List of Latin-script trigraphs
A number of trigraphs are found in the Latin script, most of these used especially in Irish orthography.
A
⟨aai⟩ is used in Dutch to write the sound /aːi̯/.
⟨abh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /əu̯/, or in Donegal, /oː/, between broad consonants.
⟨adh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /əi̯/, or in Donegal, /eː/, between broad consonants, or an unstressed /ə/ at the end of a word.
⟨aei⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /eː/ between a broad and a slender consonant.
⟨agh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /əi̯/, or in Donegal, /eː/, between broad consonants.
⟨aim⟩ is used in French to write the sound /ɛ̃/ (/ɛm/ before a vowel).
⟨ain⟩ is used in French to write the sound /ɛ̃/ (/ɛn/ before a vowel). It also represents /ɛ̃/ in Tibetan Pinyin, where it is alternatively written än.
⟨aío⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /iː/ between broad consonants.
⟨amh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /əu̯/, or in Donegal, /oː/, between broad consonants.
⟨aoi⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /iː/ between a broad and a slender consonant.
⟨aon⟩ is used in French to write the sound /ɑ̃/ (/ɑn/ before a vowel).
⟨aou⟩ is used in French to write the sound /u/.
⟨aoû⟩ is used in a few words in French to write the sound /u/.
⟨aqh⟩ is used in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the strident vowel /a᷽/. (If this symbol does not display properly, it is an ⟨a⟩ with a double tilde ⟨≈⟩ underneath.)
⟨aye⟩
B
⟨bhf⟩ is used in Irish, like the digraph bh, to write the sounds /w/ and /vʲ/.
C
⟨c’h⟩ is used in Breton in order to represent the [x] sound (a voiceless velar fricative). It should not be confused with ch, which represents in Breton the [ʃ] sound (a voiceless postalveolar fricative).
⟨ccs⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨cs⟩, [tːʃ]. It is collated as ⟨cs⟩ rather than as ⟨c⟩. It is only used within roots; when two ⟨cs⟩ are brought together in a compound word, they form the regular sequence ⟨cscs⟩.
⟨chd⟩ is used in Eskayan romanised orthography for the sound /dʒ/ (English "j").
⟨chh⟩ is used in Quechua and romanizations of Indic languages to write the sound /tʃʰ/.
⟨chj⟩ is used in Corsican to write the sound /c/.
Initial ⟨chw⟩ is pronounced in southern dialects of the Welsh language as /w/.
⟨chz⟩ was used in medieval Czech for /tʃ/.
⟨ckh⟩ was used in the Tindall orthography of Khoehkoe for the dental affricated click /ǀχ/.
⟨cci⟩ represents a /tʃ/ sound in Italian.
D
⟨ddh⟩ is used in the Dene Suline language (Chipewyan) for the dental affricate /tθ/.
⟨ddz⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨dz⟩, [dːz]. It is collated as ⟨dz⟩ rather than as ⟨d⟩. It is not used within roots, where ⟨dz⟩ may be either long or short; but when an assimilated suffix is added to the stem, it may form the trigraph rather than the regular sequence *⟨dzdz⟩. Examples are eddze, lopóddzon.
⟨dlh⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /tˡʰ/.
⟨drz⟩ is used to write the sound /dʒ/ in English transcriptions of the Polish digraph <dż>.
⟨dsh⟩ is used to write the foreign sound /dʒ/ in German. A common variant is the tetragraph dsch.
⟨dsj⟩ is used in Norwegian to write foreign loan words with the /dʒ/ sound. Sometimes the digraph dj is used.
⟨dtc⟩ is used in Naro to write the voiced palatal click /ᶢǂ/.
⟨dzh⟩ is used to write the sound /dʒ/ in English transcriptions of the Russian digraph ⟨дж⟩. In the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the prevoiced affricate /dtsʰ/.
⟨dzv⟩ is used in the Shona language to write the whistled sibilant affricate /dz͎/.
⟨dzs⟩ is used in the Hungarian to write the voiced palato-alveolar affricate /dʒ/.
E
⟨eai⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /a/ between slender consonants.
⟨eái⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /aː/ between slender consonants.
⟨eau⟩ (see article)
⟨ein⟩ is used in French to write the sound /ɛ̃/ (/ɛn/ before a vowel).
⟨eoi⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /oː/ between slender consonants.
⟨eqh⟩ is used in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the strident vowel /e᷽/. (If this symbol does not display properly, it is an ⟨e⟩ with a double tilde ⟨≈⟩ underneath.)
G
⟨geü⟩ is used in French to write the sound /ʒy/ in words such as vergeüre.
⟨ggw⟩ is used in Hadza for ejective /kʷʼ/.
⟨ggy⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨gy⟩, [ɟː]. It is collated as ⟨gy⟩ rather than as ⟨g⟩. It is only used within roots; when two ⟨gy⟩ are brought together in a compound
⟨ghj⟩ is used in Corsican to write the sound /ɟ/.
⟨ghw⟩ is used in the Dene Suline language (Chipewyan) for a labialized velar/uvular /ʁʷ/. In Canadian Tlingit it represents /qʷ/, which in Alaska is written ⟨gw⟩.
⟨gli⟩ is used in Italian to write the sound /ʎː/ before a vowel other than ⟨i⟩.
⟨gln⟩ is used in Talossan language as an /ŋn/.
⟨gni⟩ is used in French to write the sound /ɲ/ in a few words such as châtaignier /ʃɑtɛɲe/.
⟨guë⟩ and ⟨güe⟩ are used in French to write the sound /ɡy/ at the ends of words that end in the feminine suffix -e, such as aiguë "sharp" and ambiguë "ambiguous". In the French spelling reform of 1990, it was recommended that traditional ⟨guë⟩ be changed to ⟨güe⟩.
⟨gqh⟩ is used in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the prevoiced affricate /ɢqʰ/.
H
⟨hhw⟩ is used in the Dene Suline language (Chipewyan) for a labialized velar/uvular /χʷ/.
⟨hml⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /m̥ˡ/.
⟨hny⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ɲ̥/.
I
⟨idh⟩ is used in Irish to write an unstressed /iː/ sound at the ends of words.
⟨igh⟩ is used in Irish to write an unstressed /iː/ sound at the ends of words. Igh might also be considered a trigraph for the diphthong /aɪ/ in English. It differs from the vowel letter ⟨i⟩ followed by the silent digraph ⟨gh⟩ in that the vowel is always "long", as in night /naɪt/ vs. nit /nɪt/, for example.
⟨ign⟩ is used in a few French words to write the sound /ɲ/ such as oignon /ɔɲɔ̃/ "onion" and encoignure "corner". It was eliminated in the French spelling reform of 1990, but continues to be used.
⟨ije⟩ is used in the ijekavian reflex of Serbo-Croatian for /je/ or /jeː/.
⟨ilh⟩ is used to write the sound /ʎ/ in Breton.
⟨ill⟩ is used in French to write the sound /j/, as in épouiller /epuje/.
⟨iqh⟩ is used in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the strident vowel /i᷽/. (If this symbol does not display properly, it is an ⟨i⟩ with a double tilde ⟨≈⟩ underneath.)
⟨iúi⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /uː/ between slender consonants.
J–L
⟨jyu⟩ is used in Cantonese Jyutping romanization to write the sound /y/ at the beginning of a syllable, as in the name Jyutping itself. Elsewhere, /y/ is written ⟨yu⟩.
⟨khu⟩ is used in the Ossete Latin alphabet to write the sound /kʷʼ/.
⟨khw⟩ is used in Canadian Tlingit to write the sound /qʷʰ/, which in Alaska is written ⟨kw⟩.
⟨kng⟩ is used for /ᵏŋ/ in Arrernte.
⟨k'u⟩ is used in Purépecha for /kʷʰ/.
⟨kwh⟩ is a common convention for /kʷʰ/.
⟨lhw⟩ is used for /l̪ʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨lli⟩ is used in French to write the sound /j/ after /i/ in a few words, such as coquillier.
⟨lly⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨ly⟩, [jː]. It is collated as ⟨ly⟩ rather than as ⟨l⟩. It is only used within roots; when two ⟨ly⟩ are brought together in a compound word, they form the regular sequence ⟨lyly⟩.
⟨lyw⟩ is used for /ʎʷ/ in Arrernte.
N
⟨nch⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ɲɟʱ/.
⟨ndl⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ndˡ/. In Xhosa is represents /ndɮ/.
⟨ndz⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /ndz/.
⟨ng’⟩ is used in the Swahili language to write the sound /ŋ/. Technically, it may be considered a digraph rather than a trigraph, as ⟨’⟩ is not a letter of the Swahili alphabet.
⟨ngb⟩ is used in some African orthographies for /ⁿɡ͡b/, a prenasalised ⟨gb⟩ /ɡ͡b/.
⟨ngc⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /ŋǀʱ/.
⟨ngg⟩ is used to represent the sound /ŋɡ/, as in English finger, in several languages such as Filipino and Malay that use ⟨ng⟩ for /ŋ/ ( as in English singer).
⟨ngh⟩ is used in Vietnamese for the velar nasal consonant, before the letters ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩, and ⟨y⟩. It was previously considered a single letter, but is not currently. In Welsh, it represents a voiceless velar nasal (a ⟨c⟩ under the nasal mutation). In Xhosa, ⟨ngh⟩ represents a murmured velar nasal.
⟨ng'h⟩ is used in Gogo for voiceless /ŋ̊/.
⟨ngk⟩ is used in Yanyuwa to represent a back velar stop, /ⁿɡ̱ ~ ⁿḵ/.
⟨ngm⟩ is used in Yélî Dnye of Papua New Guinea to represent doubly articulated /ŋ͡m/.
⟨ngq⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /ŋǃʱ/.
⟨ngv⟩ is used for /ŋʷ/ in Bouyei and Standard Zhuang.
⟨ngw⟩ is /ŋʷ/ or /ŋɡʷ/ in the orthographies of several languages.
⟨ngx⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /ŋǁʱ/.
⟨nhw⟩ is used for /n̪ʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨nkc⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /ŋ.ǀ/.
⟨nkh⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ŋɡʱ/.
⟨nkp⟩ is used in some African orthographies for /ⁿk͡p/, a prenasalized /k͡p/.
⟨nkq⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the prenasalized alveolar click /ŋ.ǃ/.
⟨nkx⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the prenasalized lateral click /ŋ.ǁ/.
⟨nng⟩ is used in Inuktitut and Greenlandic to write a long (geminate) velar nasal, /ŋː/.
⟨nny⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨ny⟩, [ɲː]. It is collated as ⟨ny⟩ rather than as ⟨n⟩. It is only used within roots; when two ⟨ny⟩ are brought together in a compound word, they form the regular sequence ⟨nyny⟩.
⟨nph⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /mbʱ/.
⟨npl⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /mbˡ/.
⟨nqh⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ɴɢʱ/.
⟨nrh⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ɳɖʱ/.
⟨ntc⟩ is used to write the click /ᵑǂ/ in Naro.
⟨nth⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ndʱ/. In the transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages such as Yanyuwa it represents a dental stop, /n̪t̪ ~ n̪d̪/.
⟨ntl⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /ntɬʼ/.
⟨nts⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ɳɖʐ/. In Malagasy, it represents /nts/.
⟨ntx⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ndz/.
⟨nyh⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /n̤ʲ/. In Gogo it's voiceless /ɲ̊/.
⟨nyk⟩ is used in Yanyuwa to represent a pre-velar stop, /ⁿɡ̟ ~ ⁿk̟/.
⟨nyw⟩ is used for /ɲʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨nzv⟩ is used in the Shona language to write the prenasalized whistled sibilant /ndz͎/.
O
⟨obh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /əu̯/, or in Donegal, /oː/, between broad consonants.
⟨odh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /əu̯/, or in Donegal, /oː/, between broad consonants.
⟨oen⟩ is that represents a Walloon nasal vowel.
⟨oeu⟩ is used in the Classical Milanese orthography for the Milanese dialect of Lombard to write the sounds /ø/ and /øː/.
⟨ogh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /əu̯/, or in Donegal, /oː/, between broad consonants.
⟨oin⟩ is used in French to write the sound /wɛ̃/ (/wɛn/ before a vowel). In Tibetan Pinyin, it represents /ø̃/ and is alternately written ön.
⟨oío⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /iː/ between broad consonants.
⟨omh⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /oː/ between broad consonants.
⟨ooi⟩ is used in Dutch to write the sound /oːi̯/.
⟨oqh⟩ is in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the strident vowel /o᷽/. (If this symbol does not display properly, it is an ⟨o⟩ with a double tilde ⟨≈⟩ underneath.)
⟨ous⟩ is used in English to write the sound /əs/ in a suffix, as in "contiguous".
P–R
⟨plh⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /pˡʰ/.
⟨pmw⟩ is used for /ᵖmʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨qkh⟩ was used in the Tindall orthography of Khoehkoe for the alveolar affricated click /ǃχ/.
⟨quh⟩ was used in Scots orthography in place of ⟨wh⟩.
⟨qx’⟩ is in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the affricate /qχʼ/.
⟨rlw⟩ is used for /ɭʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨rnd⟩ is used in Yanyuwa to represent a retroflex stop, /ɳʈ ~ ɳɖ/.
⟨rng⟩ is used in Inuktitut to represent a sequence of uvular nasal followed by velar nasal, [ɴŋ].
⟨rnw⟩ is used for /ɳʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨rrh⟩ is used to write the sound /ɲ/ in words of Greek derivation such as diarrhea.
⟨rrw⟩ is used for /ɲʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨rtn⟩ is used for /ʈɳ/ in Arrernte.
⟨rtw⟩ is used for /ʈʷ/ in Arrernte.
S
⟨sch⟩ is used in German to represent [ʃ]. It was also used in medieval Polish orthography. In Middle English, ⟨sch⟩ was the most common spelling for this sound, replacing earlier ⟨sc⟩ of Old English; it was replaced in turn by ⟨sh⟩ in Modern English. Most words with ⟨sch⟩ in Modern English are based on Latin orthography, where the ⟨ch⟩ is /k/. An exception is the word schedule (from the Late Latin schedula) where the pronunciation of ⟨sch⟩ is /ʃ/ or /sk/ depending on dialect.
- In German, when a ⟨t⟩ is added in front of it, the resulting tetragraph ⟨tsch⟩ becomes [tʃ]. Similarly, German adds a ⟨d⟩ for a tetragraph ⟨dsch⟩ in loanwords, to denote the sound [ʤ], as in the word Dschungel (jungle). An orthographic ⟨sch⟩ also occurs in Dutch and Italian, but as a sequence of ⟨s⟩ plus ⟨ch⟩, not as a trigraph. It is pronounced as a cluster: in Dutch [sx], in Italian and often in West Flemish [sk]. In Dutch, however, it is pronounced as [s] as the end of words, as in the common suffix -isch and in some (sur)names, like Bosch and Den Bosch.
- In Italian, ⟨sch⟩ is not a trigraph, but rather a combination of ⟨s⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ that produces /sk/. However, when Italian words are loaned into English, many people pronounce ⟨sch⟩ as if it were the German trigraph.
- Rheinische Dokumenta uses ⟨sch⟩ to denote the sounds [ʃ], [ɕ] and [ʂ]. It uses ⟨sch⟩ with an arc below so as to denote [ʒ].
⟨sci⟩ is used in Italian to write the sound /ʃː/ before the non-front vowel letters ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨u⟩. ⟨sc⟩ is used in Corsican to write the sound /ʃ/ before ⟨e⟩, ⟨ia⟩, ⟨io⟩ and ⟨iu⟩.
⟨sh’⟩ is used in Bolivian dialects of Quechua to write the sound /ʂ/.
⟨skj⟩ is used to represent the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, in the Norwegian and Faroese languages, as in Norwegian "kanskje" (maybe) and "teskje" (tea spoon), and Faroese "at skjóta" (to shoot) and "skjóra" (magpie). In Swedish, it's one of several spellings for the sje sound /ɧ/, though only used in five words.
⟨ssi⟩ is used in English to write the sound /ʃ/ in words such as mission.
⟨sth⟩ is found in words of Greek origin. In French, it is pronounced /s/ before a consonant, as in isthme and asthme; in American English, it is pronounced /s/ in the first word (isthmus) and /z/ in the second (asthma).
⟨stj⟩ is used in five words in Swedish to write the sje sound /ɧ/, can also represent the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/ or the consonant cluster /stʲ/ in Norwegian depending on dialect.
⟨ssz⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨sz⟩, [sː]. It is collated as ⟨sz⟩ rather than as ⟨s⟩. It is only used within roots; when two ⟨sz⟩ are brought together in a compound word, they form the regular sequence ⟨szsz⟩.
⟨s-c⟩ and ⟨s-cc⟩ are used in Piedmontese for the sequence /stʃ/.
⟨s-g⟩ and ⟨s-gg⟩ are used in Piedmontese for the sequence /zdʒ/.
T
⟨tcg⟩ is used to write the click /ǂχ/ in Naro.
⟨tch⟩ is used to write the click /ǂʰ/ in Naro, the affricate /tʃʰ/ in Sandawe and Hadza, and the affricate /tʃ/ in French and Portuguese. In English it is a variant of the digraph ⟨ch⟩, used in situations similar to those that trigger the digraph ⟨ck⟩ for ⟨k⟩.
⟨thn⟩ and ⟨tnh⟩ are used for /ᵗ̪n̪/ in Arrernte.
⟨ths⟩ is used in Xhosa to write the sound /tsʰ/. It is often replaced with the ambiguous trigraph ⟨tsh⟩.
⟨thw⟩ is used for /t̪ʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨tlh⟩ is used to write the sound /tɬʰ/ in languages such as Tswana, and is also a significant sound in the fictional Klingon language from Star Trek, even treating this trigraph's sound as a single "letter".
⟨tnh⟩ and ⟨thn⟩ are used for /ᵗ̪n̪/ in Arrernte.
⟨tnw⟩ is used for /ᵗnʷ/ in Arrernte.
⟨tny⟩ is used for /ᶜɲ/ in Arrernte.
⟨tsg⟩ is used to write the sound /tsχ/ in Naro.
⟨tsh⟩ is in various languages. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, it represents the sound /tʂʰ/. In Xhosa, it may be used to write /tsʰ/, /tʃʼ/, or /tʃʰ/, though it is sometimes limited to /tʃʼ/, with /tsʰ/ and /tʃʰ/ distinguished as ⟨ths⟩ and ⟨thsh⟩.
⟨tsj⟩ is used in Dutch and Norwegian to write the sound /tʃ/.
⟨tsv⟩ is used in the Shona language to write the whistled sibilant affricate /ts͎/.
⟨tsz⟩ is used in Cantonese romanization to write the syllable /zi/.
⟨tth⟩ is used in the Dene Suline language (Chipewyan) for dental affricate /tθʰ/.
⟨ttl⟩ is used in the Haida language (Bringhurst orthography) for ejective /tɬʼ/.
⟨tts⟩ is used in the Haida language (Bringhurst orthography) for ejective /tsʼ/.
⟨tty⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨ty⟩, [cː]. It is collated as ⟨ty⟩ rather than as ⟨t⟩. It is only used within roots; when two ⟨ty⟩ are brought together in a compound word, they form the regular sequence ⟨tyty⟩.
⟨txh⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /tsʰ/.
⟨tyh⟩ is used in the Xhosa language to write the sound /tʲʰ/.
⟨tyw⟩ is used for /cʷ/ in Arrernte.
U–W
⟨uin⟩ is used in French to write the sound /ɥɛ̃/.
⟨uío⟩ is used in Irish to write the sound /iː/ between broad consonants.
⟨uqh⟩ is used in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the strident vowel /u᷽/. (If this symbol does not display properly, it is an ⟨u⟩ with a double tilde ⟨≈⟩ underneath.)
⟨urr⟩ is used in Central Alaskan Yup'ik to write the sound /χʷ/.
⟨vkh⟩ was used in the Tindall orthography of Khoehkoe for the palatal affricated click /ǂχ/.
X–Z
⟨xhw⟩ is used in Canadian Tlingit to write the sound /χʷ/, which in Alaska is written ⟨xw⟩.
⟨xkh⟩ was used in the Tindall orthography of Khoehkoe for the lateral affricated click /ǁχ/.
⟨zzs⟩ is a long Hungarian ⟨zs⟩, [ʒː]. It is collated as ⟨zs⟩ rather than as ⟨z⟩. It is only used within roots; when two ⟨zs⟩ are brought together in a compound word, they form the regular sequence ⟨zszs⟩.
Other
⟨ŋgb⟩ (capital ⟨Ŋgb⟩) is used in Kabiye to write [ŋ͡mɡ͡b], a pre-nasalized ⟨gb⟩.
⟨ǀkh⟩ ⟨ǁkx⟩ ⟨ǃkx⟩ ⟨ǂkx⟩ are used in Nama for its four affricated clicks.