Digraph

In , one digraph is an assembly of two (two letters in ) representing one single and becoming new a graphème (one trigram for three graphèmes, etc.). For example in the word cabbage, the digraph or corresponds to only one vowel , /u/ and CH represent the phoneme /?/. One can thus say that this word contains four letters and two graphèmes. So that a succession of two letters is regarded as a digraph, it is necessary that it is well attested in the written form, to even be productive. One can, in French, to note any using it /?/by CH, which confirms its statute of graphème, therefore of digraph.

The use of digraphs or trigrams in an alphabet often states that it as a such bus it it is lacunar misses a clean character making it possible to note one of the phonemes of the language written by its skew.

Note: the transcriptions are in .

Distort diphthongs and old diphthongs

The digraphs can be composed of vowels or consonants. Digraphs of vowels are also called "false diphthongs "when the two vowels note only one simple vowel. It is the case in (or = [ U ], have = [? ], have = [? ] or [ ø ], etc.). old Greek in also knows: ?? can be worth [ O? ] and?? [ E? ]. In the same way in for?? = [ E ] or??, ??, ?? = [ I ].

In the facts, it is advisable to distinguish distort them real diphthongs of the cases of monophtongaison : in old Greek, the phonemes /o?/ and /e?/ of the dialect Ionian-attic could not, because of the absence of signs which were clean for them after the reform of 403 before the Christian era, being noted differently. They are false diphthongs well there. In modern Greek and French, the current notations are explained by the play of an old monophtongaison. The two processes are not identical: it is a means of mitigating the gaps of a writing in the first case, an archaism due to the secondary evolution of marked in the past diphthongs like such in the second.

Binding and digraph

With the difference of , the graphic identity of the graphèmes fundamental compounds is not faded.

The digraph in the alphabetical order

It will not be confused graphème and letter : any digraph is a graphème but any digraph is not regarded as a letter. Indeed, in certain languages the digraph remains regarded as two separate letters (it is not entered in the alphabetical order). On the contrary, in others, the digraphs function as of the new letters which have their own place in .

For example, the digraph CH in French is not a letter: it is not counted in the alphabet and the word horse must be classified, in a dictionary, for example, between words in it and in Ci. In , however, CH is a digraph and a letter. Thus, chi?c must be sought at the heading of the words in CH, placed after all the words starting with C. One can illustrate that by words to be classified:

• that, dog, lash for French;
• c?i, c?u, che, for Vietnamese.

Examples of French digraphs

• CH - [ k]/[? ]
• or - [ U ]
• have - [? ]
• have - [? ]

Related articles

• , ;
• joint letter ;
• ;
• additional letters of the Latin alphabet, additional letters of the Greek alphabet ;
• .