Tetragraph

Tetragraph

A tetragraph (from the Greek: τετρα-, tetra-, "four" and γράφω, gráphō, "write") is a sequence of four letters used to represent a single sound (phoneme), or a combination of sounds, that do not necessarily correspond to the individual values of the letters. In German, for example, the tetragraph tsch represents the sound of the English digraph ch. English does not have tetragraphs in native words (the closest is perhaps the sequence -ough in words like through), but chth is a true tetragraph when found initially in words of Greek origin such as chthonian.

Phonemes spelled with multiple characters often indicate that either the phoneme or the script is alien to the language. For example, the Cyrillic alphabets adapted to the Caucasian languages, which are phonologically very different from Russian, make extensive use of digraphs, trigraphs, and even a tetragraph in Kabardian кхъу for //. The Romanized Popular Alphabet created for the Hmong languages includes three tetragraphs: nplh, ntsh, and ntxh, which represent complex consonants.

Contents

List of tetragraphs

Irish tetragraphs

Used between two velarized ("broad") consonants:

adhaandaghaare used for [əi̯] (in Donegal, []).
abha⟩, ⟨amha⟩, ⟨obha⟩, ⟨odha⟩, ⟨oghaare used for [əu̯] (in Donegal, []).
omhais used for [].

Used between two platalized ("slender") consonants:

eidhandeighare used for [əi̯].

Used between a broad and a slender consonant:

aidhandaighare used for [əi̯] (in Donegal, []).
oidhandoighare used for [əi̯].

Used between a slender and a broad consonant:

eabhandeamhare used for [əu̯] (in Donegal, []).
eadhis used for [əi̯] (in Donegal, []) between a slender and a broad consonant, or for an unstressed [ə] at the end of a word.

Other languages (Latin script)

chthis used for an initial sound /θ/ in English words of Greek origin such as chthonian. When not initial, it is pronounced //, as in autochthonous.

ddzsis a long variant of Hungarian dzs. It is only found in suffixed words, such as bridzs + dzselbriddzsel "with the bridge game"; otherwise the sound [dːʒ] is writtendzslike [].

dschis used in German to write the sound [].

eeuwandieuware used in Dutch for the sounds [eːu̯] and [iːu̯]. ⟨Uwalone stands for [yːu̯], so these sequences are not predictable.

gqxis used in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the prevoiced affricate [ɢqχʼ].

illiis used in French to write the sound [j] in a few words such as médaillier [medaje].

kngwis used for /ᵏŋʷ/ in Arrernte.

ndlh[ndˡʱ], ⟨nplh[mbˡʱ], ⟨ntsh[ɳɖʐʱ], andntxh[ndzʱ] are found in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, representing a variety of prenasalized aspirate consonants.

ngwis used for [ŋʷ] in Swahili-based alphabets.

nyngis used in Yanyuwa to write a pre-velar nasal, [ŋ̟].

phthis read as an initial sound /θ/ or // in English words of Greek origin such as phthisis. When not initial, it is usually pronounced //, as in naphthol., although sometimes // can be heard.[1]

rtnwis used for /ʈɳʷ/ in Arrernte.

thshis used in Xhosa to write the sound [tʃʰ]. It is often replaced with the ambiguous trigraphtsh⟩.

thnwandtnhware used for /ᵗ̪n̪ʷ/ in Arrernte.

tnywis used for /ᶜɲʷ/ in Arrernte.

tschis used in German to write the sound []. (See alsotzsch⟩.)

zschis used for [] in a few German names such as Zschopau.

Other languages (Cyrillic script)

In the Cyrillic alphabet used for languages of the Caucasus, there are tetragraphs as doubled digraphs used for 'strong' consonants (typically transcribed in the IPA as geminate), and also labialized homologues of trigraphs.

кхъуis used in Kabardian for [], the labialized homologue ofкхъ[q], in turn unpredictably derived from ejectiveкъ[].

кӀкӀis used in Avar for [kʼː], the 'strong' homologue ofкӀ[], the ejective (⟨Ӏ⟩) homologue ofк[k]. It is often substituted withкӀ[].

цӀцӀis used in Avar for [tsʼː]. It is often substituted withцӀ[tsʼ].

чӀчӀis used in Avar for [tʃʼː]. It is often substituted withчӀ[tʃʼ].

гъӀвis used in Archi for [ʁʷˤ]

ккъӀis used in Archi for [qːʼˤ]

къIвis used in Archi for [qʼʷˤ]

ллъвis used in Archi for [ɬːʷ]

ххьIis used in Archi for [χːˤ]

хъIвis used in Archi for [qʷˤ ]

хьIвis used in Archi for [χʷˤ]

See also

References


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