Is there a rule for ph or f?
'ph' can be used in any part of a word - beginning, middle or end to make the /f/ sound. 'ph' saying /f/ has an origin in Greek and these words must be learnt rather than following a specific rule.
Show activity on this post. The diagraph ph in Classical Latin represents an "aspirated voiceless plosive," which means that it sounds like the p in the English word pot – a strong p sound, with aspiration (if you put your hand in front of your face, you'll feel air when you say it).
“Consonant digraphs are two or more consonants that, together, represent one sound… the consonants 'p' and 'h' form the grapheme ph that can represent the /f/ sound in words such as 'nephew' and 'phone. '”
The Spanish never use ph to produce the f sound, and the letter p is always pronounced like the p in “papa.” If the English word has ph or a double f, the Spanish cognate will always use one f; for example, fotografía, físico, and terrífico. There are some important exceptions to the “no double letter” rule.
Greek Phi was once pronounced as a hard "P" in Ancient Greek. So, Latin inscriptions wrote it as "PH" to show that it's a P sound, but with more air with H. As Greek changed, so did the Greek based English words. In Modern Greek, Phi is pronounced as "F", and no longer like "PH"/a hard P.
It's entirely likely that what we're seeing is the remnant of a transitional form between the ancient ancient Greek /pʰ/ and the modern /f/, and since the voiceless bilabial fricative doesn't exist in Latin (or French or English, old or modern) it would likely be heard and rendered as an F.
Another reason for silent letters is that English has borrowed words from many other languages. Words that came from Greek may start with the letters “ph”, but we say them with a “f” sound, /f/ as in “physical.” Scholars decided to write them in the Greek way to show their roots.
The alphabet letter combination ph makes 2 sounds.
Digraphs ph and gh make /f/
When h joins p or g as in ph and gh the letters together form the /f/ as in gopher, elephant, enough, rough, laugh......
The "P" or "Ph" is used because most Filipino languages do not have the "F" sound (with the exception of some native people in the Cordillera and Mindanao, like the Ifugao and the Teduray).
Which letter is never pronounced in Spanish?
1. The letter H is always silent – the word is pronounced as if the h weren't there at all. (However, note that, as in English, CH is a different sound than C). 2.
It's because of the influence of Greek. Phone has a Greek origin, and it has the Greek letter φ (phi). In Classical Greek this was pronounced as an aspirated [pʰ], which the Latins wrote as ph when they borrowed the words from Greek.
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We have the standard F at the beginning, middle and end of words:
- find, famous, friend.
- infant, lift, affair.
- half, reef, proof.
By 2.5 – 3.5 years, the child starts to use more sounds – 'k','g','f','s','y','h'. Examples of this stage include shoe = “doo” or “soo”; star = “dar”. Speech is often unclear to adults who don't know the child well. By 3.5 – 4.5 years, the child will start to say – 'sh', 'ch', 'j', 'z', 'l', 'v'.
The example of original v being rendered by ph is unique. Phial and vial are etymological doublets, but then they are pronounced differently. The variation f ~ v in French words is extremely rare.
So where does 'phew' come from? The 'ph' is to differentiate onomatopoeia from a regular word.
It turns out that nephew is the only word in the OED that has a ph in it but no v, and which is sometimes pronounced with a /v/.
There are 95 words that end with Ph in the Scrabble dictionary. Of those 40 are 9 letter words, 16 are 8 letter words, 9 are 7 letter words, 9 are 6 letter words, 13 are 5 letter words, and 8 are 4 letter words.
But as Merriam-Webster Dictionary points out, one unusual letter is never silent: the letter V. While it makes an appearance in words like quiver and vivid, you can rest assured it always behaves the exact same way.
The difference is purely etymological; some words have an 'f' while others have 'ph' for the same sound /f/ in the IPA. A new word will most likely have an 'f' to represent the sound unless it is made from an older word containing 'ph'.
Is ph a digraph or diphthong?
A digraph is two letters that spell one sound.
Digraphs that spell consonant sounds include the letter pairs sh, ch, th, wh, ck, ph, ng.
Because children don't always have all their adult teeth while they're developing their language abilities,TH-sounds are among the last acquired by young speakers. And as people age, they have a tendency to lose their teeth, so similarly, are unable to produce these sounds if they do not have a full set of teeth.
The 'f sound' /f/ is unvoiced (the vocal cords do not vibrate during its production), and is the counterpart to the voiced 'v sound' /v/. To create the /f/, the jaw is held nearly closed. The upper backside of the bottom lip is pressed very lightly into the bottom of the top teeth.
Today, 'gh' is pronounced as /f/ as in 'laugh', /g/ as in 'ghost' or is not pronounced at all as in 'daughter' or 'night'.
The difference is purely etymological; some words have an 'f' while others have 'ph' for the same sound /f/ in the IPA. A new word will most likely have an 'f' to represent the sound unless it is made from an older word containing 'ph'.
When a one-syllable words ends in f, l, or s, double the final f, l, or s (for example, snif, fall, mess). We call this the floss spelling rule because the word floss follows this rule and includes the letters f, l, and s to help us remember the rule.
The pH of an aqueous solution is based on the pH scale which typically ranges from 0 to 14 in water (although as discussed below this is not an a formal rule). A pH of 7 is considered to be neutral. A pH of less than 7 is considered acidic. A pH of greater than 7 is then considered basic.
It's because of the influence of Greek. Phone has a Greek origin, and it has the Greek letter φ (phi). In Classical Greek this was pronounced as an aspirated [pʰ], which the Latins wrote as ph when they borrowed the words from Greek.
In addition to negative pH, it's also possible for pH to have a value of 0. The calculation also applies to alkaline solutions, in which the pOH value can extend beyond the typical range.
The p stands for the German "Potenz", meaning power or concentration, and the H for the hydrogen ion (H+). In layman's terms , the "pH" value is an approximate number between 0 and 14 that indicates whether a solution is acidic (pH < 7), basic (pH > 7) or neither (pH = 7) [neutral].
Why is GH pronounced like f?
Early scribes had to adapt the Roman alphabet to English, and since Latin didn't have the /x/ sound, they used "h" or a non-Roman character called a yogh (ȝ). Eventually, during the Middle English period, they settled on "gh." By that time the pronunciation was already changing.
It's because of the influence of Greek. Phone has a Greek origin, and it has the Greek letter φ (phi). In Classical Greek this was pronounced as an aspirated [pʰ], which the Latins wrote as ph when they borrowed the words from Greek.
