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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., or . It is by far the sequence of letters with the most unpredictable pronunciation, having at least six pronunciations in North American English and over ten in British English. A few of the more common are these: : as in "though" (cf. ''toe''). : as in "through" (cf. ''true''). : as in "rough" (cf. ''ruffian''). : as in "cough" (cf. ''coffin''). : as in "thought" (cf. ''taut''). : as in "bough" (cf. ''to bow''). == Full list of pronunciations == Note that "slough" has three pronunciations according to meaning: * (as in, "slogging through a slough of mud")〔("The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style" ), Houghton Mifflin Company.〕 * (as in "to slough off") * the town of Slough in the Thames Valley of England or the Slough of Despond 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 in the surname Coughlin, in Ayscough and even in the name Colcolough () in Virginia (). The two "ough"s in the English place name Loughborough are pronounced differently, resulting in ''Luffburruh''. Additionally, three parishes of Milton Keynes—Woughton , Loughton and Broughton —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. Some humorous verse has been written to illustrate this seeming incongruity: * (O-U-G-H ) by Charles Battell Loomis * (Ough, a Phonetic Fantasy ) by William Thomas Goodge * (I take it you already know ) unattributed * 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ough (orthography)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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