Multigraph (orthography)

Sequence of letters that behaves as a unit, not as a sequence of parts From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A multigraph (or pleograph) is a sequence of letters that behaves as a unit and is not the sum of its parts, such as English ch (typically pronounced //) or French eau (pronounced [o]). The term is infrequently used, as the number of letters is usually specified:

  1. Digraph as English ch or ea
  2. Trigraph as French eau
  3. Tetragraph as German tsch
  4. Pentagraph as Avar чӀчӀв
  5. Hexagraph as Irish oidhea
  6. Heptagraph as German schtsch

Combinations longer than tetragraphs are unusual. The German pentagraph tzsch has largely been replaced by tsch, remaining only in proper names such as Poenitzsch or Fritzsche. Except for doubled trigraphs like German schsch, hexagraphs are found only in Irish vowels, where the outside letters indicate whether the neighboring consonant is "broad" or "slender". However, these sequences are not predictable. The hexagraph oidhea, for example, where the o and a mark the consonants as broad, represents the same sound (approximately the vowel in English write) as the trigraph adh, and with the same effect on neighboring consonants.

The seven-letter German sequence schtsch, used to transliterate Ukrainian щ, as in Borschtsch for борщ "borscht", is a sequence of a trigraph sch and a tetragraph tsch rather than a heptagraph. Likewise, the Juu languages have been claimed to have a heptagraph dts’kx’, but this is also a sequence, of dts’ and kx’.

Beyond the Latin alphabet, Morse code uses hexagraphs for several punctuation marks, and the dollar sign $ is a heptagraph, · · · — · · —. Longer sequences are considered ligatures, and are transcribed as such in the Latin alphabet.

See also


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