A hexagraph (from the , ''héx'', "six" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a sequence of six letters used to represent a single sound (

phoneme A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...

), or a combination of sounds that do not correspond to the individual values of the letters. They occur in Irish orthography, and many of them can be analysed as a

tetragraph A tetragraph, , 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 individual values of the letters. In German, for example, the tetragraph ''tsch'' repre ...

followed by the

vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

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, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...

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 does not have hexagraphs. The six-letter sequence appears in German; for example, in the name Eschscholtz (and thus is the scientific name '' Eschscholtzia'' of the California poppy). However, 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 (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

), 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", "scourge", "cormorant", "oven", "ice", "(snail)shell". is used to write , e.g. "foggy" (gen.). is used to write , e.g. "edge".

List of hexagraphs

Irish hexagraphs

See also