Gh is a digraph found in many languages.

In Latin-based orthographies

Indo-European languages

Germanic languages

=English

= In English historically represented (the

voiceless velar fricative The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in ''l ...

, as in the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

word ), and still does in ''lough'' and certain other

Hiberno-English Hiberno-English (from Latin '' Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland ...

words, especially

proper noun A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', '' Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', '' Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''contine ...

s. In the dominant dialects of modern English, is almost always either silent or pronounced (see

Ough Ough may refer to: * Ough (orthography), a letter sequence in English orthography * Ough (surname) * Ough, Nebraska Ough is a former unincorporated community in Dundy County, Nebraska, United States. All that is left at Ough today is a farmho ...

). It is thought that before disappearing, the sound became partially or completely voiced to or , which would explain the new spelling — Old English used a simple — and the diphthongization of any preceding vowel. Alexander John Ellis reported it being pronounced as on the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Histori