⟨wh⟩

A whale.

⟨wh⟩ is an English consonant digraph formed of the letters W and H.

⟨wh⟩ forms the start of wh- words, but not all words beginning ⟨wh⟩ are wh- words (this is a grammatical term), nor do all wh-words begin with ⟨wh⟩— how has had its ⟨wh⟩ mutated to ⟨h⟩. ⟨wh⟩ generally represents a phoneme /w/ but can also represent an h phoneme /h/. A common non-standard pronunciation following the ᴡɪɴᴇ–ᴡʜɪɴᴇ split sees ⟨wh⟩ pronounced as an unvoiced labialised velar approximant. In Maori, commonly used for place names in New Zealand, ⟨wh⟩ represents phoneme /f/.

Table

Phoneme	Example words	Notes
/(h)w/; usually /w/	everywhere, lilywhite, nowhere, overwhelm, pinwheel, underwhelm, whack, whale, what, wham, whammy, wharf, wheat, wheedle, wheel, wheeze, whelk, whelp, when, whenever, whence, where, wherever, wherry, whet, whether, whey, Whig, which, whiff, whiffle, white, while, whilst, whim, whimper, whimsical, whimsy, whine, whinge, whinny, whisker, whiskey, whisky, whisper, whip, whipper-snapper, whippet, whirl, whir, whirr, whisk, whist, whistle, whit, white, whither, whitlow, Whitsun, whittle, Whitworth, whizz, whoa, whomp, whoopee, whoops, whoosh, whortleberry, whop, whump, why, why, whyever, whydah	This is the default; words in this group can be subject to the wine–whine split.
/h/	who, whom, whose, whole (adv, wholly, and compounds such as wholesome). Less common words include whore, whooping (as in whooping cough, whooping crane), whooper (as in whooper swan)	These have to be learnt as sightwords.

Across syllable boundaries

⟨wh⟩ can also occur across syllable boundaries, in which case it is not a digraph. For example, knowhow is a compound of know+how. Other examples include arrowhead, blowhole, clawhammer, cowherd, cowhide, rawhide, sawhorse, yellowhammer, etc.