lh / nh

Lh and Nh

Level 1

Read lh and nh as one sound, never as an l or an n followed by an h.

How It Works

Two pairs of letters each stand for one sound.

LettersSounds likeExamples
lhthe lli in “million”filha (daughter), filh (son), melhor (better)
nhthe ny in “canyon”vinha (vineyard), montanha (mountain)

The h is never read by itself. It only shows that the l or the n is a different sound.

If you read Spanish, nh is the sound of ñ, as in año.

Other languages write these sounds in their own way. Catalan writes ll and ny, and French writes gn for the nh sound. Do not carry those spellings into Occitan: it is filha and vinha.

Examples (5)

  1. filha

    daughter

    Lh is one sound, like the lli in “million”.

  2. filh

    son

    Lh can end a word.

  3. vinha

    vineyard

    Nh is one sound, like the ny in “canyon”.

  4. montanha

    mountain

    Nh in the middle of a word.

  5. melhor

    better

    Lh before the o.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing the sound the Catalan way.

    filla
    filha

    Catalan writes ll for this sound. Occitan writes lh.

  • Writing the sound the Catalan way.

    vinya
    vinha

    Catalan writes ny for this sound. Occitan writes nh.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

lh / nhLevel 1Lh and Nh

Learn This First

Lh and nh are letter pairs, so the single letters of the alphabet come first.