The combination ough can be pronounced in fourteen different ways:
1. awe: thought, bought, fought, brought, ought, sought, nought, wrought
2. uff: enough, rough, tough, slough, Clough, chough
3. ooh: through, slough
4. oh: though, although, dough, doughnut, broughm, Ough, furlough, Greenough, thorough
5. off: cough, trough
6. ow: bough, plough, sough
7. ou: drought, doughty, Stoughton
8. uh: Scarborough, borough, thorough (alt), thoroughbred, Macdonough, Poughkeepsie
9. up: hiccoughed
10. oth: trough (alt)
11. ock: lough, hough
12. oc[h] (aspirated): lough
13. ahf: Gough
14. og: Coughlin (also #5)
The following sentence contains them all:
Rough-coated
(2), dough-faced
(4), thoughtful
(1) ploughman
(6) John Gough
(13) strode through
(3) the streets of Loughborough
(2+8); after falling into a slough
(2) on Coughlin
(14) road near the lough
(12) (dry due to drought)
(7), he coughed
(5) and hiccoughed
(9), then checked his horse's houghs
(11)and washed up in a trough
(10).
