ̟].

⟨s-ch⟩ is used in the Puter orthographic variety of the

and in the Puter orthography used locally in schools again since 2011.

⟨thsh⟩ is used in

tsh

⟩.

⟨tth’⟩ is used in various Northern Athabaskan languages for [t̪͡θʼ], the dental ejective affricate.

References