Ei (digraph)

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ei is a digraph used in many writing systems. Usually it represents a diphthong.

Contents 1 In English 2 In Welsh 3 In Irish and Scottish Gaelic 4 In Dutch 5 In German

[edit] In English

In English orthography, "ei" can represent many sounds, including the /eɪ/ sound as in rein and vein, the /i/ sound as in seize and receive, the /aɪ/ sound as in sleight and seismology, the /ɛ/ sound as in heifer, and the unstressed /ə/ or /ɪ/ sound as in foreign and forfeit. See also I before e except after c.

[edit] In Welsh

In Welsh, "ei" stands for the diphthong [əi].

[edit] In Irish and Scottish Gaelic

In Irish and Scottish Gaelic, "ei" stands for [ɛ] before a palatalized consonant.

[edit] In Dutch

In Dutch, "ei" is pronounced [ɛɪ].

[edit] In German

In German, "ei" represents the [aɪ] sound as in Einstein. This digraph was taken over from Middle High German writing systems, where it was pronounced [eɪ]. In Modern German, "ei" is predominant in representing [aɪ], while the equivalent digraph "ai" only appears in few words.

v • d • e Latin alphabet
Digraphs	Aa aa Ae ae Ai ai Au au Aw aw Ay ay Bh bh Ch ch Ck ck Cö cö Cs cs Cu cu Cz cz Dd dd Dh dh Dj dj Dx dx Dz dz Dž dž Dź dź Dż dż Ea ea Ee ee Ei ei Eu eu Ew ew Ey ey Ff ff Fh fh Gb gb Gh gh Għ għ Gi gi Gj gj Gn gn Gy gy Hs hs Hu hu Ie ie IJ ij Jö jö Kh kh Kp kp Ku ku Lh lh Lj lj Ll ll Ly ly Mb mb Mh mh Mp mp Nd nd Ng ng Nh nh Nj nj Nk nk Ns ns Nt nt Ny ny Nz nz Oa oa Oe oe Oi oi Oo oo Ou ou Ow ow Oy oy Ph ph Qu qu Rd rd Rh rh Rl rl Rn rn Rr rr Rt rt Rz rz Sh sh Sv sv Sy sy Sz sz Th th Tj tj Tr tr Ts ts Tx tx Ty ty Tz tz Ue ue Ui ui Vh vh Wh wh Xh xh Xö xö Yh yh Yk yk Zh zh Zs zs Zv zv
Trigraphs	C'h c'h Dzs dzs Eau eau Ngb ngb Ngh ngh Ngk ngk Nkp nkp Nth nth Nyk nyk Rnd rnd Sch sch
Tetragraphs	Eeuw eeuw Ieuw ieuw Ough ough