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, Dmitri Ivanovich Shcherbakov. It is used as the transcription of the Cyrillic letter Щ and usually read as two separate digraphs, /ʃ.t͡ʃ/ as in pushchairs or /s.t͡ʃ/ as in Pechishche, a place name in Belarus.

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).

The tetragraph sthm (/s͡θ͜m/) is only used in the word isthmus.

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" redirects here. For the musical motif, see DSCH motif.

⟨dsch⟩ represents [d͡ʒ] in loanwords such as Dschungel ("jungle"), Aserbaidschan ("Azerbaijan"), Tadschikistan ("Tajikistan"), Kambodscha ("Cambodia"), and Dschingis Khan ("Genghis Khan").

⟨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.

Halkomelem

There are several Halkomelem alphabets. The Cowichan alphabet includes the tetragraph ⟨tthʼ⟩ for the sound /t͜θʼ/. (ʼ is a letter of the alphabet, so tthʼ is made up of four letters.)

Hmong

There are several sequences of four letters in the Romanized Popular Alphabet that transcribe what may be single consonants, depending on the analysis. However, their pronunciations are predictable from their components. All begin with the ⟨n⟩ of prenasalization, and end with the ⟨h⟩ of aspiration. 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

See also: Irish orthography

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 Taa language, where it represents the prevoiced 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 Romansh language (spoken in the Upper Engadin area in Switzerland) for the sequence /ʃtɕ/ (while the similar trigraph ⟨sch⟩ denotes the sounds /ʃ/ and /ʒ/). It is not part of the orthography of Rumantsch Grischun, but is used in place names like S-chanf and in the Puter orthography used locally in schools again since 2011.

⟨thsh⟩ is used in Xhosa to write the sound [tʃʰ]. It is often replaced with the ambiguous trigraph ⟨tsh⟩.

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