digraph

[dahy-graf, -grahf]

noun

1. a pair of letters representing a single speech sound, as ea in meat or th in path.

digraph

/ ˈdaɪɡrɑːf, daɪˈɡræfɪk, -ɡræf /

noun

1. a combination of two letters or characters used to represent a single speech sound such as gh in English tough Compare ligature diphthong

Other Word Forms

• digraphic adjective
• digraphically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of digraph¹

First recorded in 1780–90; di- ¹ + -graph

Example Sentences

It can be dry and tedious stuff, replete with obscure jargon like “digraph” and “trigraph.”

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With messages in English, for example, the pairing that turns up most often may well represent “TH,” the most common digraph in ordinary English.

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Four weeks ago, the Empress asked the Greater Loser Community to come up with new terms in which a digraph — a two-letter single-sound block — was replaced with another digraph.

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And so, as a True Loser, he suggested a contest with digraphs — blends of two letters, either vowels or consonants, that make one simultaneous sound.

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The scholars on the language commission, led by Erden Kazhybek, the head of the Institute of Linguistics in Almaty, then suggested using digraphs, or several letters to indicate a single sound, like “ch” in English.

Read more on New York Times