Ough (combination)

Ough is a combination in the English language. In Middle English where the spelling arose it was probably pronounced with a back rounded vowel and a velar fricative, e.g. IPA| [oʊx] or IPA| [uːx] . It is by far the group of letters with the most unpredictable pronunciation, having six in North American English and over ten in British English. A few of the more common are:

:/IPA|u/ as in "through" (cf. "true"). :/IPA|ɔ/ as in "thought" (cf. "taut").:/IPA|oʊ/ as in "though" (cf. "toe").:/IPA|ɒf, ʌf/ as in "cough" (cf. "coffin").:/IPA|ʌf/ as in "rough" (cf. "ruffian").:/IPA|aʊ/ as in "bough" (cf. "to bow").

Full list of pronunciations

Note that "slough" has three pronunciations according to meaning:
* "sloo" rhymes with brew (as in, "slogging through a slough of mud") ["The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style", Houghton Mifflin Company, http://books.google.com/books?id=xb6ie6PqYhwC&pg=PA434&lpg=PA434&dq=%22a+whole+slough+of+problems%22+american+heritage&source=web&ots=22Zq5g7ltb&sig=Oien6dy37dzIZcoHnTRQqBMz8g4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA435,M1]
* "sluff" (as in "to slough off")
* Rhyming with "cow": the town of Slough in Berkshire in England

Other pronunciations can be found in proper nouns, many of which are of Celtic origin (Irish, Scottish, or Welsh) rather than English. For example ough can represent IPA| [ɔg] in the surname Coughlin, IPA| [juː] in Ayscough and even IPA| [i] in the name Colcolough (IPA| [koʊkli] ) in Virginia [http://www.jstor.org/pss/534017] .

The original pronunciation in all cases except hiccough was the one of lough. However the IPA| [x] sound has disappeared from most modern English dialects. As it faded, different speakers replaced it by different near equivalents in different words (namely, IPA| [f] , IPA| [w] >IPA| [ʊ] , IPA| [ː] , or IPA| [k] ). Thus the present confusion resulted.

The two "ough"s in the English place name Loughborough are pronounced differently, resulting in "Luffburruh". Additionally, three parishes of Milton Keynes – Woughton IPA| [ˈwʌftən] , Loughton IPA| [ˈlaʊtən] and Broughton IPA| [ˈbrɔːtən] – all have different pronunciations of the combination.

"Tough", "though", "through", and "thorough" are formed by adding an additional letter each time, yet none of them rhymes with another.

imilar combinations

A comparable group is omb, which can be pronounced in at least three ways: "bomb, comb, and tomb.

augh is visually rather similar to ough but admits much less pronunciation variation.
*/IPA|æf, ɑf/ as in "laughter"
*/IPA|ɔ/ as in "daughter"

pelling reforms

Because of such unpredictability of the combination, many spelling reformers have proposed to eliminate it, replacing it with more phonetic combinations, some of which have caught on in varying degrees of formal and informal success. Generally, spelling reforms have been more widely accepted in the United States and less so in the Commonwealth.

Already standard

*"hiccup" instead of folk etymology "hiccough"
*"hock" instead of "hough"

Already varyingly formal

These spellings are generally considered unacceptable in most of the Commonwealth, but are standard in the United States.
*"draft" instead of "draught" (standard in Canada)
*"naught" instead of "nought" (standard in the United States) – some archaic uses of "nought" have been replaced with "not"
*"plow" instead of "plough" (uncommon but accepted in Canada)
*"sluff" instead of "slough" (uncommon in much of the United States)
*"donut" instead of "doughnut"

Common informal

*"thru" instead of "through"- drive thru
*"tho" instead of "though"However, both of these are considered unacceptable in British English, and in formal American English.

Rare informal

*"coff" instead of "cough"
*"laff" instead of "laugh" (British comic variant "larf") - Laffy Taffy
*"enuff" or "enuf" instead of "enough" - Tuff Enuff
*"tuff" instead of "tough"- Tuff Enuff
*"ruff" instead of "rough"

ee also

* English orthography

References