View source for Ligature (writing)

{{short description|Glyph combining two or more letterforms}}
[[File:Typographic ligature st.png|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|The letters {{angbr|s}} and {{angbr|t}} combined to create the ligature {{angbr|ﬆ}}]]
[[File:Holzlettern mit Ligaturen-8895.jpg|thumb|right|[[Wood type]] [[sort (typesetting)|sort]]s with ligatures of (from left to right) 
{{angbr|fl}}, {{angbr|ft}}, {{angbr|ff}}, {{angbr|fi}}; in 20&nbsp;[[Cicero (typography)|Cicero]] = 240 [[point (typography)#Didot|Didot points]] ≈ 90.2328&nbsp;mm (typeface [[Futura (typeface)|Futura]] bold condensed)]]
{{contains special characters}}
{{Orthography notation}}

In [[writing]] and [[typography]], a '''ligature''' occurs where two or more [[grapheme]]s or letters are joined to form a single [[glyph]]. Examples are the characters {{angbr|[[æ]]}} and {{angbr|[[œ]]}} used in English and French, in which the letters {{angbr|a}} and {{angbr|e}} are joined for the first ligature and the letters {{angbr|o}} and {{angbr|e}} are joined for the second ligature. For stylistic and legibility reasons, {{angbr|f}} and {{angbr|i}} are often merged to create {{angbr|ﬁ}} (where the [[tittle]] on the {{angbr|i}} merges with the hood of the {{angbr|f}}); the same is true of {{angbr|s}} and {{angbr|t}} to create <!--<span style="font-family: serif"> [span style suspended, seems to cause rendering problems on mobile] -->{{angbr|ﬆ}}. The common [[ampersand]], {{angbr|&}}, developed from a ligature in which the handwritten Latin letters {{angbr|e}} and {{angbr|t}} (spelling {{lang|la|et}}, [[Latin]] for 'and') were combined.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/origin-of-ampersand|title=What is the origin of the ampersand (&)? &#124; Oxford Dictionaries|date=October 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021032353/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/origin-of-ampersand |archive-date=21 October 2017 }}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|Bind rune|Scribal abbreviation}}
The earliest known script [[Sumerian cuneiform]] and [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] [[hieratic]] both include many cases of character combinations that gradually evolve from ligatures into separately recognizable characters. Other notable ligatures, such as the [[Brahmic family|Brahmic]] [[abugida]]s and the [[Runes|Germanic]] [[bind rune]], figure prominently throughout ancient manuscripts. These new glyphs emerge alongside the proliferation of writing with a stylus, whether on [[history of paper|paper]] or [[clay tablet|clay]], and often for a practical reason: faster [[handwriting]]. Merchants especially needed a way to speed up the process of written communication and found that conjoining letters and abbreviating words for lay use was more convenient for record keeping and transaction than the bulky long forms.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

[[File:Broken l.svg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|Doubles ([[gemination|Geminated consonants]]) during the Roman Republic era were written as a [[sicilicus]].<ref>Capelli&nbsp;– Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane</ref> During the medieval era several conventions existed (mostly [[Diacritic|diacritic marks]]). However, in Nordic texts a particular type of ligature appeared for ''ll'' and ''tt'', referred to as "broken ''l''" and "broken ''t''".<ref>[http://www.hit.uib.no/mufi/proposal/PUA-range5-v1.html Medieval Unicode Font Initiative]</ref>]]

Around the 9th and 10th centuries, monasteries became a fountainhead for these types of script modifications. Medieval scribes who wrote in [[Latin]] increased their writing speed by combining characters and by introducing [[notational abbreviation]]s. Others conjoined letters for aesthetic purposes. For example, in [[blackletter]], letters with right-facing bowls ({{angbr|b}}, {{angbr|o}}, and {{angbr|p}}) and those with left-facing bowls ({{angbr|c}}, {{angbr|e}}, {{angbr|o}}, {{angbr|d}}, {{angbr|{{sans-serif|g}}}} and {{angbr|q}}) were written with the facing edges of the bowls superimposed. In many script forms, characters such as {{angbr|h}}, {{angbr|m}}, and {{angbr|n}} had their vertical strokes superimposed.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}} Scribes also used notational abbreviations to avoid having to write a whole character in one stroke. Manuscripts in the fourteenth century employed hundreds of such abbreviations.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

[[File:Th Taumfel.jpg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|A widely used Th ligature in a handwriting-style typeface]]
In [[handwriting]], a ligature is made by joining two or more characters in an atypical fashion by merging their parts, or by writing one above or inside the other. In printing, a ligature is a group of characters that is typeset as a unit, so the characters do not have to be joined. For example, in some cases the {{angbr|fi}} ligature prints the letters {{angbr|f}} and {{angbr|i}} with a greater separation than when they are typeset as separate letters. When [[printing press|printing with movable type]] was invented around 1450,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/johannes-gutenberg-and-the-printing-press-1991865 |title=Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Press |first=Mary |last=Bellis |date=17 April 2017 |website=ThoughtCo.}}</ref> typefaces included many ligatures and additional letters, as they were based on handwriting. Ligatures made printing with movable type easier because one [[sort (typesetting)|sort]] would replace frequent combinations of letters and also allowed more complex and interesting character designs which would otherwise collide with one another.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

Because of their complexity, ligatures began to fall out of use in the 20th century. Sans serif typefaces, increasingly used for body text, generally avoid ligatures, though notable exceptions include [[Gill Sans]] and [[Futura (typeface)|Futura]]. Inexpensive [[phototypesetting]] machines in the 1970s (which did not require [[journeyman]] knowledge or training to operate) also generally avoid them. A few, however, became characters in their own right, see below the sections about [[#German ß|German ß]], [[#Letters and diacritics originating as ligatures|various Latin accented letters]], [[#Symbols originating as ligatures|& et al.]]

The trend against digraph use was further strengthened by the [[desktop publishing]] revolution. Early computer software in particular had no way to allow for ligature substitution (the automatic use of ligatures where appropriate), while most new digital typefaces did not include ligatures. As most of the early PC development was designed for the English language (which already treated ligatures as optional at best) dependence on ligatures did not carry over to digital. Ligature use fell as the number of traditional hand [[compositor (typesetting)|compositors]] and [[hot metal typesetting]] machine operators dropped because of the mass production of the IBM Selectric brand of electric typewriter in 1961. A designer active in the period commented: "some of the world's greatest typefaces were quickly becoming some of the world's worst fonts."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Frere-Jones|first1=Tobias|title=Hoefler Text|url=https://www.typography.com/fonts/hoefler-text/overview/|publisher=Hoefler & Frere-Jones|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref>

Ligatures have grown in popularity in the 21st century because of an increasing interest in creating typesetting systems that evoke arcane designs and classical scripts. One of the first computer typesetting programs to take advantage of computer-driven typesetting (and later laser printers) was [[Donald Knuth]]'s [[TeX]] program. Now the standard method of mathematical typesetting, its default fonts are explicitly based on nineteenth-century styles. Many new fonts feature extensive ligature sets; these include [[FF Scala]], Seria and others by [[Martin Majoor]] and [[Hoefler Text]] by [[Jonathan Hoefler]]. [[Mrs Eaves]] by [[Zuzana Licko]] contains a particularly large set to allow designers to create dramatic display text with a feel of antiquity.
A parallel use of ligatures is seen in the creation of script fonts that join letterforms to simulate handwriting effectively. This trend is caused in part by the increased support for other languages and alphabets in modern computing, many of which use ligatures somewhat extensively. This has caused the development of new digital typesetting techniques such as [[OpenType]], and the incorporation of ligature support into the text display systems of [[macOS]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], and applications like [[Microsoft Office]]. An increasing modern trend is to use a "Th" ligature which reduces spacing between these letters to make it easier to read, a trait infrequent in metal type.<ref name=Shaw>{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|date=12 May 2011|title=Flawed Typefaces|url=http://www.printmag.com/featured/flawed-typefaces/|website=Print magazine|access-date=30 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="Hunt Roman">{{cite web|last1=Ulrich|first1=Ferdinand|date=22 July 2012|title=Hunt Roman|url=https://typographica.org/typeface-reviews/hunt-roman/|website=Typographica|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="The Kerning Game">{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|date=31 October 2011|title=The Kerning Game|url=https://www.printmag.com/featured/the-kerning-game/|website=Print|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref>

Today, modern font programming divides ligatures into three groups, which can be activated separately: standard, contextual and historical. Standard ligatures are needed to allow the font to display without errors such as character collision. Designers sometimes find contextual and historic ligatures desirable for creating effects or to evoke an old-fashioned print look.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

==Latin alphabet==
{{Further|List of Latin-script letters|List of Latin-script digraphs}}

=== Stylistic ligatures ===
{{anchor|ﬁ|ﬂ}}
[[File:Ligature drawing.svg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|Two common ligatures: fi and fl]]
[[File:Ligature Capilla de San Jose Sevilla.jpg|right|thumb|Capilla de San José, Sevilla. Several ligatures, except the top three [[monogram]]s (a [[Christogram]], the ''Auspice Maria'', and one for [[Saint Joseph]].)]]
Many ligatures combine {{angbr|f}} with the following letter. A particularly prominent example is {{angbr|ﬁ}} (or {{angbr|f{{zwnj}}i}}, rendered with two normal letters). The [[tittle]] of the {{angbr|i}} in many typefaces collides with the hood of the {{angbr|f}} when placed beside each other in a word, and are combined into a single glyph with the tittle absorbed into the {{angbr|f}}. Other ligatures with the letter f include {{angbr|fj}},{{efn|The combination {{vr|fj}} is represented in [[English language|English]] only in "[[fjord]]" and "[[fjeld]]", but is encountered in languages where {{vr|j}} represents a vocalic or semi-vocalic sound ([[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], occasionally in [[Esperanto]]) or an affix ([[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]), or where word-compounding results such ligatures ([[Hungarian language|Hungarian]])}} {{angbr|f{{zwnj}}l}} ({{angbr|ﬂ}}), {{angbr|f{{zwnj}}f}} ({{angbr|ﬀ}}), {{angbr|f{{zwnj}}f{{zwnj}}i}} ({{angbr|ﬃ}}), and {{angbr|f{{zwnj}}f{{zwnj}}l}} ({{angbr|ﬄ}}). In [[Linotype machine|Linotype]], ligature matrices for {{angbr|fa}}, {{angbr|fe}}, {{angbr|fo}}, {{angbr|fr}}, {{angbr|fs}}, {{angbr|ft}}, {{angbr|fb}}, {{angbr|fh}}, {{angbr|fu}}, {{angbr|fy}}, and for {{angbr|f}} followed by a [[full stop]], [[comma]], or [[hyphen]] are optional in many typefaces,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mergenthaler Linotype Company |title=Specimen Book Linotype Faces |date=1939 |location=Brooklyn |url=https://archive.org/details/specimenbooklino00merg |access-date=24 January 2025}}</ref> as well as the equivalent set for the doubled {{angbr|ff}}, as a method to overcome the machine's physical restrictions.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

These arose because with the usual type [[sort (typesetting)|sort]] for [[lowercase]] {{angbr|f}}, the end of its hood is on a [[kerning|kern]], which would be damaged by collision with raised parts of the next letter.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

Ligatures crossing the [[morpheme]] boundary of a composite word are sometimes considered incorrect, especially in official [[German orthography]] as outlined in the ''[[Duden]]''. An English example of this would be {{angbr|ff}} in ''shelf{{zwnj}}ful''; a German example would be {{lang|de|Schiff{{zwnj}}fahrt}} ("boat trip").{{efn|{{lang|de|Schiff{{zwnj}}fahrt}} is written with ''ff{{zwnj}}f'' only if the writer follows the [[German spelling reform of 1996|spelling reform of 1996]]. The same standard explicitly allows the spelling {{lang|de|Schiff-Fahrt}} with dash to avoid the tripled f.}} Some computer programs (such as [[TeX]]) provide a setting to disable ligatures for German, while some users have also written macros to identify which ligatures to disable.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Guide to [[LaTeX]], 3rd Ed. |author=Helmut Kopka |author2=Patrick W. Daly |publisher=Addison-Wesley |year=1999 |pages=22 |isbn=0-201-39825-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Loretan |first1=Mico |title=Selnolig |url=https://ctan.org/pkg/selnolig |website=[[CTAN]] |access-date=17 November 2014}}</ref>

[[File:The Wheel Taumfel.jpg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|Ligatures "Th" and "Wh" illustration]]
[[Turkish alphabet|Turkish]] distinguishes [[İ|dotted]] and [[Dotless I|dotless "I"]]. If a ligature with ''f'' were to be used in words such as {{Lang|tr|fırın}} [oven] and {{Lang|tr|fikir}} [idea], this contrast would be obscured. The {{angbr|fi}} ligature, at least in the form typical to other languages, is therefore not used in Turkish typography.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

Remnants of the ligatures {{angbr|ſʒ}} /{{angbr|ſz}} ("sharp s", {{lang|de|eszett}}) and {{angbr|tʒ}}/{{angbr|tz}} ("sharp t", {{lang|de|tezett}}) from [[Fraktur (typeface sub-classification)|Fraktur]], a family of German [[blackletter]] typefaces, originally mandatory in Fraktur but now employed only stylistically, can be seen to this day on street signs for city squares whose name contains {{lang|de|Platz}} or ends in {{lang|de|-platz}}. Instead, the "sz" ligature has merged into a single character, the German [[ß]] – see below.

Sometimes, ligatures for {{angbr|st}} ({{angbr|ﬆ}}), {{angbr|ſt}} ({{angbr|ﬅ}}), {{angbr|ch}}, {{angbr|ck}}, {{angbr|ct}}, {{angbr|Qu}} and {{angbr|Th}} are used (e.g. in the typeface [[Linux Libertine]]).{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

Besides conventional ligatures, in the metal type era some newspapers commissioned custom condensed single sorts for the names of common long names that might appear in news headings, such as "[[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]", "[[Neville Chamberlain|Chamberlain]]". In these cases the characters did not appear combined, just more tightly spaced than if printed conventionally.<ref name="Nytimes Eisenhower">{{cite news|last1=Dunlap|first1=David|title=1952 – 'Eisenhower,' a True Campaign Logo|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/insider/1952-eisenhower-a-true-campaign-logo.html?mcubz=1|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=23 June 2016 |access-date=20 August 2017}}</ref>

===German ß===
{{Main|ß}}
[[File:Berliner Strassenschilder.jpg|right|thumb|"ß" in the form of a "ſʒ" ligature on a street sign in Berlin ({{lang|de|Petersburger Straße}}). The sign on the right ({{lang|de|Bersarinplatz}}) ends with a "tʒ" ligature ("ꜩ").]]
The [[German language|German]] letter {{angbr|ß}} ({{lang|de|Eszett}}, also called the {{lang|de|scharfes S}}, meaning ''sharp s'') is an official letter of the alphabet in Germany and Austria. A recognizable [[Typographic ligature|ligature]] representing the {{angbr|sz}} digraph develops in handwriting in the early 14th century.<ref name="brekle">{{cite journal |first=Herbert E. |last=Brekle |title=Zur handschriftlichen und typographischen Geschichte der Buchstabenligatur ß aus gotisch-deutschen und humanistisch-italienischen Kontexten |trans-title=On the handwritten and typographical history of the letter ligature ß from Gothic-German and humanistic-Italian contexts  |journal=[[Gutenberg-Jahrbuch]] |volume=76 |location=Mainz |year=2001 |issn=0072-9094 |language=de|pages=67–76}}</ref> Its name {{lang|de|Es-zett}} (meaning S-Z) suggests a connection of "long s and z" (ſʒ) but the Latin script also knows a ligature of "long s over round s" (ſs). Since German was mostly set in blackletter typefaces until the 1940s, and those typefaces were rarely set in uppercase, a capital version of the {{lang|de|Eszett}} never came into common use, even though its creation has been discussed since the end of the 19th century. Therefore, the common replacement in uppercase typesetting was originally SZ ({{lang|de|Maße}} "measure" → {{lang|de|MAS{{zwnj}}ZE}}, different from {{lang|de|Mas{{zwnj}}se}} "mass" → {{lang|de|MAS{{zwnj}}SE}}) and later SS ({{lang|de|Maße}} → {{lang|de|MAS{{zwnj}}SE}}). Until 2017, the SS replacement was the only valid spelling according to the official orthography in Germany and Austria. In Switzerland, the ß is omitted altogether in favour of ss. The [[capital ẞ|capital version (ẞ)]] of the Eszett character was occasionally used since 1905/06, has been part of Unicode since 2008, and has appeared in more and more typefaces. Since the end of 2010, the {{lang|de|[[Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (Germany)|Ständiger Ausschuss für geographische Namen (StAGN)]]}} has suggested the new upper case character for "ß" rather than replacing it with "SS" or "SZ" for geographical names.<ref>{{lang|de|[http://141.74.33.52/stagn/Portals/0/101125_TopR5.pdf Ständiger Ausschuss für geographische Namen (StAGN) Empfehlungen und Hinweise für die Schreibweise geographischer Namen für Herausgeber von Kartenwerken und anderen Veröffentlichungen für den internationalen Gebrauch Bundesrepublik Deutschland 5. überarbeitete Ausgabe]}}</ref> A new standardized German keyboard layout (DIN 2137-T2) has included the capital ß since 2012. The new character entered the official orthographic rules in June 2017.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

===Massachusett ꝏ===
A prominent feature of the [[Massachusett writing systems|colonial orthography]] created by [[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]] (later used in the first Bible printed in the Americas, the [[Massachusett language|Massachusett-language]] {{lang|wam|[[Eliot Indian Bible|Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God]]}}, published in 1663) was the use of the double-o ligature {{angbr|ꝏ}} to represent the {{IPAslink|u}} of ''f'''oo'''d'' as opposed to the {{IPAslink|ʊ}} of ''h'''oo'''k'' (although Eliot himself used {{angbr|oo}} and {{angbr|ꝏ}} interchangeably).{{clarify|reason=What language is being discussed here, English or Massachusett?|date=May 2022}} In the orthography in use since 2000 in the [[Wampanoag]] communities participating in the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP), the ligature was replaced with the numeral {{angbr|8}}, partly because of its ease in typesetting and display as well as its similarity to the o-u ligature {{angbr|Ȣ}} used in [[Abenaki language|Abenaki]]. For example, compare the colonial-era spelling {{lang|wam|seepꝏash}}<ref>Trumbull, J. H. (1903). ''Natick Dictionary''. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 149.</ref> with the modern Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP) spelling {{lang|wam|seep8ash}}.<ref>Fermino, J. L. D. (2000). Introduction to the wampanoag grammar. (Master's thesis). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 48.</ref>

=== Letter W ===
As the letter {{angbr|[[W]]}} is an addition to the [[Latin alphabet]] that originated in the seventh century, the phoneme it represents was formerly written in various ways. In [[Old English language|Old English]], the runic letter [[wynn]] {{angbr|Ƿ}}) was used, but [[Normans|Norman]] influence forced wynn out of use. By the 14th century, the "new" letter {{angbr|W}}, originated as two {{angbr|[[V]]}} glyphs or {{angbr|[[U]]}} glyphs joined, developed into a legitimate letter with its own position in the alphabet. Because of its relative youth compared to other letters of the alphabet, only a few European languages (including Breton, Dutch, English, German, Maltese, Polish, Walloon, and Welsh) use the letter in native words.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== Æ and Œ ===
[[File:Caslon Pro Ligatures.svg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|The ligatures of [[Caslon|Adobe Caslon Pro]]]]
The character {{angbr|[[Æ]]}} (lower case {{angbr|æ}}; in ancient times named {{lang|ang|[[æsc]]}}) when used in [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], or [[Old English language|Old English]] is not a typographic ligature. It is a distinct [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] — a [[vowel]] — and when collated, may be given a different place in the [[collation|alphabetical order]] than {{char|Ae}}.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

In modern [[English orthography]], {{angbr|Æ}} is not considered an independent letter but a spelling variant, for example: "[[Wiktionary:encyclopædia|encyclopædia]]" versus "encyclopaedia" or "encyclopedia". In this use, {{angbr|Æ}} comes from [[Medieval Latin]], where it was an optional ligature in some specific words that had been transliterated and borrowed from Ancient Greek, for example, "Æneas". It is still found as a variant in English and French words descended or borrowed from Medieval Latin, but the trend has recently been towards printing the {{angbr|A}} and {{angbr|E}} separately.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Ed |url=https://archive.org/details/chicagomanualofs00chic |url-access=registration |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=1993 |location=Chicago |pages=6.61|isbn=9780226103891 }}</ref>

Similarly, {{angbr|[[Œ]]}} and {{angbr|œ}}, while normally printed as ligatures in French, are replaced by component letters if technical restrictions require it.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== Umlaut ===
In [[German orthography]], the [[umlaut (diacritic)|umlauted]] vowels {{angbr|[[ä]]}}, {{angbr|[[ö]]}}, and {{angbr|[[ü]]}} historically arose from {{angbr|ae}}, {{angbr|oe}}, {{angbr|ue}} ligatures (strictly, from these vowels with a small letter {{angbr|e}} written as a [[diacritic]], for example {{angbr|aͤ}}, {{angbr|oͤ}}, {{angbr|uͤ}}). It is common practice to replace them with {{angbr|ae}}, {{angbr|oe}}, {{angbr|ue}} digraphs when the diacritics are unavailable, for example in electronic conversation. Phone books treat umlauted vowels as equivalent to the relevant digraph (so that a name Müller will appear at the same place as if it were spelled Mueller; German surnames have a strongly fixed orthography, either a name is spelled with {{angbr|ü}} or with {{angbr|ue}}); however, the alphabetic order used in other books treats them as equivalent to the simple letters {{angbr|a}}, {{angbr|o}} and {{angbr|u}}. The convention in [[Scandinavian languages]] and [[Finnish orthography|Finnish]] is different: there the umlaut vowels are treated as independent letters with positions at the end of the alphabet.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== Middle English===
[[File:The Book of Margery Kempe, Chapter 18 (clip).png|thumb|"... by the grace that god put in..." (Extract from ''[[The Book of Margery Kempe]]'')]] 
In Middle English, the word ''the'' (written ''þe'') was frequently abbreviated as {{angbr|þͤ}}, a {{angbr|þ}} ([[Thorn (letter)|thorn]]) with a small {{angbr|e}} written as a diacritic. Similarly, the word ''that'' was abbreviated to {{angbr|þͭ}}, a {{angbr|þ}} with a small {{angbr|t}} written as a diacritic. During the latter Middle English and [[Early Modern English]] periods, the thorn in its common script, or [[cursive]], form came to resemble a {{angbr|y}} shape. With the arrival of [[movable type]] printing, the substitution of {{angbr|y}} for {{angbr|Þ}} became ubiquitous, leading to the common "''ye''", as in '[[Ye Olde]] Curiositie Shoppe'. One major reason for this was that {{angbr|y}} existed in the printer's [[Movable type|types]] that [[William Caxton]] and his contemporaries imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, while {{angbr|Þ}} did not.<ref name=Hill>{{cite book | title= The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System |isbn=9780367581565 |chapter=Chapter 25: Typography and the printed English text |first=Will |last=Hill |date=30 June 2020 |chapter-url=https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/703215/1/25HillFinalDV.pdf |page=6 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |quote=The types used by Caxton and his contemporaries originated in Holland and Belgium, and did not provide for the continuing use of elements of the Old English alphabet such as thorn <þ>, eth <ð>, and yogh <ʒ>. The substitution of visually similar typographic forms has led to some anomalies which persist to this day in the reprinting of archaic texts and the spelling of regional words. The widely misunderstood ‘ye’ occurs through a habit of printer’s usage that originates in Caxton’s time, when printers would substitute the <y> (often accompanied by a superscript <e>) in place of the thorn <þ> or the eth <ð>, both of which were used to denote both the voiced and non-voiced sounds, /ð/ and /θ/ (Anderson, D. (1969) The Art of Written Forms. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, p 169)}}</ref>

=== Ring ===
The ''[[ring (diacritic)|ring]]'' [[diacritic]] used in vowels such as {{angbr|[[å]]}} likewise originated as an {{angbr|o}} -ligature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/nfcm/0489.html|title=905-906 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 33. Väderlek - Äänekoski)|date=January 24, 1922|website=runeberg.org}}</ref> Before the replacement of the older "aa" with "å" became a {{lang|la|de facto}} practice, an "a" with another "a" on top (aͣ) could sometimes be used, for example in [[Johannes Bureus]]'s, ''Runa: ABC-Boken'' (1611).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kb.se/F1700/ABC.htm |title=Bureus, J., Runa ABC boken |access-date=2010-02-05 |archive-date=2010-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124031144/http://www.kb.se/F1700/ABC.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The {{angbr|uo}} ligature [[ů]] in particular saw use in [[Early Modern High German]], but it merged in later Germanic languages with {{angbr|u}} (e.g. [[Middle High German|MHG]] {{lang|gmh|fuosz}}, [[Early New High German|ENHG]] {{lang|mis|fuͦß}}, [[Modern German]] {{lang|de|Fuß}} "foot"). It survives in [[Czech language|Czech]], where it is called {{lang|cs|[[ring (diacritic)#Overring|kroužek]]}}.

=== Hwair ===
The letter [[hwair]] {{angbr|ƕ}}, used only in [[transliteration]] of the [[Gothic language]], resembles a {{angbr|hw}} ligature. It was introduced by [[philology|philologists]] around 1900 to replace the [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]] {{angbr|hv}} formerly used to express the phoneme in question, e.g. by [[Jacques Paul Migne|Migne]] in the 1860s ({{lang|la|[[Patrologia Latina]]}} vol. 18).

=== Byzantine Ȣ ===
The [[Byzantine]]s had a unique [[ou (ligature)|o-u ligature]] {{angbr|Ȣ}} that, while originally based on the [[Greek alphabet]]'s ο-υ, carried over into Latin alphabets as well. This ligature is still seen today on icon artwork in Greek Orthodox churches, and sometimes in graffiti or other forms of informal or decorative writing.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== Gha (OI) ===
[[Gha]] {{angbr|ƣ}} ([[:File:Latin small letter Reversed thorn.svg]]), a rarely used letter based on Q and G, was misconstrued by the [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] to be an OI ligature because of its appearance, and is thus known (to the ISO and, in turn, [[Unicode]]) as "Oi". Historically, it was used in many Latin-based orthographies of [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] (e.g., [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]) and other [[Central Asian Languages|central Asian]] languages.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== International Phonetic Alphabet ===
The [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] formerly used ligatures to represent [[affricate consonant]]s, of which six are encoded in Unicode: {{IPA|ʣ, ʤ, ʥ, ʦ, ʧ}} and {{IPA|ʨ}}. One [[fricative consonant]] is still represented with a ligature: {{IPA|ɮ}}, and the [[extensions to the IPA]] contain three more: {{IPA|ʩ}}, {{IPA|ʪ}} and {{IPA|ʫ}}.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== Initial Teaching Alphabet ===
The [[Initial Teaching Alphabet]], a short-lived alphabet intended for young children, used a number of ligatures to represent long vowels: {{angbr|ꜷ}}, {{angbr|æ}}, {{angbr|œ}}, {{angbr|ᵫ}}, {{angbr|ꭡ}}, and ligatures for {{angbr|ee}}, {{angbr|ou}} and {{angbr|oi}} that are not encoded in Unicode. Ligatures for consonants also existed, including ligatures of {{angbr|ʃh}}, {{angbr|ʈh}}, {{angbr|wh}}, {{angbr|ʗh}}, {{angbr|ng}} and a reversed {{angbr|t}} with {{angbr|h}} (neither the reversed t nor any of the consonant ligatures are in Unicode).{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== Rare ligatures ===
Rarer ligatures also exist, including {{angbr|ꜳ}}; {{angbr|ꜵ}}; {{angbr|ꜷ}}; {{angbr|ꜹ}}; {{angbr|ꜻ}} (barred {{angbr|av}}); {{angbr|ꜽ}}; {{angbr|ꝏ}}, which is used in medieval [[Old Norse|Nordic]] languages for {{IPAslink|oː}} (a long [[close-mid back rounded vowel]]),<ref name="L206027">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06027-n3027-medieval.pdf|title=L2/06-027: Proposal to add Medievalist characters to the UCS|date=2006-01-30|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|first2=Peter|last2=Baker|first3=António|last3=Emiliano|first4=Florian|last4=Grammel|first5=Odd Einar|last5=Haugen|first6=Diana|last6=Luft|first7=Susana|last7=Pedro|first8=Gerd|last8=Schumacher|first9=Andreas|last9=Stötzner}}</ref> as well as in some orthographies of the [[Massachusett language]] to represent {{IPA link|uː||/}} (a long [[close back rounded vowel]]); {{angbr|ᵺ}}; {{angbr|ỻ}}, which was used in [[Medieval Welsh]] to represent {{IPA link|ɬ||/}} (the [[voiceless lateral fricative]]);<ref name="L206027"/> {{angbr|ꜩ}}; {{angbr|ᴂ}}; {{angbr|ᴔ}}; and {{angbr|ꭣ}} have [[Unicode codepoint]]s (in code block [[Latin Extended-E]] for characters used in German dialectology ([[Teuthonista]]),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11202-n4081-teuthonista.pdf | title=Revised proposal to encode "Teuthonista" phonetic characters in the UCS | first1=Michael | last1=Everson | author-link1=Michael Everson | first2=Alois | last2=Dicklberger | first3=Karl | last3=Pentzlin | first4=Eveline | last4=Wandl-Vogt | date=2011-06-02 }}</ref> the [[Anthropos (journal)|Anthropos]] alphabet, [[Yakut scripts|Sakha]] and [[Americanist phonetic notation|Americanist]] usage).{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

===Symbols originating as ligatures===
[[File:etlig.svg|thumbnail|class=skin-invert-image|An ''et'' ligature in a [[humanist script]]]]
The most common ligature in modern usage is the [[ampersand]] {{angbr|&}} . This was originally a ligature of {{angbr|E}} and {{angbr|t}} , forming the {{langx|la|et}}, meaning ''and''. It has exactly the same use in [[French language|French]] and in [[English language|English]]. The ampersand comes in many different forms. Because of its ubiquity, it is generally no longer considered a ligature, but a [[logogram]]. Like many other ligatures, it has at times been considered a letter (e.g., in early Modern English); in English it is pronounced ''and'', not ''et''. In most typefaces, it does not immediately resemble the two letters used to form it, although certain typefaces use designs in the form of a ligature (examples include the original versions of [[Futura (typeface)|Futura]] and [[Univers]], [[Trebuchet MS]], and [[Civilité]], known in modern times as the italic of [[Garamond]]).{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

Similarly, the [[number sign]] {{angbr|#}} originated as a stylized abbreviation of the Roman term {{lang|la|[[Roman pound|libra pondo]]}}, written as {{angbr|℔}}.<ref>{{cite book | quote=The Italian {{lang|it|libbra}} (from the old Latin word {{lang|la|libra}}, 'balance') represented a weight almost exactly equal to the [[avoirdupois]] pound of England. The Italian abbreviation of lb with a line drawn across the letters was used for both weights. | author =Keith Gordon Irwin | title= The romance of writing, from Egyptian hieroglyphics to modern letters, numbers, and signs | page= 125 | location= New York |publisher= Viking Press | year = 1967 | orig-year = 1956}}</ref> Over time, the number sign was simplified to how it is seen today, with two horizontal strokes across two slash-like strokes.<ref name="NewYorker">{{cite news|last=Houston|first=Keith|title=The Ancient Roots of Punctuation|url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-ancient-roots-of-punctuation|access-date=16 October 2013|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=2013-09-06}}</ref> Now a logogram, the symbol is used mainly to denote (in the US) numbers, and weight in pounds.<ref>{{cite book |title=Business Arithmetic for Secondary Schools |first=Ernest L. |last=Thurston |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan |year=1917 |page= 419 |url=https://archive.org/details/businessarithme02thurgoog/page/n439 |quote=#{{nbsp}}.....{{nbsp}}number{{nbsp}}(written before a figure.) }}</ref> It has also been used popularly on [[push-button telephone]]s and as the [[hashtag]] indicator.<ref>{{cite book|author=Keith Houston|chapter=The Octothorpe|title=Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fbWAAAAQBAJ&q=%22octothorpe%22&pg=PA41|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2013|pages=41–57|isbn=9780393064421}}</ref>

The [[at sign]] {{angbr|@}} is possibly a ligature, but there are many different theories about the origin. One theory says that the French word {{lang|fr|à}} (meaning ''at''), was simplified by scribes who, instead of lifting the pen to write the grave accent, drew an arc around the {{angbr|a}}. Another states that it is short for the Latin word for ''toward'', {{lang|la|ad}}, with the {{angbr|d}} being represented by the arc. Another says it is short for an abbreviation of the term ''each at'', with the {{angbr|e}} encasing the {{angbr|a}}.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Allman |first1=William F. |title=The Accidental History of the @ Symbol |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-accidental-history-of-the-symbol-18054936/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref> Around the 18th century, it started being used in commerce to indicate price per unit, as "15 units @ $1".<ref>{{cite web|author=<!--Not stated--> |title=The @ Symbol Meaning And History |url=https://www.webopedia.com/insights/at-symbol/ |website=Webopedia |date=24 June 2010 |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref> After the popularization of [[Email]], this fairly unpopular character became widely known, used to tag specific users.<ref>{{cite web |title=at sign |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/at-sign/ |website=dictionary.com |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref> Lately, it has been used to de-gender nouns in Spanish with no agreed pronunciation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spanish Beyond the Gender Binary |publisher=Na'atik Mexico |date=1 June 2023 |url=https://naatikmexico.org/blog/spanish-beyond-the-gender-binary |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref>

The [[dollar sign]] {{angbr|$}} possibly originated as a ligature (for "pesos", although there are other theories as well) but is now a logogram.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cajori, Florian |title=A History of Mathematical Notations |location=New York |publisher=Dover (reprint) |year=1993 |isbn=0-486-67766-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmathema00cajo_0 }} – contains section on the history of the dollar sign, with much documentary evidence supporting the theory that $ began as a ligature for "pesos".</ref> At least once, the [[United States dollar]] used a symbol resembling an overlapping U-S ligature, with the right vertical bar of the U intersecting through the middle of the S (<span style="letter-spacing:-0.3em;">&nbsp;US</span>&nbsp;) to resemble the modern dollar sign.<ref>[[:File:US-$1-LT-1869-Fr-18.jpg|Reverse of $1 United States Note (Greenback), series of 1869]]</ref>

The [[Spanish peseta]] was sometimes abbreviated by a ligature {{angbr|₧}} (from ''Pts''). The ligature {{angbr|₣}} (F-with-bar) was proposed in 1968 by [[Édouard Balladur]], [[Minister of Economy (France)|Minister of Economy]].<ref>{{citation |last=Balladur |first=Édouard |author-link=Édouard Balladur |title=Un symbole pour le franc |date=1988 }}.</ref> as a symbol for [[French franc]]  but was never adopted and has never been officially used.<ref>{{citation |first=Yannis |last=Haralambous |date=2007 |title=Fonts & Encodings |page=78 }}.</ref> 
[[File:Saturn symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|The symbol for Saturn in late Classical (4th & 5th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) manuscripts, derives from {{angbr|[[κ]][[ρ]]}} (kappa-rho).<ref name=jones-1999/>]]

In [[astronomy]], the [[planetary symbol]] for Mercury ({{char|☿}}) may be a ligature of [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]'s [[caduceus]] and a cross (which was added in the 16th century to Christianize the pagan symbol),<ref name=jones-1999 /> though other sources disagree;<ref name="stearn1962" /> the symbol for Venus {{char|♀}} may be a ligature of the Greek letters {{angbr|ϕ}} (phi) and {{angbr|κ}} (kappa).<ref name="stearn1962">{{cite journal |last=Stearn |first=William T. |date=May 1962 |title=The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology |url=https://iapt-taxon.org/historic/Congress/IBC_1964/male_fem.pdf |journal=[[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]] |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=109–113 |doi=10.2307/1217734 |jstor=1217734 |bibcode=1962Taxon..11..109S |s2cid=87030547 |quote=The origin of these symbols has long been a matter of interest to scholars. Probably none now accepts the interpretation of [[Scaliger]] that ♂ represents the shield and spear of Mars and ♀ Venus's looking-glass. All the evidence favours the conclusion of the French classical scholar Claude de Saumaise (Salmasius, 1588–1653) that these symbols, as also those for Saturn, Mercury and Jupiter, are derived from contractions in Greek script of the Greek names of the planets which are Kronos (Saturn), Zeus (Jupiter), Thouros (Mars), Phosphoros (Venus) and Stilbon (Mercury). As observed by Linnaeus's one-time student Johann Beckmann in his History of Inventions (English transl., 1797), to understand their origin 'we must make ourselves acquainted with the oldest form of these characters which in all probability, like those used in writing, were subjected to many changes before they acquired that form which they have at present'.}}</ref> The symbol for Jupiter ({{char|♃}}) descends from a Greek [[zeta]] with a [[Scribal abbreviation#Forms|horizontal stroke]], {{angbr|Ƶ}}, as an abbreviation for ''Zeus''.<ref name=jones-1999 />
<ref>{{cite journal
 | title=The origin of the symbols of the planets
 | last=Maunder | first=A. S. D. | author-link=Annie S. D. Maunder
 | journal=The Observatory
 | volume=57 | pages=238–247
 | date=August 1934 | bibcode=1934Obs....57..238M }}</ref> 
Saturn's [[astronomical symbol]] ({{char|♄}}) has been traced back to the Greek [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri]], where it can be seen to be a Greek [[kappa]]-[[rho]] with a [[Scribal abbreviation#Forms|horizontal stroke]], as an abbreviation for {{lang|grc|Κρονος}} ([[Cronus]]), the Greek name for the planet.<ref name="jones-1999">{{cite book
  | title = Astronomical papyri from Oxyrhynchus
  | last = Jones
  | first = Alexander
  | date = 1999
  | pages = 62–63
  | publisher = American Philosophical Society
 | isbn = 9780871692337
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8MokzymQ43IC
  | quote = 
  | access-date = 28 September 2021
  | archive-date = 30 April 2021
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210430052052/https://books.google.com/books?id=8MokzymQ43IC
  | url-status = live
}}</ref> It later came to look like a lower-case Greek [[eta]], with the cross added at the top in the 16th century to Christianize it. 
The dwarf planet [[Pluto]] is symbolized by a PL ligature, {{char|♇}}.

A different PL ligature, {{char|⅊}}, represents the [[property line]] in surveying. {{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

In engineering diagrams, a CL ligature, {{char|℄}}, represents the center line of an object.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

The [[interrobang]] {{angbr|‽}} is an unconventional punctuation meant to combine the interrogation point (or the [[question mark]]) and the bang (printer's slang for [[exclamation mark]]) into one symbol, used to denote a sentence which is both a question and is exclaimed. For example, the sentence "Is that actually true‽" shows that the speaker is surprised while asking their question.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harper |first1=Collins |title=Collins English Dictionary |date=2014 |publisher=HarperCollins |edition=12th}}</ref>

[[Alchemy]] used [[alchemical symbol|a set of mostly standardized symbols]], many of which were ligatures: 🜇 (AR, for [[aqua regia]]); 🜈 (S inside a V, for [[aqua vitae]]); 🝫 (MB, for {{lang|la|balneum Mariae}} [Mary's bath], a [[double boiler]]); 🝬 (VB, for {{lang|la|balneum vaporis}}, a steam bath); and 🝛 (''aaa'' with [[overline]], for [[amalgam (chemistry)|amalgam]]).{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

Composer [[Arnold Schoenberg]] introduced two ligatures as [[List of musical symbols|musical symbols]] to denote melody and countermelody. The symbols are ligatures of HT and NT, 𝆦 and 𝆧, from the German for [[hauptstimme]] and nebenstimme respectively.<ref>[[Gardner Read]] (1979). "Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice" 2nd ed., p. 282-283. {{ISBN|0-8008-5459-4}}, 0-8008-5453-5.</ref><ref>Bryn-Julson, Phyllis and Mathews, Paul (2009). ''Inside [[Pierrot Lunaire]]'', p. 24. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-6205-0}}.</ref>

===Digraphs===
[[File:IJ uppercase ligature.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|class=skin-invert-image|Uppercase [[IJ (digraph)|IJ digraph]] rendered as a "broken-''U''" in [[Helvetica]] by [[Omega (TeX)|Omega TeX]]]]
[[File:IJ (letter).svg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|Comparison of ''ĳ'' and ''y'' in various forms]]

[[Digraph (orthography)|Digraphs]], such as {{angbr|[[ll]]}} in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] or [[Welsh language|Welsh]], are not ligatures in the general case as the two letters are displayed as separate glyphs: although written together, when they are joined in handwriting or [[italic type|italic]] fonts the base form of the letters is not changed and the individual glyphs remain separate. Like some ligatures discussed above, these digraphs may or may not be considered individual letters in their respective languages. Until the 1994 spelling reform, the digraphs {{angbr|[[ch (digraph)|ch]]}} and {{angbr|ll}} were considered separate letters in Spanish for [[collation]] purposes. Catalan makes a difference between "Spanish ll" or palatalized l, written {{Lang|ca|ll}} as in {{Lang|ca|llei}} (law), and "French ll" or geminated l, written {{Lang|ca|l·l}} as in {{Lang|ca|col·lega}} (colleague).{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

The difference can be illustrated with the French digraph {{lang|fr|[[œu (digraph)|œu]]}}, which is composed of the ligature {{lang|fr|[[œ]]}} and the simplex letter {{lang|fr|u}}.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

=== Dutch IJ ===
In [[Dutch language|Dutch]], {{angbr|[[IJ (digraph)|ĳ]]}} can be considered a digraph, a ligature, or a letter in itself, depending on the standard used. Its uppercase and [[lowercase]] forms are often available as a single glyph with a distinctive ligature in several professional typefaces (e.g. [[Zapfino]]). [[Sans serif]] uppercase {{angbr|Ĳ}} glyphs, popular in the [[Netherlands]], typically use a ligature resembling a {{angbr|U}} with a broken left-hand stroke. Adding to the confusion, Dutch handwriting can render {{angbr|y}} (which is not found in native Dutch words, but occurs in words borrowed from other languages) as a {{angbr|ĳ}}-glyph without the dots in its lowercase form and the {{angbr|Ĳ}} in its uppercase form looking virtually identical (only slightly bigger). When written as two separate letters, both should be capitalized{{snd}} or both not{{snd}} to form a correctly spelled word, like {{lang|nl|IJs}} or {{lang|nl|ijs}} ([[ice]])<ref>{{cite web |title=IJ / Ij* |url=https://www.vlaanderen.be/team-taaladvies/taaladviezen/ij-ij |website=Vlaanderen.be |publisher=Team Taaladvies |access-date=5 June 2025}}</ref>.

==Non-Latin alphabets==
{{see also|Complex text layout|Greek ligatures}}
[[File:JanaSanskritSans ddhrya.svg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|The [[Devanagari]] ''{{IAST|ddhrya}}''-ligature (द् + ध् + र् + य = द्ध्र्य) of JanaSanskritSans<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tdil.mit.gov.in/download/janasanskrit.htm |title=JanaSanskritSans |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716160603/http://tdil.mit.gov.in/download/janasanskrit.htm |archive-date=2011-07-16 }}</ref>]]
[[File:Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e6 135-0.jpg|thumb|Hebrew text: the letter in the upper left is {{Script/Hebrew|ﭏ}}, a ligature of [[aleph]] ({{Script/Hebrew|א}}) and [[lamed]] ({{Script/Hebrew|ל}}).]]
Ligatures are not limited to Latin script:
*The [[Armenian alphabet]] has the following ligatures: և (ե+ւ), ﬔ (մ+ե), ﬕ (մ+ի), ﬓ (մ+ն), ﬗ (մ+խ), ﬖ (վ+ն)
*Most<!--Thai being the exception --> [[Brahmic family|Brahmic]] [[abugida]]s make frequent use of ligatures in consonant clusters. The number of ligatures employed is language-dependent; thus many more ligatures are conventionally used in [[Devanagari]] when writing [[Sanskrit]] than when writing [[Hindi]]. Having 37 consonants in total, the total number of ligatures that can be formed in Devanagari using only two letters is 1369, though few fonts are able to render all of them. In particular, [[Mangal (font)|Mangal]], which is included with [[Microsoft Windows]]' Indic support, does not correctly handle ligatures with consonants attached to the right of the characters द, ट, ठ, ड, and ढ, leaving the [[virama]] attached to them and displaying the following consonant in its standard form.
*The [[Georgian script]] includes [[უ]] (uni), which is a combination of [[ო]] (oni) and the former letter [[ჳ]] (vie).
*A number of ligatures have been employed in the [[Greek alphabet]], in particular a combination of omicron (Ο) and upsilon (Υ), which later gave rise to a letter of the [[Cyrillic script]]—see [[Ou (letter)]]. Among the ancient Greek [[attic numerals|acrophonic numerals]], ligatures were common (in fact, the ligature of a short-legged capital [[pi (letter)|pi]] was a key feature of the acrophonic numeral system).
*Cyrillic ligatures: [[Lje|Љ]], [[Nje|Њ]], [[Yery|Ы]], [[Ot (Cyrillic)|Ѿ]]. [[Iotated]] Cyrillic letters are ligatures of the early Cyrillic [[decimal I]] and another vowel: [[Iotated A|Ꙗ]], [[Iotated E|Ѥ]], [[Iotated little yus|Ѩ]], [[Iotated big yus|Ѭ]], [[Yu (Cyrillic)|Ю]] (sometimes also spelled ЮУ). In [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet]], the letters [[lje]] and [[nje]] (љ, њ), were developed as ligatures of Cyrillic used in [[Serbian language|Serbian Language]], being [[El (Cyrillic)|El]] and [[En (Cyrillic)|En]] (л, н) with the [[soft sign]] (ь). They were invented by [[Vuk Stefanović Karadžić]] for use in his 1818 dictionary, replacing the earlier digraphs ⟨ль⟩ and ⟨нь⟩.<ref name="Maretić">Maretić, Tomislav. ''Gramatika i stilistika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga književnog jezika''. 1899.</ref> The [[Yae (Cyrillic)|Yae]], a ligature of ya (Я) and e also exists: Ԙԙ, as do [[Dzze]] (Ꚉꚉ ← Д + З) and [[Zhwe]] (Ꚅꚅ ← З + Ж).
*Some forms of the [[Glagolitic]] script, used from Middle Ages to the 19th century to write some Slavic languages, have a box-like shape that lends itself to more frequent use of ligatures.
*{{anchor|Alef Lamed}}In the [[Hebrew alphabet]], the letters [[aleph]] ({{Script/Hebrew|א}}) and [[lamed]] ({{Script/Hebrew|ל}}) can form a ligature, {{Script/Hebrew|ﭏ}}. The ligature appears in some pre-modern texts (mainly religious), or in [[Judeo-Arabic]] texts, where that combination is very frequent, since ''[ʔ] [a]l-'' (written [[aleph]] plus [[lamed]], in the Hebrew script) is the definite article in Arabic. For example, the word ''[[Allah]]'' ({{Script/Hebrew|אַללַּהּ}}) can be written with this ligature: {{Script/Hebrew|ﭏלה}}.
*In the [[Arabic alphabet]], historically a [[cursive]] derived from the [[Nabataean alphabet]], most letters' shapes depend on whether they are followed (word-initial), preceded (word-final) or both (medial) by other letters. For example, Arabic [[م|mīm]], isolated {{lang|ar|م}}, tripled (''mmm'', rendering as initial, medial and final): {{lang|ar|ممم}}. Notable are the shapes taken by [[lām + ʼalif]] isolated: {{lang|ar|ﻻ}}, and lām + ʼalif medial or final: {{lang|ar|ﻼ}}. Besides the obligatory lām + ʼalif ligature, Arabic script grammar requires numerous stylistic ligatures.
*[[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]], a semitic alphabet derived from the [[Aramaic alphabet]], has three different scripts that all use ligatures. Like [[Arabic]], some letters change their form depending on their position in relation to other letters, and this can also change how ligatures look. A popular ligature all three scripts use is [[Lamedh|Lamadh]] {{Script/Serto|ܠ}}/{{Script/Mdnh|ܠ}} + [[Aleph|Alap]] {{Script/Serto|ܐ}}/{{Script/Mdnh|ܐ}} isolated and final: (Serto) {{Script/Serto|ܠܐ}}, (Madnhaya) {{Script/Mdnh|ܠܐ}}. Another popular one is [[Taw]] {{Script/Serto|ܬ}}/{{Script/Mdnh|ܬ}} + [[Aleph|Alap]] {{Script/Serto|ܐ}}/{{Script/Mdnh|ܐ}}, resulting in ([[Serto]]) {{Script/Serto|ܬܐ}}, ([[Madnhaya|Madhnhaya]]) {{Script/Mdnh|ـܬܐ}}. All three scripts use ligatures, but not in an equal spread or always with the same letters. [[Serto]], being a flexible script, especially has many ligatures. For a wider, but not complete, list of Syriac ligatures, see ''[[Syriac alphabet#Contextual forms of letters|Contextual forms of letters]]''.
*[[Urdu]] (one of the main languages of South Asia), which uses a calligraphic version of the Arabic-based [[Nastaʿlīq script]], requires a great number of ligatures in digital typography. [[InPage]], a widely used [[desktop publishing]] tool for Urdu, uses [[Nastaliq]] fonts with over 20,000 ligatures.
*In [[American Sign Language]] a ligature of the [[American manual alphabet]] is used to sign "I love you", from the English [[initialism]] ILY. It consists of the little finger of the letter I plus the thumb and forefinger of the letter L. The letter Y (little finger and thumb) overlaps with the other two letters.
*The [[Japanese language]] has a number of obsolete [[kana ligature]]s. Of these, only two are widely available ones on computers: one for [[hiragana]], [[Yori (kana)|ゟ]], which is a vertical writing ligature of the characters [[Yo (kana)|よ]] and [[Ri (kana)|り]]; and one for [[katakana]], [[Koto (kana)|ヿ]], which is a vertical writing ligature of the characters [[Ko (kana)|コ]] and [[To (kana)|ト]].
*[[Lao language|Lao]] uses three ligatures, all comprising the letter ຫ (h). As a tonal language, most consonant sounds in Lao are represented by two consonants, which will govern the tone of the syllable. Five consonant sounds are only represented by a single consonant letter (ງ (ŋ), ນ (m), ມ (n), ລ (l), ວ (w)), meaning that one cannot render all the tones for words beginning with these sounds. A silent ຫ indicates that the syllable should be read with the tone rules for ຫ, rather than those of the following consonant. Three consonants can form ligatures with the letter ຫ. ຫ+ນ=ໜ (n), ຫ+ມ=ໝ (m) and ຫ+ລ=ຫຼ (l). ງ (ŋ) and ວ (w) just form clusters: ຫງ (ŋ) and ຫວ (w). ລ (l) can also be used written in a cluster rather than as a ligature: ຫລ (l).
*In many [[runes|runic]] texts ligatures are common. Such ligatures are known as [[bind-rune]]s and were optional.

===Chinese ligatures===
{{see also|Polysyllabic Chinese character}}
[[File:Hxkm zhongwen kanji.svg|thumb|left|upright|class=skin-invert-image|A Chinese {{lang|zh-Latn|[[chéngyǔ]]}} (expression) written as a ligature. It reads {{lang|zh-Latn|Kǒng Mèng hàoxué}} <big>({{lang|zh|孔孟好學}})</big> and means "to be as studious as [[Confucius]] and [[Mencius]]." All four characters contain {{lang|zh|子}} as a component –&nbsp;left, top, right and bottom respectively – and share it at the center of the composition.]]
[[Written Chinese]] has a long history of creating new characters by merging parts or wholes of other [[Chinese character]]s. However, a few of these combinations do not represent [[morpheme]]s but retain the original multi-character (multiple morpheme) reading and are therefore not considered true characters themselves. In Chinese, these ligatures are called {{lang|zh-Latn|héwén}} ({{wikt-lang|zh|合文}}) or {{lang|zh-Latn|héshū}} ({{lang|zh|合書}}); see [[polysyllabic Chinese character]]s for more.

One popular ligature used on {{lang|zh-Latn|[[chūntiē]]}} decorations used for [[Chinese Lunar New Year]] is a combination of the four characters for {{lang|zh-Latn|zhāocái jìnbǎo}} ({{lang|zh|招財進寶}}), meaning "ushering in wealth and fortune" and used as a popular New Year's greeting.

{{Multiple image
|width = 110
|header = Chinese ligatures
|header_align = center
|image1 = Chinese Character zhao1 cai2 jin4 bao3.svg
|alt1 = ''Kǒng Mènghàoxué'' (孔孟好學)
|caption1 = A Chinese ligature for {{lang|zh-Latn|zhāocái jìnbǎo}} <big>({{lang|zh|招財進寶}})</big>, a popular New Year's greeting
|class1=skin-invert-image
|image2 = Caonima word-150x150.jpg
|alt2 = ''Cǎonímǎ'' (草泥马)
|caption2 = The {{lang|zh-Latn|[[Cǎonímǎ]]}} <big>({{lang|zh|草泥马}})</big> ligature combining the three constituent characters
|class2=skin-invert-image
}}
In 1924, {{lang|zh-Latn|[[Du Dingyou]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|zh|杜定友}}; 1898–1967) created the ligature {{lang|zh|圕}} from two of the three characters {{lang|zh|圖書館}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|túshūguǎn}}), meaning "library".<ref>"[http://www.stnn.cc:82/culture/splend/t20060421_196261.html '圕'字怎麼念？什麼意思？誰造的？] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003232054/http://www.stnn.cc:82/culture/splend/t20060421_196261.html |date=2011-10-03 }}" ''[[Sing Tao Daily]]'' online. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2011.{{in lang|zh}}</ref> Although it does have an assigned pronunciation of {{lang|zh-Latn|tuān}} and appears in many dictionaries, it is not a [[morpheme]] and cannot be used as such in Chinese. Instead, it is usually considered a graphic representation of {{lang|zh-Latn|túshūguǎn}}.

In recent years, a Chinese [[internet meme]], the [[Grass Mud Horse]], has had such a ligature associated with it combining the three relevant Chinese characters {{lang|zh|草}}, {{lang|zh|泥}}, and {{lang|zh|马}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Cǎonímǎ}}).

Similar to the ligatures were several "two-syllable Chinese characters" ({{wikt-lang|zh|雙音節漢字}}) created in the 19th century as [[International System of Units#Chinese and Japanese|Chinese characters]] for [[SI units]]. In Chinese these units are disyllabic and standardly written with two characters, as {{lang|zh|厘米}} {{lang|zh-Latn|límǐ}} "centimeter" ({{lang|zh|厘}} centi-, {{lang|zh|米}} meter) or {{lang|zh|千瓦}} {{lang|zh-Latn|qiānwǎ}} "kilowatt". However, in the 19th century these were often written via compound characters, pronounced disyllabically, such as {{lang|zh|瓩}} for {{lang|zh|千瓦}} or {{lang|zh|糎}} for {{lang|zh|厘米}} – some of these characters were also used in Japan, where they were pronounced with borrowed European readings instead. These have now fallen out of general use, but are occasionally seen.<ref name=vmair>Victor Mair, [https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3330 "Polysyllabic characters in Chinese writing"], ''Language Log'', 2011 August 2</ref>

===Japanese ligatures===
The [[CJK Compatibility]] [[Unicode]] block features characters that have been combined into one square character in legacy character set so that it matches Japanese text.
For example, the Japanese equivalent of "stock company", {{lang|ja|株式会社}} ({{Transliteration|ja|kabushiki gaisha}}) can be represented in 1 Unicode character {{angbr|㍿}}.
Its romanized abbreviation {{Transliteration|ja|K.K.}} can also be 1 character {{angbr|㏍}}.
There are other Latin abbreviations such as ''kg'' for "[[kilogram]]" that can be ligated into 1 square character {{angbr|㎏}}.

==Computer typesetting==
[[File:Ligatures.svg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|Some example ligatures in Latin script]]
The [[OpenType]] font format includes features for associating multiple [[glyph]]s to a single character, used for ligature substitution. Typesetting software may or may not implement this feature, even if it is explicitly present in the font's metadata. [[XeTeX]] is a TeX typesetting engine designed to make the most of such advanced features. This type of substitution used to be needed mainly for typesetting Arabic texts, but ligature lookups and substitutions are being put into all kinds of Western Latin OpenType fonts. In OpenType, there are standard <code>liga</code>, historical <code>hlig</code>, contextual <code>clig</code>, discretionary <code>dlig</code> and required <code>rlig</code> ligatures.

===TeX===

Opinion is divided over whether it is the job of writers or typesetters to decide where to use ligatures. [[TeX]] is an example of a computer typesetting system that makes use of ligatures automatically. The [[Computer Modern]] Roman typeface provided with TeX includes the five common ligatures {{angbr|ff}} , {{angbr|fi}} , {{angbr|fl}} , {{angbr|ffi}} , and {{angbr|ffl}} . When TeX finds these combinations in a text, it substitutes the appropriate ligature, unless overridden by the typesetter.

===CSS===
[[CSS3]] provides control over these properties using <code>font-feature-settings</code>,<ref name=msdnFontFeature>{{cite web|title=font-feature-settings property|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/hh869409%28v=vs.85%29.aspx|website=MSDN|access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref> though the CSS Fonts Module Level 4 draft standard indicates that authors should prefer several other properties.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://drafts.csswg.org/css-fonts/#font-feature-settings-prop |title=CSS Font Module Level 4 |website=CSSWG}}</ref> Those include <code>font-variant-ligatures</code>, <code>common-ligatures</code>, <code>discretionary-ligatures</code>, <code>historical-ligatures</code>, and <code>contextual</code>.<ref>{{cite web|title=CSS font-variant-ligatures Property|url=https://www.cssportal.com/css-properties/font-variant-ligatures.php|website=CSS Portal}}</ref>

===Ligatures in Unicode (Latin alphabets)===
This table below shows discrete letter pairs on the left, the corresponding [[Unicode]] ligature in the middle column, and the Unicode code point on the right. Provided you are using an [[operating system]] and [[Web browser|browser]] that can handle Unicode, and have the correct Unicode [[typeface|fonts]] installed, some or all of these will display correctly. See also the provided graphic.

[[Unicode]] maintains that ligaturing is a presentation issue rather than a character definition issue, and that, for example, "if a modern font is asked to display 'h' followed by 'r', and the font has an 'hr' ligature in it, it can display the ligature." Accordingly, the use of the special Unicode ligature characters is "discouraged", and "no more will be encoded in any circumstances".<ref name="UniFAQ">{{cite web|url= https://unicode.org/faq/ligature_digraph.html |title= Unicode FAQ: Ligatures, Digraphs, Presentation Forms vs. Plain Text|publisher=Unicode Consortium|date=2015-07-06}}</ref> (Unicode has continued to add ligatures, but only in such cases that the ligatures were used as distinct letters in a language or could be interpreted as standalone [[Unicode symbols|symbols]]. For example, ligatures such as æ and œ are not used to replace arbitrary "ae" or "oe" sequences; it is generally considered incorrect to write "does" as "dœs".)

[[File:Word default no ligatures.tiff|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|[[Microsoft Word]] does not enable ligatures by default. Here, with [[Gill Sans]] Light, the 'f' and 'i' appear superimposed when default settings are used.]]
[[Microsoft Word]] disables ligature substitution by default, largely for [[backward compatibility]] when editing documents created in earlier versions of Word. Users can enable automatic ligature substitution on the Advanced tab of the Font dialog box.

[[LibreOffice Writer]] enables standard ligature substitution by default for OpenType fonts, user can enable or disable any ligature substitution on the Features dialog box, which is accessible via the Features button of the Character dialog box, or alternatively, input a syntax with font name and feature into the Font Name input box, for example: ''Noto Sans:liga=0''.

<!-- Do not include digraphs here, only ligatures -->
{| class="wikitable notatypo sortable"
! Non-ligature
! Ligature<ref name="UniFAQ"/>
! data-sort-type="number" | Unicode
! class="unsortable"|HTML
|-
| AA, aa
| Ꜳ, ꜳ<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42802"|U+A732, U+A733
| &amp;#xA732; &amp;#xA733;
|-
| AE, ae
| {{not a typo|[[Æ]], æ}}
| data-sort-value="198"|U+00C6, U+00E6
| &amp;AElig; &amp;aelig;
|-
| AO, ao
| {{not a typo|Ꜵ, ꜵ}}<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42804"|U+A734, U+A735
| &amp;#xA734; &amp;#xA735;
|-
| AU, au
| {{not a typo|Ꜷ, ꜷ}}<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42806"|U+A736, U+A737
| &amp;#xA736; &amp;#xA737;
|-
| AV, av
| {{not a typo|Ꜹ, ꜹ}}<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42808"|U+A738, U+A739
| &amp;#xA738; &amp;#xA739;
|-
| AV, av (with bar)
| {{not a typo|Ꜻ, ꜻ}}<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42810"|U+A73A, U+A73B
| &amp;#xA73A; &amp;#xA73B;
|-
| AY, ay
| {{not a typo|Ꜽ, ꜽ}}<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42812"|U+A73C, U+A73D
| &amp;#xA73C; &amp;#xA73D;
|-
| rowspan="2" | et
| {{not a typo|🙰}}
| data-sort-value="128624"|U+1F670
| &amp;#x1F670;
|-
|&
|U+0026
|&#x26
|-
|Et, et
|Ꝫ, ꝫ
|U+A76A,
U+A76B
|&amp;#xA764;
&amp;#xA76B;
|-
| f{{zwnj}}f
| {{not a typo|ﬀ}}
| data-sort-value="64256"|U+FB00
| &amp;#xFB00;
|-
| f{{zwnj}}f{{zwnj}}i
| {{not a typo|ﬃ}}
| data-sort-value="64259"|U+FB03
| &amp;#xFB03;
|-
| f{{zwnj}}f{{zwnj}}l
| {{not a typo|ﬄ}}
| data-sort-value="64260"|U+FB04
| &amp;#xFB04;
|-
| f{{zwnj}}i
| {{not a typo|ﬁ}}
| data-sort-value="64257"|U+FB01
| &amp;#xFB01;
|-
| f{{zwnj}}l
| {{not a typo|ﬂ}}
| data-sort-value="64258"|U+FB02
| &amp;#xFB02;
|-
| superscript HT 
| [[𝆦]]
| data-sort-value=""| U+1D1A6
| &amp;#x1D1A6;
|-
| Hv, hv
| {{not a typo|Ƕ, ƕ}}
| U+01F6, U+0195
|&amp;#502; &amp;#405;
|-
|Is, is
|Ꝭ, ꝭ
|U+A76C, 
U+A76D
|&amp;#42861;
&amp;#xA76D;
|-
| lb
| {{not a typo|℔}}
| U+2114
| &amp;#8468; &amp;#x2114;
|-
| LL, [[ll]]
| {{not a typo|Ỻ, ỻ}}
| U+1EFA, U+1EFB
|&amp;#7930; &amp;#7931;
|-
| OE, oe
| {{not a typo|[[Œ]], œ}}
| data-sort-value="338"|U+0152, U+0153
| &amp;OElig; &amp;oelig;
|-
| OO, oo
| Ꝏ, ꝏ<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42830"|U+A74E, U+A74F
| &amp;#xA74E; &amp;#xA74F;
|-
| ɔe
| ꭢ
| U+AB62
|&amp;#43874;
|-
|data-sort-value="ss"| ſs, ſz
| [[ẞ]], [[ß]]
| data-sort-value="223"|U+1E9E, U+00DF
| &amp;szlig;
|-
| st
| {{not a typo|ﬆ}}
| data-sort-value="64262"|U+FB06
| &amp;#xFB06;
|-
|data-sort-value="st"| ſt
| {{not a typo|ﬅ}}
| data-sort-value="64261"|U+FB05
| &amp;#xFB05;
|-
| superscript NT
| {{not a typo|[[𝆧]]}}
| data-sort-value="" | U+1D1A7
| &amp;#x1D1A7;
|-
| TZ, tz
| {{not a typo|Ꜩ, ꜩ}}
| data-sort-value="42792"|U+A728, U+A729
| &amp;#xA728; &amp;#xA729;
|-
| ue
| {{not a typo|ᵫ}}
| data-sort-value="7531"|U+1D6B
| &amp;#x1D6B;
|-
| uo
| {{not a typo|ꭣ}}<ref name="unicode.org"/>
| U+AB63
|&amp;#43875;
|-
| VV, vv
| W, w
| U+0057, U+0077
| &amp;#87; &amp;#119;
|-
| VY, vy
| {{not a typo|Ꝡ, ꝡ}}<ref name="L206027"/>
| data-sort-value="42848"|U+A760, U+A761
| &amp;#xA760; &amp;#xA761;
|-
| ſs
| Ꟗ ꟗ
| U+A7D6, U+A7D7
| &amp;#xA7D7; &amp;#xA7D7;
|-
|ƿƿ
|ꟕ
|U+A7D5
|&amp;#xA7D5; &amp;#xA7D5;
|-
|þþ
|ꟓ
|U+A7D3
|&amp;#xA7D3; &amp;#xA7D3;
|}
<!-- Adding what are *not* ligatures and what they actually are should be helpful -->
There are separate [[code point]]s for the digraph [[Dz (digraph)|DZ]], the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] digraph [[IJ (digraph)|IJ]], and for the [[Gaj's Latin Alphabet#Digraphs|Serbo-Croatian digraphs]] DŽ, LJ, and NJ. Although similar, these are [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]], not ligatures. See [[Digraph (orthography)#In Unicode|Digraphs in Unicode]].

====Ligatures used only in [[phonetic transcription]]====
{| class="wikitable sortable"! Non-ligature
! colspan="2" | Ligature<ref name="UniFAQ"/>
! data-sort-type="number" | Unicode
! class="unsortable"|HTML
|-
| superscript small capital AA
| 𐞀<ref name="L220116"/><ref name="L221021"/>
| data-sort-value="67456"|U+10780
|&amp;#x10780;
|-
| superscript ae
| 𐞃<ref name="L220252"/>
| data-sort-value="67459"|U+10783
|&amp;#x10783;
|-
| aə
| ꬱ<ref name="unicode.org">{{Cite web |title=Latin Extended-E |url=https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/UAB30.pdf |website=[[Unicode Consortium]]}}</ref>
| U+AB31
|&amp;#43825;
|-
| əø
| ꭁ
| U+AB41
|&amp;#43841;
|-
| db{{efn|name=qp}}
| [[ȸ]]
| data-sort-value="568"|U+0238
| &amp;#x238;
|-
| dz
| [[ʣ]]
| data-sort-value="675"| U+02A3
| &amp;#x2A3;
|-
| dʐ
| ꭦ<ref name="L217299">{{Cite web|title=L2/17-299 Proposal to add two Sinological Latin letters|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17299-n4842-sinological-digraphs.pdf |date=2017-08-17|first=Michael|last=Everson}}</ref>
| U+AB66 
|&amp;#43878;
|-
| dʑ (or dz curl)
| [[ʥ]]
| data-sort-value="677"| U+02A5
| &amp;#x2A5;
|-
| dʒ (or dezh)
| [[ʤ]]
| data-sort-value="676"| U+02A4
| &amp;#x2A4;
|-
| dʒ with palatal hook
| 𝼒<ref name="L220125">{{Cite web|title=L2/20-125R: Unicode request for expected IPA retroflex letters and similar letters with hooks|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20125r-ipa-retroflex.pdf|date=2020-07-11|first=Kirk|last=Miller}}</ref><ref name="L221021" />
| data-sort-value="122642"| U+1DF12
| &amp;#x1DF12;
|-
| dʒ with retroflex hook
| 𝼙<ref name="L221004">{{Citation|title=L2/21-004: Unicode request for dezh with retroflex hook|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21004-dezh-retroflex-hook.pdf|date=2021-01-03|first1=Kirk|last1=Miller|first2=Michael|last2=Everson}}</ref>
| data-sort-value="122649"| U+1DF19
| &amp;#x1DF19;
|-
| fŋ (or feng)
| [[ʩ]]
| data-sort-value="681"| U+02A9
| &amp;#x2A9;
|-
| Superscript fŋ
| [[𐞐]]<ref name="L220116" /><ref name="L221021" />
| U+10790
| &amp;#67472;
|-
| fŋ with trill
| [[𝼀]]<ref name="L220116">{{Cite web|title=L2/20-116R: Expansion of the extIPA and VoQS|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20116r-ext-ipa-voqs-expansion.pdf|date=2020-07-11|first1=Kirk|last1=Miller|first2=Martin|last2=Ball}}</ref><ref name="L221021">{{Cite web|title=L2/21-021: Reference doc numbers for L2/20-266R "Consolidated code chart of proposed phonetic characters" and IPA etc. code point and name changes|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21021-consolidated-ipa.pdf|date=2020-12-07|first=Deborah|last=Anderson}}</ref>
| data-sort-value="122624"| U+1DF00
| &amp;#x1DF00;
|-
| ls (or less)
| [[ʪ]]
| data-sort-value="682"| U+02AA
| &amp;#x2AA;
|-
| superscript ls
| [[𐞙]]<ref name="L220116" /><ref name="L221021" />
| U+10799
| &amp;#67481;
|-
| lz
| [[ʫ]]
| data-sort-value="683"| U+02AB
| &amp;#x2AB;
|-
| superscript lz
| [[𐞚]]<ref name="L220116" /><ref name="L221021" />
| U+1079A
| &amp;#67482;
|-
| lʒ (or lezh)
| [[ɮ]]
| data-sort-value="622"| U+026E
| &amp;#x26E;
|-
| superscript lʒ
| [[𐞞]]<ref name="L220116" />
| data-sort-value="67486"| U+1079E
| &amp;#x1079E;
|-
| lʒ with retroflex hook
| [[𝼅]]<ref name="L220116"/><ref name="L221021"/>
| data-sort-value="1DF05"| U+1DF05
| &amp;#x1DF05;
|-
| superscript lʒ with retroflex hook
| [[𐞟]]<ref name="L220116"/>
| data-sort-value="67487"| U+1079F
| &amp;#x1079F;
|-
| oə
| ꭀ
| data-sort-value="43840"|U+AB40
| &amp;#xAB40;
|-
| qp{{efn|Unicode calls this a digraph, but it is actually a ligature.<ref>{{cite web|last=Freytag|first=Asmus|author2=McGowan, Rick|author3=Whistler, Ken|date=2006-05-08|title=Known Anomalies in Unicode Character Names|url=https://www.unicode.org/notes/tn27/tn27-1.html|access-date=2009-05-29|work=Unicode Technical Note #27|publisher=[[Unicode Consortium|Unicode Inc]]}}</ref>|name=qp}}
| [[ȹ]]
| data-sort-value="569"| U+0239
| &amp;#x239;
|-
|data-sort-value="tc"| tɕ (or tc curl)
| [[ʨ]]
| data-sort-value="680"| U+02A8
| &amp;#x2A8;
|-
|data-sort-value="superscript tc"| superscript tɕ
| [[𐞫]]<ref name="L220252">{{Cite web|title=L2/20-252R: Unicode request for IPA modifier-letters (a), pulmonic|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20252r-mod-ipa-a.pdf|date=2020-11-08|first1=Kirk|last1=Miller|first2=Michael|last2=Ashby}}</ref>
| data-sort-value="67499"| U+107AB
| &amp;#x107AB;
|-
| ts (or tess)
| [[ʦ]]
| data-sort-value="678"| U+02A6
| &amp;#x2A6;
|-
| superscript ts
| [[𐞬]]<ref name="L220252"/>
| data-sort-value="67500"| U+107AC
| &amp;#x107AC;
|-
| ts with retroflex hook
| [[ꭧ]]
| data-sort-value="43879"| U+AB67
| &amp;#xAB67;
|-
| superscript ts with retroflex hook
| [[𐞭]]<ref name="L220252"/>
| data-sort-value="67501"| U+107AD
| &amp;#x107AD;
|-
| tʂ
| ꭧ<ref name="L217299"/>
| U+AB67
|&amp;#43879;
|-
| tʃ (or tesh)
| [[ʧ]]
| data-sort-value="679"| U+02A7
| &amp;#x2A7;
|-
| superscript tʃ
| [[𐞮]]<ref name="L220252"/>
| data-sort-value="67502"| U+107AE
| &amp;#x107AE;
|-
| tʃ with retroflex hook
| 𝼜<ref name="L221004"/>
| data-sort-value="122652"| U+1DF1C
| &amp;#x1DF1C;
|-
| tʃ with palatal hook
| 𝼗<ref name="L220125" /><ref name="L221021" />
| data-sort-value="122647"| U+1DF17
| &amp;#x1DF17;
|-
| ui
| ꭐ<ref name="L211202">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11202-n4081-teuthonista.pdf|title=L2/11-202: Revised proposal to encode 'Teuthonista' phonetic characters in the UCS|date=2011-06-02|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|first2=Alois|last2=Dicklberger|first3=Karl|last3=Pentzlin|first4=Eveline|last4=Wandl-Vogt}}</ref>
| data-sort-value="43856"|U+AB50
| &amp;#xAB50;
|-
| turned ui
| ꭑ<ref name="L211202"/>
| data-sort-value="43857"|U+AB51
| &amp;#xAB51;
|-
| uu
| ɯ
| U+026F
| &amp;#623;
|}
Four "ligature ornaments" are included from U+1F670 to U+1F673 in the [[Ornamental Dingbats]] block: regular and bold variants of ℯT (script e and T) and of ɛT (open E and T).

==Contemporary art==
[[File:EnglishChinaWriting.jpg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|An example of [[Xu Bing]]'s 'Square Word' calligraphy, combining Latin characters into forms that resemble Chinese characters. The word pictured is '[[wiki]]'.]]

Typographic ligatures are used in a form of [[contemporary art]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foundrycomms.co.uk/blog/2014-02-the-art-of-typography-in-the-digital-age-ligatures |title=The art of typography in the digital age ligatures |access-date=November 14, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129022237/http://www.foundrycomms.co.uk/blog/2014-02-the-art-of-typography-in-the-digital-age-ligatures |url-status=dead }}</ref> as can be illustrated by Chinese artist [[Xu Bing]]'s work in which he combines Latin letters to form characters that resemble Chinese.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Art of Xu Bing: Words Without Meaning, Meaning Without Words (Asian Art & Culture) |publisher=Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Ga |author=Erickson, Britta|year=2001|isbn=9780295981437}}</ref> Croatian designer Maja Škripelj also created a ligature that combined [[Glagolitic script|Glagolitic letters]] ⰘⰓ for [[Croatian euro coins|euro coins]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.croatiaweek.com/designs-of-croatian-national-sides-of-euro-and-cent-coins-presented/|title=Designs of Croatian national sides of euro and cent coins presented|date=4 February 2022 |access-date=10 October 2023}}</ref>

==See also==

* {{Annotated link |Complex text layout}}
* {{annotated link|Digraph (orthography)}} (the unfused pairing of graphemes)
* {{Annotated link |Kerning}}  (optimization of spacing between adjacent letters).
* {{Annotated link |Letter spacing}}
* {{Annotated link |List of English words that may be spelled with a ligature}}
* {{Annotated link |Monogram}}
* {{Annotated link |Scribal abbreviation}}
* {{Annotated link |Unicode equivalence}}
* {{Annotated link |Greek ligatures}}
* {{Annotated link |Text shaping}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/font-variant-ligatures Examples of CSS ligatures]

{{Latin script}}
{{Typography terms}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Latin-script ligatures| ]]
[[Category:Palaeography]]
[[Category:Typographic ligatures| ]]
[[Category:Typography]]