Pronunciation:
“Laugh” is said in one syllable, pronounced: (LAFF).
Explanation:
In American English, the 2-letter combination, or digraph, “gh” in the middle or at the end of a word is usually silent or not pronounced, especially after the letter i as in the following examples:
- night
- right
- sleigh
- fight
- high
However, in some rare cases, like today’s Word of the Week, we actually do pronounce the “gh”, and it sounds like the letter “f”!
Take a listen to the examples below 👂🏼:
- laugh / laughing
- rough
- tough
- enough
- cough / coughing
Some other frequently used English words containing the silent “gh”:
- although
- through
- bought
- taught
- thought
It’s important to note:
At the beginning of a word, the digraph “gh” is usually pronounced like a “g” as in the following examples:
- ghost
- ghoul
- Ghana
And that wraps up today’s Word of the Week article featuring laugh, its various forms, and pronunciation ✔. See you at the next one, next week, of course 😉!
