This is a list of tetragraphs in the Latin script. These are most common in Irish orthography. For Cyrillic tetragraphs, see tetragraph.
Tetragraphs in Arrernte transcribe single consonants, but are largely predictable from their components.
(kngw) represents pronounced as //ᵏŋʷ//.
(rtnw) represents pronounced as //ʈɳʷ//.
(thnw) and (tnhw) represent pronounced as //ᵗ̪n̪ʷ//.
(tnyw) represents pronounced as //ᶜɲʷ//.
The majority of English tetragraphs make vowel sounds:
(aigh) represents pronounced as //eɪ//, as in straight.
(aire) represents pronounced as //ɛː// in Received Pronunciation (RP), as in millionaire.
(arre) can represent pronounced as //ɑː// in RP, as in bizarre.
(arrh) represents pronounced as //ɑː// in RP, as in catarrh.
(augh) can represent pronounced as //ɔː//, as in caught.
(ayer) can represent pronounced as //ɛː// in RP, as in prayer.
(ayor) represents pronounced as //ɛː// in RP, as in mayor.
(eigh) can represent three different sounds: pronounced as //eɪ// as in weigh, pronounced as //aɪ// as in height, and pronounced as //iː// as in Leigh.
(ough) has ten possible pronunciations, five of which make vowel sounds: pronounced as //aʊ// as in drought, pronounced as //ɔː// as in bought, pronounced as //oʊ// as in though, pronounced as //uː// as in through, and pronounced as //ə// as in thorough.
(ueue) represents pronounced as //juː//, as in queue.
(yrrh) represents pronounced as //ɜː// in RP, as in myrrh.
There are four examples of vowel tetragraphs that are found only in proper nouns:
(eare) represents pronounced as //ɪə// in RP, as found in Shakespeare.
(orce) represents pronounced as //ʊ// in RP, as found in Worcestershire.
(oore) represents pronounced as //ɔː// in RP, as in Moore.
(ughe) can represent pronounced as //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 pronounced as //θ//, as in chthonian.
(phth) at the start of a word represents pronounced as //θ//, as in phthisis.
(shch) at the start of word represents pronounced as //ʃ// as in shcherbakovite, a mineral named after Russian geochemist and mineralogist, .[1] It is used as the transcription of the Cyrillic letter Щ and usually read as two separate digraphs, pronounced as //ʃ.t͡ʃ// as in pushchairs or pronounced as //s.t͡ʃ// as in Pechishche, a place name in Belarus.[2]
In word-final position, the French tetragraph (cque) is sometimes used for pronounced as //k// in some loan words, such as sacque (an old spelling of sack).
(illi) is pronounced pronounced as /[j]/ in words such as French: 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 pronounced as /[k]/ in words such as French: grecque and French: Mecque, where the trigraph is followed by the feminine suffix French: -e.
(eaux) represents pronounced as /[o]/ when the silent plural suffix French: -x is added to the trigraph ; e.g., French: oiseaux.
(dsch) represents pronounced as /link/ in loanwords such as German: [[:wikt:Dschungel#Etymology 1|Dschungel]] ("jungle"), German: [[:wikt:Aserbaidschan#Pronunciation|Aserbaidschan]] ("Azerbaijan"), German: [[:wikt:Tadschikistan#Pronunciation|Tadschikistan]] ("Tajikistan"), German: [[:wikt:Kambodscha#Pronunciation|Kambodscha]] ("Cambodia"), and German: [[:wikt:Dschingis Khan#Pronunciation|Dschingis Khan]] ("Genghis Khan").
(tsch) represents pronounced as /link/, which is a relatively common phoneme in German, appearing in words like German: deutsch ("German"), German: Deutschland ("Germany"), German: Tschechien ("Czech Republic"), and German: tschüss ("bye").
(zsch) represents pronounced as /link/ in a few German names such as Zschopau and Zschorlau.
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) pronounced as //tˡ//, (pl) pronounced as //pˡ//, (ts) pronounced as //ʈ͡ʂ//, or (tx) pronounced as //t͡s//, which may itself be predictable.
(ndlh) represents pronounced as //ndˡʱ//.
(nplh) represents pronounced as //mbˡʱ//.
(ntsh) represents pronounced as //ɳɖʐʱ//.
(ntxh) represents pronounced as //ndzʱ//.
See also: Irish orthography. Between two broad velarized consonants:
(adha) and (agha) represent pronounced as //əi̯// .
(abha), (obha), (odha) and (ogha) represent pronounced as //əu̯// (pronounced as //oː// in Donegal).
(amha) represents pronounced as //əu̯//.
(omha) represents pronounced as //oː//.
(umha) represents pronounced as //uː//.
Between two slender (palatalized) consonants:
(eidh) and (eigh) represent pronounced as //əi̯// (pronounced as //eː// in Donegal).
Between a broad and a slender consonant:
(aidh), (aigh), (oidh) and (oigh) represent pronounced as //əi̯//.
Between a slender and a broad consonant:
(eabh) represents pronounced as //əu̯// (pronounced as //oː// in Donegal).
(eadh) represents pronounced as //əi̯// (pronounced as //eː// in Donegal) and when unstressed word finally pronounced as //ə// (pronounced as //uː// in Mayo and Donegal).
(eamh) represents pronounced as //əu̯// and when unstressed word finally pronounced as //uː// in Mayo and Donegal.
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 pronounced as /[ᶢǀ<sup>ʢ</sup>]/
(dçgʼ) for pronounced as /[ᶢǂ<sup>ʢ</sup>]/
(dqgʼ) for pronounced as /[ᶢǃ<sup>ʢ</sup>]/
(dxgʼ) for pronounced as /[ᶢǁ<sup>ʢ</sup>]/
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 pronounced as //stʃ//, to avoid confusion with the digraph (sc) for pronounced as //ʃ//.
(s-g) and (s-gg) are similarly used to represent pronounced as //zdʒ//.
(eeuw) and (ieuw) are used in Dutch for the sounds pronounced as /[eːu̯]/ and pronounced as /[iːu̯]/, as in sneeuw, "snow" and nieuw, "new". (Uw) alone stands for pronounced as /[yːu̯]/, so these sequences are not predictable.
(gqxʼ) is used in the practical orthography of the Taa language, where it represents the prevoiced affricate pronounced as /[ɢqχʼ]/.
(ngʼw) is used for pronounced as /[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, pronounced as /[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 pronounced as //ʃtɕ// (while the similar trigraph (sch) denotes the sounds pronounced as //ʃ// and pronounced as //ʒ//).[3] 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 pronounced as /[tʃʰ]/. It is often replaced with the ambiguous trigraph (tsh).
(tth’) is used in various Northern Athabaskan languages for pronounced as /[t̪͡θʼ]/, the dental ejective affricate.