{{Short description|Letter of the Hungarian alphabet}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:Hungarian ''ly''}} '''Ly''' is a digraph of the Latin alphabet, used in Hungarian. {{Hungarian language}}
== Usage ==
''Ly'' is the twentieth letter of the Hungarian alphabet. Its Hungarian name is ''elipszilon'' {{IPA|/ɛlːipsilon/}}. Now, it can represent the same phoneme {{IPA|/j/}} (palatal approximant) as the Hungarian letter ''j'', but historically, it represented the different phoneme {{IPA|/ʎ/}} (palatal lateral approximant).
It is used this way only in Hungarian. In Hungarian, even if two characters are put together to make a different sound, they are considered one letter, and even acronyms keep the letter intact.
The combination ''lj'' (considered two separate letters, L and J) is also common in Hungarian and is even pronounced {{IPA|[ʎ]}} by many speakers. However, even it is sometimes subject to the same reduction to {{IPA|/j/}} that ''ly'' has been, mainly if it is at the end of a word.
== History ==
Originally, the digraph letter ''ly'' was used to represent the palatal lateral {{IPA|/ʎ/}}, just as the digraph letter ''ny'' is still used to represent the palatal nasal {{IPA|/ɲ/}}. However, in the eastern dialects as well as in the standard dialect, the phoneme {{IPA|/ʎ/}} lost its lateral feature and merged with {{IPA|/j/}} (akin to Spanish ''yeísmo''). The Hungarian letter ''ly'' came to be pronounced the same as the Hungarian letter ''j''. In the western dialects, {{IPA|/ʎ/}} lost its palatal feature and merged with {{IPA|/l/}} (alveolar lateral approximant). In the northern dialects, the phoneme {{IPA|/ʎ/}} has been preserved.<ref>BENKŐ Loránd; IMRE Samu (ed.): ''The Hungarian Language''. Janua Linguarum, Series Practica, No. 134. The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter (1972).</ref>
The digraph ''ly'' was also used for the sound {{IPA|/ʎ/}} in Croatian alphabet before Gaj's Latin Alphabet was introduced.<ref>[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AlphabetiSerborum_1841.jpg Alphabeti Serborum]</ref>
== Examples ==
These examples are Hungarian words that use the letter '''ly''', with the English translation following:
* '''furulya''' = ''flute'' * '''amely''' = ''which'' *'''helyi''' = ''local'' *'''golyó''' = ''ball'' *'''lyuk''' = ''hole'' *'''kehely''' = ''goblet'' *'''folyó''' = ''river''
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Latin script}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ly}} Category:Latin-script digraphs Category:Hungarian language