#  -igh words 

 



 Words that now have an *-igh*, like *light* and *high*, descend from two groups of Middle English words, distinguished by the length of the vowel. The chart below separates the original two groups by row:

Sort    Middle English sound

 

  ME spelling

 

  Mod English sound

 

  ModE spelling

 

    \[i:ç\]

 

  high  
sighen

 

  \[aɪ\]

 \[aɪ\]

 

  high  
sigh

 knight  
right

 

    \[ɪç\]

 

  cnight  
right

 

 



 The voiceless palatal fricative \[ç\], which can be heard in German *ich*, is made by raising the middle of the tongue to the hard palate. It is distinct from the voiceless velar fricative \[x\], as heard in the Scots dialect pronunciation of *loch*; \[x\] is sounded farther back in the throat.

 In these examples, when the \[ç\] was lost, the preceding vowel, if short, was lengthened.