A hexagraph (from the el, ἕξ, ''héx'', "six" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a sequence of six letters used to represent a single sound (
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
), or a combination of sounds that do not correspond to the individual values of the letters. They occur in
Irish orthography
Irish orthography is very etymological which allows the same written form to represent all dialects of Irish and remain regular. For example, ("head") may be read in Mayo and Ulster, in Galway, or in Munster.
A spelling reform in the mid- ...
, and many of them can be analysed as a
tetragraph
A tetragraph (from the el, τετρα-, ''tetra-'', "four" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a sequence of four letters used to represent a single sound (phoneme), or a combination of sounds, that do not necessarily correspond to the indi ...
followed by the
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
s or on either side to indicate that the neighbouring
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
s are
palatalized ("slender"). However, not all Irish hexagraphs are analysable that way. The hexagraph , for example, represents the same sound (approximately the vowel in English "write") as the
trigraph ''
adh,'' and with the same effect on neighboring consonants.
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
does not have hexagraphs. The six-letter sequence appears in German, for example in the name
Eschscholtz
Johann Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz (1 November 1793 – 7 May 1831)Sterling (1997) was a Baltic German physician, naturalist, and entomologist. He was one of the earliest scientific explorers of the Pacific region, making significant colle ...
(and thus is the scientific name ''
Eschscholtzia'' of the California poppy), but this is a doubling of the trigraph to indicate that the preceding vowel is short rather than itself being a hexagraph.
List of hexagraphs
Irish hexagraphs
is used to write ( in
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
), e.g. "sortie", "haste, skirmish", "improvement" (
), "books", "minds".
is used to write ( in Ulster), e.g. "troop", "Gormley" (surname), "struck".
is used to write , e.g. "garlic" (
), "I bark", "semiology", "slippery", "tor, hill".
and are both used to write ( in Ulster), e.g. "ivy", "penniless", "healing", "soft toys", "will divide".
and are both used to write , e.g. "fates", "scourage", "cormorant", "oven", "ice", "(snail)shell".
is used to write , e.g. "foggy" (gen.).
is used to write , e.g. "edge".
See also
*
Multigraph
In mathematics, and more specifically in graph theory, a multigraph is a graph which is permitted to have multiple edges (also called ''parallel edges''), that is, edges that have the same end nodes. Thus two vertices may be connected by more ...
*
Digraph
*
Pentagraph
A pentagraph (from the el, πέντε, ''pénte'', "five" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a sequence of five letters used to represent a single sound (phoneme), or a combination of sounds, that do not correspond to the individual values ...
*
Heptagraph
A heptagraph is a sequence of seven letters used to represent a single sound (phoneme), or a combination of sounds, that do not correspond to the individual values of the letters.
Heptagraphs are extremely rare. Morse code uses 2 heptagraph: , for ...
*
List of Latin letters
{{Latin-script multigraphs
6
Latin-script hexagraphs