Ough is a letter sequence often seen in words 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., [oːx] or [uːx]. It is by far the sequence of letters with the most unpredictable pronunciation, having at least six pronunciations in North American English and ten in British English (not counting place names). A few of the more common are these:
Contents
- Full list of pronunciations
- Similar combinations
- Spelling reforms
- Already standard
- Already varyingly formal
- Common informal
- Rare informal
- References
Full list of pronunciations
Note that "slough" has three pronunciations depending on its meaning:
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 /ɔːk/ in the surname Coughlin, /juː/ in Ayscough and even /iː/ in the name Colcolough (/koʊkliː/) in Virginia.
The two occurrences of ⟨ough⟩ in the English place name Loughborough are pronounced differently, resulting in Luffburruh. Additionally, three parishes of Milton Keynes—Woughton /ˈwʌftən/, Loughton /ˈlaʊtən/ and Broughton /ˈbrɔːtən/—all have different pronunciations of the combination.
Tough, though, through and thorough are formed by adding another letter each time, yet none of them rhymes with another.
Though he thoroughly thought through the tough cough, drought, hiccough, lough, and hough is a sentence that uses all ten pronunciations.
Some humorous verse has been written to illustrate this seeming incongruity:
Similar combinations
A comparable group is ⟨omb⟩, which can be pronounced in at least four ways: bomb /bɒm/ (rhymes with Tom), comb /koʊm/ (rhymes with home), sombre /ˈsɒmbə/ and tomb /tuːm/ (rhymes with gloom).
⟨augh⟩ is visually rather similar to ⟨ough⟩, but admits much less pronunciation variation.
Spelling reforms
Because of the unpredictability of the combination, many English spelling reformers have proposed 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.
In April 1984, at its yearly meeting, the Simplified Spelling Society adopted the following reform as its house style:
Already standard
Already varyingly formal
In the UK, the word "dough" can also be prounced /dʌf/, a pronunciation remembered in the spelling in the word "duffpudding." Likewise, the word "enough" can be pronounced /enoʊ/ and the spelling "enow" is an acceptable dialect or poetic spelling (e.g., “And Wilderness is Paradise enow.”).
The following spellings are generally considered unacceptable in most of the Commonwealth, but are standard in the United States:
Common informal
However, both of these are considered unacceptable in British English and formal American English.