- Gh (digraph)
Gh is a digraph found in many languages.
In Latin-based orthographies
English
In English, gh historically represented IPA| [x] (the
voiceless velar fricative , as in theScottish Gaelic word "loch"). In modern English, "gh" is almost always either silent or pronounced IPA|/f/ (see ough). It is thought that before disappearing, the sound became partially or completely voiced to IPA| [ɣx] or IPA| [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 IPA|/x/.
Irish
In Irish, gh represents IPA|/ɣ/ (the
voiced velar fricative ) and IPA|/j/ (the voiced palatal approximant). Word-initially it represents the lenition of g, for example "mo ghiall" IPA| [mə jiəɫ] "my jaw" (cf. "giall" IPA| [gʲiəɫ] "jaw").Italian
In Italian and Romanian, gh represents IPA|/g/ (the
voiced velar plosive ) before -e and -i.Maltese
The
Maltese language has a related digraph, għ. It is considered a single letter, called "għajn" (the same word foreye 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 asħ .Tlingit
In Canadian Tlingit "gh" represents IPA|/q/, which in Alaska is written "ǥ".
In romanization
In the
romanization of various languages, "gh" usually represents thevoiced velar fricative (/IPA|ɣ/). Like "kh" /x/, "gh" /IPA|ɣ/ may also be heard pharyngealized (like in several Caucasian and Native American languages).In transcriptions ofIndo-Aryan languages such asSanskrit andHindi , as well as their ancestor, Proto-Indo-European, "gh" represents a voiced velar aspirated plosive /IPA|gʰ/ (often referred to as a breathy murmurred voiced velar plosive)ee also
*
Phonological history of English consonants
*Yogh
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