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Digraph (orthography)

A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used in the orthography of a language to write either a single phoneme (distinct sound), or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined.

Some digraphs represent phonemes that cannot be represented with a single character in the writing system of a language, like in English ship and fish. Other digraphs represent phonemes that can also be represented by single characters. A digraph that shares its pronunciation with a single character may be a relic from an earlier period of the language when the digraph had a different pronunciation, or may represent a distinction that is made only in certain dialects, like the English. Some such digraphs are used for purely etymological reasons, like in English.

In some orthographies, digraphs (and occasionally trigraphs) are considered individual letters, which means that they have their own place in the alphabet and cannot be separated into their constituent places graphemes when sorting, abbreviating, or hyphenating words. Digraphs are used in some romanization schemes, e.g. as a romanisation of Russian.

The capitalisation of digraphs can vary, e.g. in English is capitalized  and  in Norwegian is capitalized, while  in Dutch is capitalized  and word initial  in Irish is capitalized.

Digraphs may develop into ligatures, but this is a distinct concept: a ligature involves the graphical fusion of two characters into one, e.g. when and  become, e.g. as in French cœur "heart".

Double letters
Digraphs may consist of two different characters (heterogeneous digraphs) or two instances of the same character (homogeneous digraphs). In the latter case, they are generally called double (or doubled) letters.

Doubled vowel letters are commonly used to indicate a long vowel sound. This is the case in Finnish and Estonian, for instance, where represents a longer version of the vowel denoted by,  represents a longer version of the vowel denoted by , and so on. In Middle English, the sequences and  were used in a similar way, to represent lengthened "e" and "o" sounds respectively; both spellings have been retained in modern English orthography, but the Great Vowel Shift and other historical sound changes mean that the modern pronunciations are quite different from the original ones.

Doubled consonant letters can also be used to indicate a long or geminated consonant sound. In Italian, for example, consonants written double are pronounced longer than single ones. This was the original use of doubled consonant letters in Old English, but during the Middle English and Early Modern English period, phonemic consonant length was lost and a spelling convention developed in which a doubled consonant serves to indicate that a preceding vowel is to be pronounced short. In modern English, for example, the of tapping differentiates the first vowel sound from that of taping. In rare cases, doubled consonant letters represent a true geminate consonant in modern English; this may occur when two instances of the same consonant come from different morphemes, for example in unnatural (un+natural) or  in cattail (cat+tail).

In some cases, the sound represented by a doubled consonant letter is distinguished in some other way than length from the sound of the corresponding single consonant letter:
 * In Welsh and Greenlandic, stands for a voiceless lateral consonant, while in Spanish and Catalan it stands for a palatal consonant.
 * In several languages of western Europe, including English, French, Portuguese and Catalan, the digraph $⟨ss⟩$ is used between vowels to represent the voiceless sibilant, since an $⟨s⟩$ alone between vowels normally represents the voiced sibilant.
 * In Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Basque, rr (digraph) is used between vowels for the alveolar trill, since an alone between vowels represents an alveolar flap  (the two are different phonemes in those languages).
 * In Spanish, the digraph formerly indicated  (a palatal nasal); it developed into the ñ|letter ñ.
 * In Basque, double consonant letters generally mark palatalized versions of the single consonant letter, as in dd (digraph),, tt (digraph). However, is a trill that contrasts with the single-letter flap, as in Spanish, and the palatal version of  is written.

In several European writing systems, including the English one, the doubling of the letter $⟨c⟩$ or $⟨k⟩$ is represented as the heterogeneous digraph $⟨ck⟩$ instead of $⟨cc⟩$ or $⟨kk⟩$ respectively. In native German words, the doubling of $⟨z⟩$, which corresponds to, is replaced by the digraph $⟨tz⟩$.

Pan-dialectical digraphs
Some languages have a unified orthography with digraphs that represent distinct pronunciations in different dialects (diaphonemes). For example, in Breton there is a digraph $⟨zh⟩$ that represents in most dialects, but  in Vannetais. Similarly, the Saintongeais dialect of French has a digraph $⟨jh⟩$ that represents  in words that correspond to  in standard French. Similarly, Catalan has a digraph $⟨ix⟩$ that represents in Eastern Catalan, but  or  in Western Catalan–Valencian.

Split digraphs
The pair of letters making up a phoneme are not always adjacent. This is the case with English silent e. For example, the sequence a_e has the sound in English cake. This is the result of three historical sound changes: cake was originally, the open syllable  came to be pronounced with a long vowel, and later the final schwa dropped off, leaving. Later still, the vowel became. There are six such digraphs in English, $\langlea_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e, y_e\rangle$.

However, alphabets may also be designed with discontinuous digraphs. In the Tatar Cyrillic alphabet, for example, the letter ю is used to write both and. Usually the difference is evident from the rest of the word, but when it is not, the sequence ю...ь is used for, as in юнь 'cheap'.

The Indic alphabets are distinctive for their discontinuous vowels, such as Thai เ...อ in เกอ. Technically, however, they may be considered diacritics, not full letters; whether they are digraphs is thus a matter of definition.

Ambiguous letter sequences
Some letter pairs should not be interpreted as digraphs but appear because of compounding: hogshead and cooperate. They are often not marked in any way and so must be memorized as exceptions. Some authors, however, indicate it either by breaking up the digraph with a hyphen, as in hogs-head, co-operate, or with a trema mark, as in coöperate, but the use of the diaeresis has declined in English within the last century. When it occurs in names such as Clapham, Townshend, and Hartshorne, it is never marked in any way. Positional alternative glyphs may help to disambiguate in certain cases: when round, $⟨s⟩$ was used as a final variant of long $⟨ſ⟩$, and the English digraph for would always be $⟨ſh⟩$.

In romanization of Japanese, the constituent sounds (morae) are usually indicated by digraphs, but some are indicated by a single letter, and some with a trigraph. The case of ambiguity is the syllabic ん, which is written as n (or sometimes m), except before vowels or y where it is followed by an apostrophe as n’. For example, the given name じゅんいちろう is romanized as Jun’ichirō, so that it is parsed as "Jun-i-chi-rou", rather than as "Ju-ni-chi-rou". A similar use of the apostrophe is seen in pinyin where 嫦娥 is written Chang'e because the g belongs to the final (-ang) of the first syllable, not to the initial of the second syllable. Without the apostrophe, Change would be understood as the syllable chan (final -an) followed by the syllable ge (initial g-).

In alphabetization
In some languages, certain digraphs and trigraphs are counted as distinct letters in themselves, and assigned to a specific place in the alphabet, separate from that of the sequence of characters that composes them, for purposes of orthography and collation. For example:
 * In the Gaj's Latin alphabet used to write Serbo-Croatian, the digraphs, and , which correspond to the single Cyrillic letters , , , are treated as distinct letters.
 * In the Czech and Slovak alphabet, is treated as a distinct letter, coming after  in the alphabet. Also, in the Slovak alphabet the relatively rare digraphs  and  are treated as distinct letters.
 * In the Danish and Norwegian alphabet, the former digraph, where it appears in older names, is sorted as if it were the letter , which replaced it.
 * In the Norwegian alphabet, there are several digraphs and letter combinations representing an isolated sound.
 * In the Dutch alphabet, the digraph is sometimes written as a ligature and may be sorted with  (in the Netherlands, though not usually in Belgium); however, regardless of where it is used, when a Dutch word starting with  is capitalized, the entire digraph is capitalized (IJmeer, IJmuiden). Other Dutch digraphs are never treated as single letters.
 * In Hungarian, the digraphs, , , , , , , , and the trigraph , have their own places in the alphabet (where follows ,  and  follow , etc.)
 * In Spanish, the digraphs and  were formerly treated as distinct letters, but are now split into their constituent letters.
 * In Welsh, the alphabet includes the digraphs, , , , , , , . However, , and , which represent mutated voiceless consonants, are not treated as distinct letters.
 * In the romanization of several Slavic countries that use the Cyrillic script, letters like ш, ж, and ч might be written as sh, zh and ch, however sometimes the result of the romanization might modify a letter to be a diacritical letter instead of a digraph.
 * In Maltese, two digraphs are used, which comes right after, and  which comes right after.

Most other languages, including English, French, German, Polish, etc., treat digraphs as combinations of separate letters for alphabetization purposes.

English
English has both homogeneous digraphs (doubled letters) and heterogeneous digraphs (digraphs consisting of two different letters). Those of the latter type include the following:

 * $⟨sc⟩$ normally represents (voiceless alveolar fricative - scene) or  (voiceless postalveolar fricative - conscious) before $⟨e⟩$ or $⟨i⟩$.
 * $⟨ng⟩$ represents (velar nasal) as in thing.
 * $⟨ch⟩$ usually corresponds to (voiceless postalveolar affricate - church), to  (voiceless velar plosive) when used as an etymological digraph in words of Greek origin (christ), less commonly to  (voiceless postalveolar fricative) in words of French origin (champagne).
 * $⟨ck⟩$ corresponds to as in check.
 * $⟨gh⟩$ represents (voiced velar plosive) at the beginning of words (ghost), represents  (voiceless labiodental fricative in enough) or is silent at the end of words (sigh).
 * $⟨ph⟩$ represents (voiceless labiodental fricative), as in siphon.
 * $⟨rh⟩$ represents English in words of Greek origin, such as rhythm.
 * $⟨sh⟩$ represents (voiceless postalveolar fricative), as in sheep.
 * $⟨ti⟩$ usually represents word-medially before a vowel, as in education.
 * $⟨th⟩$ usually corresponds to (voiceless interdental fricative) in thin or  (voiced interdental fricative) in then. See also Pronunciation of English $⟨th⟩$.
 * $⟨wh⟩$ represents in some conservative dialects;  in other dialects (while); and  in a few words in which it is followed by $⟨o⟩$, such as who and whole. See also Phonological history of $⟨wh⟩$.
 * $⟨zh⟩$ represents in words transliterated from Slavic languages, and in American dictionary pronunciation spelling.
 * $⟨ci⟩$ usually appears as before vowels, like in facial and artificial. Otherwise it is  as in fancier and icier or  as in acid and rancid.
 * $⟨wr⟩$ represents . Originally, it stood for a labialized sound, while $⟨r⟩$ without $⟨w⟩$ was non-labialized, but the distinction has been lost in most dialects, the two sounds merging into a single alveolar approximant, allophonically labialized at the start of syllables, as in red . See also rhotic consonant.
 * $⟨qu⟩$ usually represents ; $⟨q⟩$ is conventionally followed by $⟨u⟩$ and a vowel letter as in quick, with some exceptions.

Digraphs may also be composed of vowels. Some letters $⟨a, e, o⟩$ are preferred for the first position, others for the second $⟨i, u⟩$. The latter have allographs $⟨y, w⟩$ in English orthography.

Other languages using the Latin alphabet
In Serbo-Croatian: Note that in the Cyrillic orthography, those sounds are represented by single letters (љ, њ, џ).
 * $⟨...e⟩$ corresponds to, (palatal lateral approximant)
 * $⟨...i⟩$ corresponds to (palatal nasal)
 * $⟨...y⟩$ corresponds to (voiced postalveolar affricate)

In Czech and Slovak:
 * $⟨...u⟩$ corresponds to (voiceless velar fricative), counted as a distinct letter
 * $⟨...w⟩$ corresponds to (voiced alveolar affricate), counted as a distinct letter in Slovak, relatively rare digraph
 * $⟨...a⟩$ corresponds to (voiced postalveolar affricate), counted as a distinct letter in Slovak, relatively rare digraph

In Danish and Norwegian:
 * The digraph $⟨...o⟩$ represented until 1917 in Norway and 1948 in Denmark, but is today spelt $⟨o...⟩$. The digraph is still used in older names, but sorted as if it were the letter with the diacritic mark.

In Norwegian, several sounds can be represented only by a digraph or a combination of letters. They are the most common combinations, but extreme regional differences exists, especially those of the eastern dialects. A noteworthy difference is the aspiration of in eastern dialects, where it corresponds to  and. Among many young people, especially in the western regions of Norway and in or around the major cities, the difference between and  has been completely wiped away and are now pronounced the same.

 * $⟨oe¦œ⟩$ represents
 * $⟨e⟩$ represents.
 * $⟨oi¦oy⟩$ represents.
 * $⟨ou¦ow⟩$ represents.
 * $⟨oa⟩$ represents (before i or y).
 * $⟨oo⟩$ represents as in ng in English thing.

In Catalan:
 * $⟨a...⟩$ represents (palatal lateral approximant)
 * $⟨ae¦æ⟩$ represents (palatal nasal)
 * $⟨e⟩$ represents (post-alveolar trill)
 * $⟨ai¦ay⟩$ represents (voiceless alveolar retracted sibilant)
 * $⟨au¦aw⟩$ represents (voiceless velar plosive)
 * $⟨aa⟩$ represents (voiced velar plosive)
 * postvocalic $⟨ao⟩$ represents (voiceless postalveolar fricative) in Eastern dialects, in Western dialects it represents.

In Dutch:

 * $⟨e...⟩$ corresponds to (see above for its possible status as a separate letter).
 * $⟨ee⟩$ represents (velar nasal)
 * $⟨ei¦ey⟩$ represents (voiceless velar fricative)
 * $⟨eu¦ew⟩$ represents (voiceless postalveolar fricative)
 * $⟨ea⟩$ represents (close front unrounded vowel)
 * $⟨u...⟩$ represents (close back rounded vowel)
 * $⟨ue⟩$ represents (close-mid front rounded vowel)

In French:
 * $⟨ui⟩$ represents (voiceless postalveolar fricative)
 * $⟨i...⟩$ represents (palatal nasal)
 * $⟨ie⟩$ represents (voiceless velar stop), typically before historic front vowels
 * {| class="wikitable"

!style="text-align:center"| $⟨lj⟩$ !style="text-align:center"| $⟨nj⟩$ !style="text-align:left"| $⟨dž⟩$ !style="text-align:left"| $⟨ch⟩$ !style="text-align:left"| $⟨dz⟩$ See also French phonology.
 * + French vocalic digraphs
 * }
 * }

In German:
 * $⟨dž⟩$ represents (voiceless velar fricative) or  (voiceless palatal fricative)
 * $⟨aa⟩$ represents (voiceless velar plosive)
 * $⟨å⟩$ represents (open front unrounded vowel) followed by (near-close near-front unrounded vowel)
 * $⟨kj⟩$ represents (open-mid back rounded vowel) followed by (near-close near-front rounded vowel)

In Hungarian:
 * $⟨tj⟩$ represents (voiceless postalveolar affricate)
 * $⟨skj⟩$ represents (voiced postalveolar fricative)
 * $⟨sj⟩$ represents (voiced palatal plosive)
 * $⟨sk⟩$ originally represented (palatal lateral approximant), but in the modern language stands for  (palatal approximant)
 * $⟨ng⟩$ represents (palatal nasal)
 * $⟨ll⟩$ represents (voiceless palatal plosive)
 * $⟨ny⟩$ represents (voiced postalveolar affricate)
 * $⟨rr⟩$ represents (voiceless alveolar fricative) ($⟨ss⟩$ is pronounced )
 * The Hungarian alphabet additionally contains also a trigraph, $⟨qu⟩$.

In Italian:
 * $⟨gu⟩$ corresponds to, (voiceless postalveolar fricative) before -i and -e (but to before other letters)
 * $⟨ix⟩$ corresponds to (only before i, e)
 * $⟨ij⟩$ corresponds to (only before i, e)
 * $⟨ng⟩$ represents, palatal lateral approximant, before -i (with some exceptions)
 * $⟨ch⟩$ represents (palatal nasal)

In Manx Gaelic, $⟨sj⟩$ represents, but $⟨ie⟩$ represents.

In Polish:
 * $⟨oe⟩$ corresponds to (voiceless velar fricative)
 * $⟨eu⟩$ corresponds to (voiceless retroflex affricate)
 * $⟨ch⟩$ corresponds to (voiced alveolar affricate)
 * $⟨gn⟩$ corresponds to (voiced alveolo-palatal affricate)
 * $⟨qu⟩$ corresponds to (voiced retroflex affricate)
 * $⟨...i⟩$ corresponds to (voiced retroflex fricative)
 * $⟨...u⟩$ corresponds to (voiceless retroflex fricative)

In Portuguese:
 * $⟨a...⟩$ corresponds to (voiceless postalveolar fricative)
 * $⟨ai⟩$ corresponds to (palatal lateral approximant)
 * $⟨au⟩$ corresponds to (palatal nasal)
 * usually represents (voiceless velar stop)

In Spanish:
 * ll is traditionally (but now usually not) pronounced
 * $⟨e...⟩$ represents (voiceless postalveolar affricate). Since 2010, neither is considered part of the alphabet. They used to be sorted as separate letters, but a reform in 1994 by the Spanish Royal Academy has allowed that they be split into their constituent letters for collation. The digraph $⟨ei⟩$, pronounced as a distinct alveolar trill, was never officially considered to be a letter in the Spanish alphabet, and the same is true $⟨eu⟩$ and $⟨o...⟩$ (for  and  respectively before $⟨oi⟩$ or $⟨ou⟩$).

In Welsh: The digraphs listed above represent distinct phonemes and are treated as separate letters for collation purposes. On the other hand, the digraphs $⟨ch⟩$, $⟨ck⟩$, and the trigraph $⟨ei⟩$, which stand for voiceless consonants but occur only at the beginning of words as a result of the nasal mutation, are not treated as separate letters, and thus are not included in the alphabet.
 * $⟨eu⟩$ represents (velar nasal), the same sound as in English (but in some words it represents two separate letters, and is pronounced ).
 * $⟨cs⟩$ represents (voiceless uvular fricative)
 * $⟨zs⟩$ represents (voiceless alveolar trill), pronounced roughly like the combination hr (but again in some words it represents two separate letters, and is pronounced ).
 * $⟨gy⟩$ represents (voiceless interdental fricative)
 * $⟨ly⟩$ represents (voiced dental fricative), like the English $⟨ny⟩$ in then (but is pronounced as voiceless in many contexts).
 * $⟨ty⟩$ represents (voiceless labiodental fricative), like English $⟨dz⟩$, since Welsh $⟨sz⟩$ is pronounced  like an English $⟨s⟩$.
 * $⟨dzs⟩$ also represents (voiceless labiodental fricative) but, in modern orthography, is used only for the aspirate mutation of words starting with $⟨sc⟩$.
 * $⟨ch⟩$ represents (voiceless alveolar lateral fricative)

Daighi tongiong pingim, a transcription system used for Taiwanese Hokkien, includes or that represents (mid central vowel) or  (close-mid back rounded vowel), as well as other digraphs.

In Yoruba:

 * $⟨gh⟩$ is an alphabet, and a plosive most accurately pronounced by trying to say and  at the same time.

Cyrillic
Modern Slavic languages written in the Cyrillic alphabet make little use of digraphs apart from $⟨gl⟩$ for, $⟨gn⟩$ for (in Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Bulgarian), and $⟨ch⟩$ and $⟨çh⟩$ for the uncommon Russian phoneme. In Russian, the sequences $⟨ch⟩$ and $⟨cz⟩$ do occur (mainly in loanwords) but are pronounced as combinations of an implosive (sometimes treated as an affricate) and a fricative; implosives are treated as allophones of the plosive and so those sequences are not considered to be digraphs. Cyrillic has few digraphs unless it is used to write non-Slavic languages, especially Caucasian languages.

Arabic script
Because vowels are not generally written, digraphs are rare in abjads like Arabic. For example, if sh were used for š, then the sequence sh could mean either ša or saha. However, digraphs are used for the aspirated and murmured consonants (those spelled with h-digraphs in Latin transcription) in languages of South Asia such as Urdu that are written in the Arabic script by a special form of the letter h, which is used only for aspiration digraphs, as can be seen with the following connecting (kh) and non-connecting (ḍh) consonants:

 * Urdu||colspan=2|connecting|| ||colspan=3|non-connecting
 * digraph:|| کھا || || ||ڈھا || ||
 * sequence: ||کہا |||| ||ڈہا ||||
 * }
 * sequence: ||کہا |||| ||ڈہا ||||
 * }

Armenian
In the Armenian language, the digraph ու $⟨dz⟩$ transcribes, a convention that comes from Greek.

Georgian
The Georgian alphabet uses a few digraphs to write other languages. For example, in Svan, is written ჳე $⟨dź⟩$, and  as ჳი $⟨dż⟩$.

Greek
Modern Greek has the following digraphs:
 * αι (ai) represents
 * ει (ei) represents
 * οι (oi) represents
 * ου (oy) represents
 * υι (yi) represents

They are called "diphthongs" in Greek; in classical times, most of them represented diphthongs, and the name has stuck.

 * γγ (gg) represents or
 * τσ (ts) represents the affricate
 * τζ (tz) represents the affricate
 * Initial γκ (gk) represents
 * Initial μπ (mp) represents
 * Initial ντ (nt) represents

Ancient Greek also had the "diphthongs" listed above although their pronunciation in ancient times is disputed. In addition, Ancient Greek also used the letter γ combined with a velar stop to produce the following digraphs:

 * γγ (gg) represents
 * γκ (gk) represents
 * γχ (gkh) represents

Tsakonian has a few additional digraphs: In addition, palatal consonants are indicated with the vowel letter ι, which is, however, largely predictable. When and  are not palatalized before ι, they are written νν and λλ.
 * ρζ (rz) (historically perhaps a fricative trill)
 * κχ (kkh) represents
 * τθ (tth) represents
 * πφ (pph) represents
 * σχ (skh) represents

In Bactrian, the digraphs ββ, δδ, and γγ were used for, , and respectively.

Hebrew
In the Hebrew alphabet, and  may sometimes be found for. Modern Hebrew also uses digraphs made with the symbol for non-native sounds: ,  ,  ; and other digraphs of letters when it is written without vowels:  for a consonantal letter  in the middle of a word, and  for  or , etc., that is, a consonantal letter  in places where it might not have been expected. Yiddish has its own tradition of transcription and so uses different digraphs for some of the same sounds:,  ,  , and  (literally dzš) for ,  , also available as a single Unicode character ,  or as a single character in Unicode  ,  or  , and. The single-character digraphs are called "ligatures" in Unicode. may also be used following a consonant to indicate palatalization in Slavic loanwords.

Indic
Most Indic scripts have compound vowel diacritics that cannot be predicted from their individual elements. That can be illustrated with Thai in which the diacritic เ, pronounced alone, modifies the pronunciation of other vowels:

 * single vowel sign: ||กา ||, ||เก ||, ||กอ ||
 * vowel sign plus เ: ||เกา ||, ||แก ||, ||เกอ ||
 * }
 * }

In addition, the combination รร is pronounced or, there are some words in which the combinations ทร and ศร stand for  and the letter ห, as a prefix to a consonant, changes its tonic class to high, modifying the tone of the syllable.

Inuit
Inuktitut syllabics adds two digraphs to Cree: and The latter forms trigraphs and tetragraphs.
 * rk for q: ᙯ qai, ᕿ qi, ᖁ qu, ᖃ qa, ᖅ q
 * ng for ŋ: ᖕ ng

Chinese
Several combinations of Chinese characters (Hanzi) formed from two or more different characters that known as digraphs.

Japanese
Two kana may be combined into a CV syllable by subscripting the second; the convention cancels the vowel of the first. That is commonly done for CyV syllables called yōon, as in ひょ (ひよ) hyo $⟨rz⟩$. They are not digraphs since they retain the normal sequential reading of the two glyphs. However, some obsolete sequences no longer retain that reading, as in くゎ kwa, ぐゎ gwa, and むゎ mwa, now pronounced ka, ga, ma. In addition, non-sequenceable digraphs are used for foreign loans that do not follow normal Japanese assibilation patterns, such as ティ ti, トゥ tu, チェ tye / che, スェ swe, ウィ wi, ツォ tso, ズィ zi. (See katakana and transcription into Japanese for complete tables.)

Long vowels are written by adding the kana for that vowel, in effect doubling it. However, long ō may be written either oo or ou, as in とうきょう toukyou 'Tōkyō'. For dialects that do not distinguish ē and ei, the latter spelling is used for a long e, as in へいせい heisei 'Heisei'. In loanwords, chōonpu, a line following the direction of the text, as in ビール bīru bīru 'beer'. With the exception of syllables starting with n, doubled consonant sounds are written by prefixing a smaller version of tsu (written っ and ッ in hiragana and katakana respectively), as in きって kitte 'stamp'. Consonants beginning with n use the kana n character (written ん or ン) as a prefix instead.

There are several conventions of Okinawan kana that involve subscript digraphs or ligatures. For instance, in the University of the Ryukyu's system, ウ is, ヲ is , but ヲゥ (ヲウ) is.

Korean
As was the case in Greek, Korean has vowels descended from diphthongs that are still written with two letters. Those digraphs, ㅐ and ㅔ  (also ㅒ, ㅖ ), and in some dialects ㅚ  and ㅟ , all end in historical ㅣ.

Hangul was designed with a digraph series to represent the "muddy" consonants: ㅃ, ㄸ , ㅉ , ㄲ , ㅆ , ㆅ ; also ᅇ, with an uncertain value. Those values are now obsolete, but most of the doubled letters were resurrected in the 19th century to write consonants that did not exist when hangul was devised: ㅃ, ㄸ , ㅉ , ㄲ , ㅆ.

Ligatures and new letters
Digraphs sometimes come to be written as a single ligature. Over time, the ligatures may evolve into new letters or letters with diacritics. For example sz became ß in German, and "nn" became ñ in Spanish.

In Unicode
Generally, a digraph is simply represented using two characters in Unicode. However, for various reasons, Unicode sometimes provides a separate code point for a digraph, encoded as a single character.

The DZ and IJ digraphs and the Serbian/Croatian digraphs DŽ, LJ, and NJ have separate code points in Unicode.

 * {| class="wikitable sortable"

! Two Glyphs ! Digraph ! data-sort-type="number" | Unicode Code Point ! class="unsortable" | HTML See also Ligatures in Unicode.
 * DZ, Dz, dz
 * Ǳ, ǲ, ǳ
 * data-sort-value="497"|U+01F1 U+01F2 U+01F3
 * &#x1F1; &#x1F2; &#x1F3;
 * DŽ, Dž, dž
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title: Digraph (orthography)


text:
User talk:Laurenhepola

Hello. Did you write Involuntary control of respiration yourself? Please reply here. -Smack 22:38, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Laurenhepola


text:
Islamic Renaissance Movement

The Islamic Renaissance Movement (حركة النهضة الاسلامية, Ḥarakat An-Nahḑa Al-Islāmiyya; Mouvement de la Renaissance Islamique, MRI) is a moderate Islamist political party of Algeria.

History
The party was established in autumn 1990 when the Constantine-based association Jamiyat al-Nahda was transformed into a political party. Jamiyat al-Nahda had been established in 1988 by Abdallah Djaballah, and he decided to form the MRI after the Islamic Salvation Front rejected calls for an Islamic alliance. Its foundation was also a response to the FIS claim to hold a monopoly on Islamist politics.

In the 1991 parliamentary elections the party received 2.2% of the vote, failing to win a seat. The 1997 elections saw its vote share increase to 8.7%, resulting in it winning 34 of the 231 seats. However, it received just 0.6% of the vote in the 2002 elections, reducing it to a single seat. It recovered in the 2007 elections, receiving 3.4% of the vote and winning five of the 389 seats.

The party contested the 2012 elections as part of the Islamist Green Algeria Alliance. The alliance received 6.2% of the vote, winning 49 seats, down from the combined 60 won in 2007.

title: Islamic Renaissance Movement


text:
Party of Algerian Renewal

The Party of Algerian Renewal (Parti du Renouveau Algérien) is a minor liberal political party in Algeria.

History and profile
The Party of Algerian Renewal was established in 1989. Noureddine Boukrou is the founder of the party.

In the 2002 elections it received 0.3% of the vote and had one member of parliament. In the 17 May 2007 People's National Assembly elections, the party won 1.80% of the vote and 4 out of 389 seats.

title: Party of Algerian Renewal


text:
Movement of National Understanding

The Movement of National Understanding (Mouvement de l'Entente Nationale) is a minor political party in Algeria. In the 2002 elections, it received 0.2% of the vote. As of the early 2000s, it has one member of parliament. In the 17 May 2007 People's National Assembly elections, the party won 2.14% of the vote and 4 out of 389 seats.

title: Movement of National Understanding


text:
Deadlands

Deadlands is a genre-mixing alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements. The original game was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 1996.

The eight-time Origins Award–winning setting has been converted to many other systems over the years and is available in the original Classic Rules, the revised Classic Rules, d20 System and GURPS adaptations, and a Savage Worlds version called Deadlands: Reloaded.

Development
Shane Lacy Hensley had the idea for a new game focusing on cowboys and zombies in 1994 as he was setting up his company Pinnacle Entertainment Group, when he saw a painting by Brom of a Confederate vampire on the cover of White Wolf Publishing's soon-to-be released Necropolis: Atlanta supplement; he then began writing the game that became Deadlands, and after completing a first draft, Hensley flew in two game designer friends of his, Greg Gorden and Matt Forbeck, and both of them liked the game enough that they asked to buy into Pinnacle.

Setting
The game is set in the United States in the last quarter of the 19th century. The canonical year for the first edition of Deadlands is 1876. A later supplement, Tales o' Terror, advances the game's backstory and metaplot ahead one year, to 1877. The second edition of Deadlands uses the updated backstory of 1877 as the canonical starting point. Deadlands: Reloaded further updates the backstory and advances the canonical starting point to 1879.

The basic rules provide for characters and settings that could be expected to appear in the "Wild West" genre of movies and pulp fiction, and most of the in-game action is presumed to occur in the wild frontiers of the American West, or in barely tamed frontier towns like Tombstone, Arizona or Dodge City, Kansas. However, later supplements expanded the in-game adventuring area to include places such as the Deep South, the Mississippi River, Mexico, and the Northeastern United States. These supplements often provide for adventures set in urban areas such as New Orleans, New York City, or Boston.

The canonical, basic setting is referred to as the "Weird West" due to the juxtaposition of the Western setting with the horrific and fantastical elements of the game. The history of the Weird West is identical to real-world history, up until July 3, 1863. On this date in the game, a group of American Indians from various tribes, led by a Sioux shaman known as "Raven," performed a ritual in an effort to drive out the European settlers. This ritual created a conduit to a spiritual realm populated by powerful malicious entities known as the "Reckoners". The events surrounding and immediately subsequent to Raven's ritual is known as "The Reckoning".

The Reckoners feed on negative emotions, particularly fear. Sufficient levels of fear in the population of a given location allow the Reckoners to begin subtly altering the environment of that location: the sun shines a little less brightly, trees become stunted and "evil" looking, rock formations take on the appearance of corpses or monsters, and so on. The more powerful the fear, the greater the environmental changes.

The ultimate goal of the Reckoners is to turn the entire Earth into an evil, haunted wasteland — literally a Hell on Earth. However, the Reckoners cannot directly enter Earth's realm unless the overall fear level of the entire planet becomes sufficiently high. To this end, they use their powers to create monsters, madmen, zombies, and other creatures and villains that will sow fear and terror throughout the land.

The first instance of this occurred on July 4, 1863, at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg that had just ended; dead soldiers from both sides of the conflict rose from the battlefield and began indiscriminately attacking the surviving soldiers and civilians. Since then, undead gunslingers, hostile Indian spirits, strange cults, and deadly creatures have begun terrorizing the world. The American Civil War drags on thanks to the machinations of the Reckoners, and the country remains divided into U.S. and Confederate sections along with "disputed territories". Federal agents and Texas Rangers struggle to deal with the eldritch menaces while hiding the awful truth from the general public. Seismic upheavals have pushed much of California into the ocean, creating a badlands area known as "the Great Maze". In the Great Maze, miners discover "ghost rock," a mineral that burns hotter and longer than coal and is used as the basis for most Deadlands technology as well as alchemical potions and semi-magical materials.

The unleashing of the Reckoners has had a number of important side effects. Magic was revealed to be real, although it involves challenging otherworldly spirits, "manitous", in contests that are either viewed as a negotiation or a test of will. These same manitous can possess a recently deceased body and reanimate it, creating a "Harrowed". Harrowed beings are sometimes under the control of the spirit (which uses the opportunity to spread fear) and sometimes under the control of the deceased being. Scientific progress rapidly advances as the Reckoners support experimental designs that normally would not work. This progress drives the technological level of Deadlands from historical levels to a "steampunk" setting.

Players take on the role of various mundane or arcane character types, including Gunfighters, Lawmen (such as U.S. Marshals or local sheriffs), Hucksters (magic users), Shamans, Blessed (those of faith), and Mad Scientists in an attempt to learn about the Reckoning and the mysterious beings behind it.

System
Deadlands features a unique way of creating playing characters for the game. Instead of spending character points, or randomly rolling dice, a character's abilities are determined by drawing cards from a standard 54-card poker deck (jokers included), which determine the character's Traits (their basic attributes). The game also uses polyhedral dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20) which are referred to as the "Bones", and a set of white, red, and blue poker chips called "Fate Chips".

In a Deadlands game, the Game Master is called The Marshal, and the players are called The Posse.

To perform an action a player rolls for successes with a handful of dice and hopes that at least one of the dice rolls the Target Number or higher. Rolling the highest possible number on any of the dice is known as "rolling an ace", and that die may be re-rolled, with the total being added to the initial roll value. In most cases only the highest single die's value (with "aces" added) is compared to a target number. For each five points over the target number the character is considered to have a "raise" which typically makes the character's action more effective. When attacking someone, raises give the attacker more control over where on the victim's body the blow or bullet strikes. When attempting to quickly reload a gun, each raise allows another round of ammunition to be loaded in a single action.

Spell casting
Players with huckster characters use a deck of playing cards in addition to dice to cast their spells (hexes). A successful skill check allows the player to draw five or more cards and makes the best possible poker hand with those cards. The strength of the hand determines not only whether the hex was successfully cast, but also the strength of its effects. In the game world, this mechanic is explained as the huckster literally gambling with a magical spirit in order to get it to do his or her bidding — a high ranking poker hand means the huckster has won, and the spirit casts the hex as desired; a low ranking poker hand results in failure. Both jokers are present and wild, increasing the chance of a good hand, but the black joker means that the spirit does something harmful to the huckster.

Blessed characters can use their faith to invoke miracles—they pray for their patron to grant their request. The miracles are usually protective or restorative in nature, although there are some for attack. The difficulty of a given miracle (the amount of faith required by the patron for their assistance) can vary. For example, a priest seeking to heal a gunshot to the stomach would require more faith than if he were trying to mend a broken arm. Although the basic miracle set is predominantly Christian in nature, one of the extension sourcebooks includes miracles from other religions, and some of those are not permitted to Christian player characters.

Native American shamans cast spells by making deals with spirits. This happens in three stages: the shaman asks for a favor, performs the ritual that tradition demands for that favor, and then his skill is tested by the spirit. If he succeeds all three, he earns "appeasement points" according to how well he succeeded. If he earned enough points for the favor, it is granted. If not, his work was in vain.

Action Decks
Instead of rolling for Initiative as in most other RPGs, the players make a "speed" roll on the bones — the exact number and type being rolled determined by each character's stats — and then draw a number of cards from a community playing card deck based on the results of that roll. The Marshal then calls out card values, starting from Aces and going all the way down to Deuces. The card's suit (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, which is reverse alphabetical order and also the valuation in bridge) indicates who goes first if the same value of card is drawn.

Fate Chips
Along with Bones and Cards, characters get Fate Chips which are typically poker chips, although colored stones or coins can also be used. These are drawn from a hat or some other container that the player blindly chooses at the beginning of play. Each player draws a certain number of Fate Chips at the beginning of the game from the Fate Pot, modified according to player actions and Marshal preference. Fate chips can be spent for in-game bonuses such as bonus dice to use during certain rolls, or the prevention of physical damage. The Marshal can draw chips as well for enemies to use.

Bounties
At the end of a gaming session, players can cash in unused Fate Chips for Bounty Points. These are like Experience Points in other systems and are used to improve Traits and Aptitudes. The Marshal may also award additional Bounty Points at the end of the session for completing the mission objectives and any exceptional role-playing by players.

Instant rewards for roleplaying
Marshals are also encouraged to reward players with instantaneous rewards for good role-playing. During character creation players can choose "Hindrances" (disadvantages) such as Big Britches, Bloodthirsty, or Big Mouth. When a player role-plays this Hindrance well, the Marshal can reward them instantly with a Fate Chip. This has the effect of promoting and encouraging role-playing.

Spinoff games
The "Weird West" mark is used to distinguish the primary game setting from the various other settings:

Doomtown:Reloaded: The classic CCG is back in a non-collectible boxed set. Released at GenCon in August 2014 by Alderac Entertainment Group, the game (in September 2014) was already in its THIRD printing. Doomtown: Reloaded is basically the same game as the older version, (now referred to as Classic) with a number of rule revisions that have streamlined and simplified the game. The basics are the same, with minor differences. The four factions released initially were the Law Dogs, The Sloan Gang (similar to the Blackjacks), The Fourth Ring (a circus that is similar to The Whatleys) and the Morgan Cattle Company (which appears to be similar to a Sweetrock/Collegium blend).
 * Deadlands: The Great Rail Wars: a tabletop wargame with miniature figures.
 * Doomtown: a collectible card game. A sourcebook for the town described in the game was released under the title Doomtown or Bust!. A secondary sourcebook, detailing the town after the events of the CCG, was released under the title The Black Circle. A third sourcebook titled The Collegium, detailing the Mad Scientist faction of the same name, was also released.
 * Range Wars: a tabletop wargame that used collectible cardboard disks instead of miniatures. As much a spin-off from Doomtown as Deadlands, it used many of the same factions. It is based on the Disk Wars game. The base set: Doomtown: Range Wars was released, and a single expansion, Ghost Creek. Material from this game was incorporated into the Black Circle sourcebook.
 * Deadlands: Hell on Earth: a role-playing game set in one possible future of the Weird West, where the Reckoners succeeded in turning the entire Earth into a haunted wasteland. This game features elements from the Western genre as well as elements from Mad Max-esque post-apocalyptic fiction and, of course, horror.
 * Deadlands: Lost Colony: a role-playing game set in the same future as Deadlands: Hell on Earth, except on another planet. This game features sci-fi, Western, and horror elements.
 * Deadlands: Lost Colony CCG: A collectible card game with the same setting as the Lost Colony RPG.
 * Savage Worlds: a miniatures and generic role-playing game system derived from The Great Rail Wars.
 * Deadlands: The Battle For Slaughter Gulch: A board game from Twilight creations.
 * FRAG Deadlands: A first-person shooter themed board game in the Frag series from Steve Jackson Games.
 * Deadlands: a cancelled video game developed by Headfirst Productions for the PC.
 * Deadlands Noir: Set in the same world, but in a Dieselpunk 1930s New Orleans.

Deadlands: Reloaded
In May 2006, Great White Games published a new edition of Deadlands under the company's Pinnacle Entertainment Group label. This new edition, written by Shane Lacy Hensley and B.D. Flory and entitled Deadlands: Reloaded, used Great White Games' Savage Worlds generic role-playing system. The 256-page setting book updates the canonical setting to 1879 and includes information on the events of the past year, as well as new rules. Among the most drastic changes to the basic Savage Worlds rules was "The Way of the Brave" rule, which revamped the way combat works in the system, making it more dangerous and deadly for characters and increasing the effectiveness of melee combat. This book also updated Fate Chips to work with the Savage Worlds system. This book marked a first for Great White Games in that it is the first setting book published without a scripted or plot point campaign.

The publisher has hinted that four complete plot point campaign books will be released for Deadlands: Reloaded, each focusing on certain regions and events in the metaplot of the game. In 2009 the first of these campaigns, The Flood, was released. In 2012, the second of these campaigns, The Last Sons, was released. Matthew Cutter of Pinnacle has also stated that updated Hell on Earth and Lost Colony books will be published for the Savage Worlds system. The Hell on Earth update was released in 2012. Additionally, an equipment guide "The Smith & Robards Catalog", was published in 2011. A successfully funded Kickstarter for a new spin-off setting, Deadlands Noir, was conducted from May to June 2012, with the product's release expected in 2013. Reaper miniatures has, as of August 2012, solicited two white-metal miniatures for the Deadlands Noire setting to distributors: "Stone" and "Femme Fatal"

Release history

 * 1996–1999: Original Deadlands custom rules. Exists also in hardcover and leatherbound collector editions.
 * 1999–2006: Revised Deadlands custom rules.
 * 2001: d20 System rules. Supported for several years.
 * October 2001: GURPS rules, done under license to Steve Jackson Games
 * GURPS Deadlands: Hexes supplement
 * GURPS Deadlands: Varmints supplement
 * GURPS Deadlands Dime Novel 1—Aces and Eights (adventure)
 * GURPS Deadlands Dime Novel 2—Wanted: Undead or Alive (adventure)
 * May 2006: Savage Worlds rules in Deadlands: Reloaded.
 * May 2017: Deadlands 20th Anniversary Edition is published after a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2016. The content is in color, but otherwise the same as the 1999 edition.
 * 2020: Rerelease of 2001 GURPS material as Classic GURPS
 * 2021: Deadlands: The Weird West revised for compatibility with latest edition Savage Worlds rules

Reception
In the December 1996 edition of Dragon (issue 236), Rick Swan liked the energy of the Western/horror mash-up, calling it "a revolutionary mix of fantasy and cyberpunk." However, Swan criticized the lack of setting details: "What we're given is little more than an overview... there are no interesting personalities to speak of. There's next to nothing about geography, politics, or culture. Cities, villages, places to explore—practically none. And there's not a single ready-to-play adventure." He concluded by giving the game an average rating of 4 out of 6, saying, "Deadlands is by no means bad. It's beautifully written and bursting with nifty ideas. It strikes a masterful balance between high camp and high adventure. It has a great cover. But it's incomplete; with a setting this skeletal and the absence of adventures, how's a newcomer supposed to cobble together a campaign?"

Awards
Deadlands, its supplements and spin-offs have won nine Origins Awards:

 * Best Role-playing Rules of 1996 for Deadlands
 * Best Graphic Presentation of a Role-playing Game, Adventure, or Supplement of 1996 for Deadlands
 * Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures Rules of 1997 for Deadlands: the Great Rail Wars
 * Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1997 for Independence Day
 * Best Trading Card Game of 1998
 * Best Graphic Presentation of a Card Game of 1998
 * Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Figure Miniature of 1998 for Hangin' Judge
 * Best Vehicle Miniature of 1998 for Velocipede
 * Roleplaying Game Supplement of 2007 for Deadlands: Reloaded

Reviews

 * Valkyrie #14 (1997)
 * Shadis #30 (1996)
 * Pyramid #23 (Jan./Feb., 1997)
 * Arcane #13 (December 1996)
 * Backstab (Issue 1 - Jan/Feb 1997)

Television series
In 2014, Microsoft announced that it was developing an original television series for the Xbox based on Deadlands.

title: Deadlands


text:
List of political parties in Morocco

This article lists political parties in Morocco.

Morocco has had a multi-party system since independence in 1956 with numerous parties ranging in ideology from the far-left to Islamists. The Moroccan electoral system leads the political parties to seek coalition governments. However, the Prime Minister appointed by the King from the party that achieved a plurality in the parliamentary elections, and four other main cabinet ministers are appointed by the King of Morocco.

Since Morocco considers the disputed territory of Western Sahara to be its Southern Provinces, the political parties are also active in those parts of the territory administered by Morocco.

Parties without parliamentary representation

 * Action Party (Parti de l'Action)
 * Annahj Addimocrati
 * Citizens' Forces (Forces Citoyennes, Alqiwa alwatania)
 * Democratic and Social Movement (Mouvement Démocratique et Social, Alharaka addimoqratia wa ashabia)
 * Democratic Independence Party (Parti Démocratique et de l'Indépendance, Hizbo ashoura wa alistiqlal)
 * Democratic Way (La voie démocratique)
 * Green Party for Development (Parti des verts pour le développement)
 * Izigzawen
 * Moroccan Liberal Party (Parti Marocain Libéral, Alhizbo almaghribi allibirali)
 * Moroccan Union for Democracy (Union Marocaine pour la Démocratie)
 * National Democratic Party (Parti National-Démocrate) - in electoral alliance in 2007 with the Covenant Party
 * Party of Liberty and Social Justice (Parti de la Liberté et de la Justice Sociale)
 * Party of Renaissance and Virtue (Parti de la renaissance et de la vertu, Hizb en-nahda wal fadila), 2006 splinter from the Justice and Development Party
 * Party of Renewal and Equity (Parti du Renouveau et de l'Équité)
 * Party of the Social Center (Parti du centre social)
 * Reform and Development Party (Parti de la Réforme et du Développement, Hizbo alisslahi wa attanmia)
 * Renaissance Party (Parti Annahda)
 * Social Centre Party (Parti du Centre Social)

Defunct parties

 * Democratic Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste Démocratique)
 * Labour Party (Parti travailliste, Hizb al’amali), splinter from the Socialist Union of Popular Forces
 * National Union of Popular Forces (Union nationale des forces populaires)
 * Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste), splinter from the National Congress Party
 * Amazigh Moroccan Democratic Party (Parti Démocratique Morocain Amazigh, PDAM, judicially dissolved and recreated under the denomination Izigzawen)

Banned parties

 * Hizb ut-Tahrir
 * Ila al-Amam
 * Party of al-Badil al-Hadari (Parti de l'alternative civilisationnelle)

title: List of political parties in Morocco


text:
Partido Popular Democrático

Partido Popular Democrático may refer to:

 * Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico), known in Spanish as the Partido Popular Democrático
 * Social Democratic Party (Portugal), known in Portuguese as the Partido Popular Democrático between 1974 and 1976

title: Partido Popular Democrático


text:
Talk:Naples

Further reading suggestion from OTRS 2009070410026712.
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeandré du Toit (talk • contribs) 21:11, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Neapolitan??
Don't you mean Napolitan? Napoli->Napolitano! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.108.206.137 (talk) 18:09, 20 March 2016 (UTC)
 * You will just have to put up with Greek influence in English. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.75.107.201 (talk) 14:02, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 19:55, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Stemma Città Metropolitana di Napoli.png

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 09:33, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Toledo metro station (J).jpg

Sister cities
Hello. I would like to refer to this page which is the official site of the Comune of Naples. On this page, it notes several different 'sister cities' than on the official wikipedia, so I think an update to reflect this would be good. The only issue is that I'm not sure if these are 'partnerships' or official twinning agreements. Would someone be able to let me know? Kind regards, Lucky102 (talk) 08:59, 23 August 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Naples


text:
Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange

Mary, Princess Royal (Mary Henrietta Stuart; 4 November 1631 – 24 December 1660), was a British princess, a member of the House of Stuart, and by marriage Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau. She acted as regent for her minor son from 1651 to 1660. She was the first holder of the title Princess Royal.

The eldest daughter of King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria, Mary was married to the future stadtholder of the Netherlands, William II of Orange, at nine years old in 1641. Initially, she remained in England with her parents because of the heated political situation in England until early 1642, when she and her mother left for the Netherlands. Five years later in 1647, Mary's husband inherited the titles of Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel and Groningen in the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

Eight days after her husband's death in 1650, Mary gave birth to a son, William III of Orange, who later became King of England, Scotland and Ireland. Mary, who became the only guardian of her son, was not popular in the Netherlands because of her support of her brothers and her difficult relationship with her mother-in-law Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, who considered the princess young and inexperienced. After the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, Mary departed for celebrations in London, where she fell ill with smallpox and died.

Early years
Princess Mary Henrietta was born on 4 November 1631 at St. James's Palace, London, the third (but second surviving) child and eldest daughter of Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France. She was baptized on the same day of her birth, as there were fears that the newborn princess was not in good health and might die; the ceremony was presided over by William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. The girl received her first name in honour of her maternal grandmother, Marie de' Medici, Queen of France. Mary's first public appearance took place in 1640 at the baptism of her brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester; she became the only godmother of the little prince. Mary spent the first years of her life with her brothers and sisters at St James's Palace, as well as at Richmond Palace and Hampton Court. The education of the princesses was entrusted to the Countess of Roxburghe. Mary was known for her grace, beauty, and manners; in addition, she excelled in dancing, but her knowledge of the sciences left much to be desired. The girl's mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, wanted to convert her daughter to Catholicism, for which she introduced a young lady who secretly professed Catholicism to Mary's circle of friends, but King Charles I quickly stopped his wife's actions.

In January 1640, 8-year-old Mary received her first marriage proposal from the 13-year-old William, the eldest son and heir of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. The mother of the potential groom, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, was once a lady-in-waiting and close friend of Mary's aunt Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, which later played an important role in Mary's life. The offer of the House of Orange was at first rejected by King Charles I, who wanted to give his daughter in marriage to Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias, only son and heir of King Philip IV of Spain and also Mary's maternal first cousin. A prerequisite for such a union was Mary's conversion to Catholicism, but the princess, who at the request of her mother studied the basics of the Catholic religion, did not want to change her faith. In addition, her mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, was anti-Spanish and was against an alliance with Spain. Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, Mary's paternal first-cousin, was also a suitor for her hand, but in the end, this proposal also fell through.

Princess consort of Orange
By the end of the 1630s, relations between the various factions in English society had become very tense; controversies over religion, social relations, morality, and political power became more and more heated. At the same time, Mary's mother, who openly professed Catholicism, became more and more unpopular in the country. In late 1640–early 1641, King Charles I decided to renew negotiations with Prince Frederick Henry of Orange. The negotiations progressed quickly. On 10 February 1641, Charles announced to Parliament that the betrothal of his daughter was actually concluded and that it only remained to consider this union from a political point of view. Charles himself hoped that in case of emergency, the Prince of Orange would help him to maintain royal power in England. A modest wedding ceremony took place on 2 May 1641 at the Chapel Royal in Whitehall Palace, London. Queen Henrietta Maria was unable to attend the religious ceremony as it was a Protestant one; instead, she watched her daughter's wedding from a small gallery. The marriage of the King's eldest daughter was practically not celebrated in England, as the country was on the verge of a war that broke out in less than a year. The king gave her a crystal and gold casting bottle garnished with rubies and diamonds and a gold chain with the cipher "AR" which had belonged to Anne of Denmark.

Mary and William were congratulated by courtiers, and received several gifts; in addition, in honour of the newlyweds, a volley of 120 guns was fired. After the ceremony, William returned to the Netherlands. According to the marriage contract, Mary could remain in England until she was 12 years old, and her husband would provide her with 1,500 livres per year for personal expenses. In addition, in the event of the untimely death of William, Mary would receive a maintenance of 10,000 livres per year and two residences for her personal use. The marriage contract also provided that Mary and her English attendants could still worship in the manner of the Church of England, rather than join the Dutch Reformed Church.

In early 1642, the situation in the country heated up. Mary and her parents were forced to take refuge in Hampton Court, but the situation steadily turned into open war. In February, Queen Henrietta Maria departed with her daughter to The Hague in the Netherlands; they travelled on a Dutch fleet of fifteen ships. Mary was accompanied to the Netherlands by her governess, Lady Stanhope, who later became her confidant and companion. From a political point of view, the marriage of Mary partially paid off in 1643, when Henrietta Maria persuaded the Dutch government to provide a ship and arms for Charles, and sent them to England. Shortly before leaving for the Netherlands, Mary was designated by her father Princess Royal, thus establishing the tradition that the eldest daughter of the British sovereign might bear this title. The title was created because Queen Henrietta Maria, the daughter of King Henry IV of France, wanted her daughter to have a title comparable to "Madame Royale", the style of the eldest daughter of the King of France. Until that time, the eldest daughters of English and Scottish kings were variously titled lady or princess. The younger daughters of British sovereigns were not consistently titled princesses of Great Britain and styled "Royal Highness" until the accession of George I in 1714. In November 1643, the second marriage ceremony between the 12-year-old Mary and 17-year-old William took place in The Hague. The marriage was not consummated until 1644. In February 1644, Mary completely merged into the life of the Dutch court. She gave audiences, met with foreign ambassadors, and performed all the functions assigned to her with an importance and dignity considered astonishing for her age. In March, she participated in court celebrations of the recent alliance between France and the Netherlands, and led the entertainment that her husband arranged for the French ambassador.

Mary, who was constantly receiving news from England, sympathized with her father Charles' cause. In December 1646, she sent him a letter (via a Dutch merchant ship) urging him to flee to the Netherlands, but Charles declined. In The Hague, Mary developed a very warm relationship with her aunt, Elizabeth, the exiled former Queen of Bohemia. However, Mary didn't develop a good relationship with her mother-in-law Amalia, so she tried to minimize contact with her.

Prince Frederick Henry of Orange died on 14 March 1647. On the day of his death, Parliament was convened, which proclaimed William II to be his father's heir as stadtholder and head of the army; one by one, the remaining titles of her late father-in-law were recognized for Mary's husband, and he became the new Prince of Orange. In 1648, Mary was visited by her brothers, Charles, Prince of Wales, and James, Duke of York. In 1649, Mary's father King Charles was executed; subsequently, Mary helped many English Royalist exiles. Among those who were under her patronage was the family of Anne Hyde – the future wife of the Duke of York and mother of two English Queens, Mary II and Anne.

Co-regency
In the autumn of 1647 Mary suffered a miscarriage, after which she could not conceive for several years. In early 1650, she was pregnant again. In late October-early November, when the princess's pregnancy was coming to an end, her husband fell ill with smallpox and died on 6 November, just after his attempt to capture Amsterdam from his political opponents; eight days after his death, on the day of her nineteenth birthday, Mary gave birth to a son, William. The newborn prince's cradle was draped with black cloth as a sign of mourning for his father. Since the titles of the stadtholder of the Netherlands and the Prince of Orange were not inheritable, the child did not receive them immediately after birth.

Soon after the birth of her son, Mary had several conflicts with her mother-in-law. She planned to name her son Charles in honour of her executed father, but Amalia insisted that the boy be named William, which was a better choice: the first ruler of the United Provinces of the Netherlands was William I of Orange and in addition, the boy's late father also wanted to name his son William. Having won the battle for the name of her grandson, Amalia now wanted to become his legal guardian, referring to the fact that Mary was too young. On 13 August 1651, the Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland (Supreme Court) ruled that guardianship would be shared between Mary, her mother-in-law, and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (whose wife, Louise Henriette was William II's eldest sister); the Elector was chosen because he could act as a neutral party mediating between the two women, but also because as a possible heir he was interested in protecting the Orange family fortune, which Amalia feared Mary would squander. In general, Mary was not popular in the Netherlands, which was more sympathetic to Oliver Cromwell; the princess herself, because of such preferences of the Dutch, refused to hire them to serve her son. In January 1650, Mary, along with her brother James and aunt Elizabeth, planned to modestly commemorate the first anniversary of her father's death, but the Dutch government considered even modest events offensive to the English government. A little later, when envoys from the English parliament were received by the States General, Mary retired to her widow's seat in Breda, but the influence of her party prevented the English from concluding an alliance with the Netherlands. After Mary secretly received her brother Charles II in 1651 (who considered himself the legitimate King of England), the Dutch government forbade her to accept any of her relatives. The household of Mary and her aunt was called a "nest of vipers", weaving conspiracies against the Netherlands, England, and Cromwell in particular.

In 1652, the mood in the Netherlands changed due to the outbreak of war with England. Mary's son was officially elected as stadtholder of Zealand and several northern provinces, but Johan de Witt, the republican leader, prevented William from being elected in Holland. In addition, when concluding a peace treaty, Cromwell insisted on the adoption of the Act of Seclusion, which prohibited Holland from electing a member of the Orange dynasty as stadtholder. Another requirement of Cromwell was the expulsion of all enemies of the Commonwealth from Holland. Mary made an official protest, but it was not taken into account, despite the fact that the country was threatened by civil war; the peace treaty was signed on 27 May 1654.

Mary's worries about the position of her son affected her health. To cut her own expenses in the interests of her brothers, she announced her intention to abandon two of the four palaces at her disposal. In July 1654, she went to a water resort, where she spent a few weeks, and then went to visit her brother Charles in Cologne, where his court was located. She returned to the Netherlands in October, but in July 1655 she again went to Charles in Cologne, visited the fair in Frankfurt incognito, and returned home on 15 November. In January 1656, Mary went to Paris, where her mother and younger sister Henrietta lived, and was received with all honours at the French court.

Later years and death
In the Netherlands, the early widowed Mary was visited by numerous admirers and suitors, among whom was George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. According to contemporaries, Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Ernest's brother George William also offered their hands to Mary in Paris. In addition, Cardinal Mazarin showed particular favour to the princess, and also circulated rumours that she was having an affair with (or had been secretly married to) Henry Jermyn, a member of her brother James of York's household. The rumours were probably untrue, but Charles II took them seriously and tried to prevent any further contact between Jermyn and the princess. Mary left Paris on 21 November and after a two-month stay at her brother's court in Bruges returned to The Hague. Soon after her return, Mary learned that her mother-in-law Amalia had offered Charles II the hand of her daughter Henriette Catherine, which deeply angered the princess. In 1658, Amalia tried to obtain the post of sole regent for her grandson, to whom Mary was also appointed by the Supreme Court, but the princess, with the support of her French relatives, thwarted the intrigues of her mother-in-law.

In November 1659, Mary sent her son to study at Leiden University. On 14 May 1660, the Dutch parliament informed Mary, who was in Breda, about the restoration of the monarchy in England and the accession to the throne of her brother Charles (henceforth King Charles II). A few days later she took part in the celebrations at The Hague on this occasion. Mary henceforth occupied the third place in the line of succession to the English throne after her brothers, James and Henry (although Henry would die later that same year). Her renewed status as an English princess, therefore, helped the attitude towards her in the Netherlands grow more tolerant: in all the cities where Mary and her son passed through or attended solemn events, they were greeted with royal honours. After the Stuart Restoration, it was proclaimed that the Act of Seclusion was void since the English Commonwealth no longer existed. In 1660, Mary, united with her mother-in-law, tried to get the states of several provinces to acknowledge William as future Stadtholder, but many refused at first.

On 30 September 1660, Mary sailed to England, where (her concern for her exiled compatriots and brothers being known) she was warmly received. Upon arrival in London, Mary discovered to her surprise and dismay that her brother the King not only recognized the marriage of James, Duke of York, with Anne Hyde, Mary's former lady-in-waiting, but also declared that their offspring would be princes and princesses of England with full succession rights. This fact upset Mary so much that she decided to significantly shorten her visit to her homeland. She attended the official service at Whitehall Chapel, where everyone who wanted to see her flocked, and also gave a private reception at Whitehall for Elias Ashmole to see some anatomical curiosities. She accepted a monetary gift from Parliament, received in a letter dated 7 November, and asked for a long-promised dowry; to resolve this issue, the King appointed a commission. In November 1660, Mary met with the Embassy of the United Provinces, who came to renew an alliance with England.

On 20 December the English court was stirred up by the news that Mary was seriously ill with smallpox. Having received this news, Queen Henrietta Maria arrived at the bedside of her dying daughter and made a last attempt to convert her to Catholicism, but Mary refused. The Queen managed to insist that her French doctor take over the treatment of the princess, which, as many contemporaries believed, was fatal for Mary, since the doctor was an ardent supporter of bloodletting. On 24 December, Mary signed her will and died on the same day. At her own request, she was buried in Westminster Abbey next to her brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who also died of smallpox in September 1660.

In her will, Mary asked the King to take care of the interests of her 10-year-old son, whose sole guardian was now his grandmother Amalia. In 1672, after several years of confrontation with republican leaders in the Netherlands, 21-year-old William was nevertheless elected stadtholder of five provinces, starting with Holland on 4 July, and named commander-in-chief. Five years later, he married his cousin Mary, the daughter of James II and Anne Hyde. In 1688, with the support of English Protestants, William deposed Mary's father and with his wife was proclaimed co-ruler of England, Scotland, and Ireland.


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Rally for Culture and Democracy

The Rally for Culture and Democracy (Agraw i Yidles d Tugdut; التجمع من أجل الثقافة والديمقراطية; Rassemblement pour la Culture et la Démocratie, RCD) is a political party in Algeria. It promotes secularism (laïcité) and has its principal power base in Kabylia, a major Berber-speaking region. Some consider it to take the position of a liberal party for the Berber-speaking population in Algerian politics.

History and profile
The Rally for Culture and Democracy was founded by Saïd Sadi in 1989. He was a presidential candidate in 1995, winning 9.3 percent of the popular vote.

In 1997, the party won 19 of 390 seats. The RCD boycotted the 2002 elections. Saïd Sadi was a candidate again in the 2004 presidential election and won 1.9 percent of the vote. The party participated in the 2007 legislative elections, winning 3.36% of the vote and 19 seats.

Regional strength
In the 2007 legislative election, support for the RCD was higher than its national average (3.36%) in the following provinces:

title: Rally for Culture and Democracy


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Seikan Tunnel

The Seikan Tunnel (青函トンネル, Seikan Tonneru or 青函隧道, Seikan Zuidō) is a 53.85 km dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a 23.3 km portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern island of Hokkaido. The track level is about 100 m below the seabed and 240 m below sea level. The tunnel is part of the standard-gauge Hokkaido Shinkansen and the narrow-gauge Kaikyō Line of the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido)'s Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line. The name Seikan comes from combining the on'yomi readings of the first characters of Aomori (青森), the nearest major city on the Honshu side of the strait, and Hakodate (函館), the nearest major city on the Hokkaido side.

The Seikan Tunnel is the world's longest undersea tunnel by overall length (the Channel Tunnel, while shorter, has a longer undersea segment). It is also the second-deepest transport tunnel below sea level after the Ryfylke Tunnel, a road tunnel in Norway that opened in 2019, and the second longest main-line railway tunnel after the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, opened in 2016.

Overview
The tunnel was constructed using conventional construction methods (partly TBM method and new Austrian tunnel method). The construction cost of the tunnel itself was 538.4 billion yen at the planning stage, but it actually cost 745.5 billion yen. The construction cost of the strait line, including the attachment line, was 689 billion yen at the planning stage, but the actual cost is 900 billion yen. The number of casualties in the construction was 34. Unlike the start of construction during the heyday of the Seikan route, even in eastern Japan, passenger traffic to Hokkaido was already dominated by aircraft, and the construction of the Hokkaido Shinkansen was frozen when it was completed. On the freight side, due to the deterioration of labor-management relations at the JNR at the time, including the frequent occurrence of strikes and legal compliance struggles, freight transportation continued to stagnate as it lost market share to ferries and coastal shipping. In addition, since the maintenance cost is large, such as the need to pump a large amount of spring water even after completion, even a huge investment is regarded as a sunk cost, and it is said that it is more economical to abandon it, and it was ridiculed as " Showa's Three Idiots Assessment", "useless long things", and "quagmire tunnel". However, after its opening, it has played an important role in freight transportation by JR Freight between Hokkaido and Honshu, and has made 21 round trips (regular trains) a day. Including special trains, there are about 50 freight trains up and down. The effect of being able to achieve stable and safe transportation that is not affected by the weather has been significant, and in particular, the transportation volume of agricultural products, which are a key industry in Hokkaido, has increased dramatically.

History
Connecting the islands Honshu and Hokkaido by a fixed link had been considered since the Taishō period (1912–25), but serious surveying commenced only in 1946, induced by the loss of overseas territory at the end of World War II and the need to accommodate returnees. In 1954, five ferries, including the Tōya Maru, sank in the Tsugaru Strait during a typhoon, killing 1,430 passengers. The following year, Japanese National Railways (JNR) expedited the tunnel feasibility study. Also of concern was the increasing traffic between the two islands. A booming economy saw traffic levels on the JNR-operated Seikan Ferry double to 4,040,000 passengers/year from 1955 to 1965, and cargo levels rose 1.7 times to 6,240,000 tonnes/year. Inter-island traffic forecast projections made in 1971 predicted increasing growth that would eventually outstrip the ability of the ferry pier facility, which was constrained by geographical conditions.

In September 1971, the decision was made to commence work on the tunnel. A Shinkansen-capable cross section was selected, with plans to extend the Shinkansen network. Arduous construction in difficult geological conditions proceeded. Thirty-four workers were killed during construction. On 27 January 1983, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone pressed a switch that set off a blast that completed the pilot tunnel. Similarly on 10 March 1985, Minister of Transport Tokuo Yamashita symbolically bored through the main tunnel.

The necessity for the project was questioned at times during construction, as the 1971 traffic predictions were overestimates. Instead of the traffic rate increasing as predicted to a peak in 1985, it peaked earlier in 1978 and then proceeded to decrease. The decrease was attributed to the slowdown in Japan's economy since the first oil crisis in 1973 and to advances made in air transport facilities and longer-range sea transport.

The tunnel was opened on 13 March 1988, having cost a total of ¥1.1 trillion (US$7 billion) to construct, almost 12 times the original budget, much of which was due to inflation over the years. To commemorate the event, a commemorative 500 yen coin depicting the tunnel was issued by the Japan Mint in 1988. Once the tunnel was completed, all railway transport between Honshu and Hokkaido used it. However, for passenger transport, 90% of people use air travel due to the speed and cost. For example, to travel between Tokyo and Sapporo by train takes eight hours (Tokyo station and Shin-Sapporo station), with transfer from Shinkansen to narrow-gauge express train at Hakodate. By air, the journey is 1 hour and 45 minutes, or 3 hours and 30 minutes including airport access times. Deregulation and competition in Japanese domestic air travel has brought down prices on the Tokyo-Sapporo route, making rail more expensive in comparison.

The Hokutosei overnight train service began after the completion of the Seikan Tunnel; a later and more luxurious Cassiopeia overnight train service was often fully booked. Both were withdrawn following the commencement of Hokkaido Shinkansen services (in August 2015 and March 2016 respectively), with freight trains being the only regular service utilising the narrow gauge line since that time. JR Hokkaido is exploring the use of "Train on Train" technology to remove the threat that the shock wave created in front of Shinkansen trains traveling at full speed poses to freight trains operating on Japanese standard narrow-gauge track in a tunnel setting. If successful, it will allow the Hokkaido Shinkansen to travel at full speed inside the tunnel in the future.

As of March 2019, Shinkansen trains operate through the tunnel to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station in Hakodate, connecting Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto stations in 3 hours and 58 minutes, at a maximum speed of 160 km/h within the tunnel and 260 km/h outside it, and 320 km/h to the south of Morioka. It was expected that by 2018 one daily service will be run at 260 km/h through the tunnel. The final stage is proposed to open to Sapporo Station in 2031 and is expected to shorten the Tokyo-Sapporo rail journey to five hours. The Hokkaido Shinkansen will be operated by JR Hokkaido.

Construction timeline

 * 24 April 1946: Geological surveying begins.
 * 26 September 1954: The train ferry Tōya Maru sinks in the Tsugaru Strait.
 * 23 March 1964: Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation is established.
 * 28 September 1971: Construction on the main tunnel begins.
 * 27 January 1983: Pilot tunnel breakthrough.
 * 10 March 1985: Main tunnel breakthrough.
 * 13 March 1988: The tunnel opens.
 * 26 March 2016: Shinkansen services commence operation through the tunnel, regular narrow gauge passenger services through the tunnel cease.

Surveying, construction and geology

Surveying started in 1946 and construction began in 1971. By August 1982, less than 700 metres of the tunnel remained to be excavated. First contact between the two sides was in 1983. The Tsugaru Strait has eastern and western necks, both approximately 20 km across. Initial surveys undertaken in 1946 indicated that the eastern neck was up to 200 m deep with volcanic geology. The western neck had a maximum depth of 140 m and geology consisting mostly of sedimentary rocks of the Neogene period. The western neck was selected, with its conditions considered favourable for tunnelling.

The geology of the undersea portion of the tunnel consists of volcanic rock, pyroclastic rock, as well as sedimentary rock of the Neogene period. The area is folded into a nearly vertical syncline, which means that the youngest rock is in the centre of the strait and encountered last. Divided roughly into thirds, the Honshū side consists of volcanic rocks (notably andesite and basalt); the Hokkaido side consists of sedimentary rocks (notably Tertiary period tuff and mudstone); and the centre portion consists of Kuromatsunai strata (Tertiary period sand-like mudstone). Igneous intrusions and faults caused crushing of the rock and complicated the tunnelling procedures.

Initial geological investigation occurred from 1946 to 1963, which involved drilling the sea-bed, sonic surveys, submarine boring, observations using a mini-submarine, as well as seismic and magnetic surveys. To establish a greater understanding, a horizontal pilot boring was undertaken along the line of the service and main tunnels. Tunnelling occurred simultaneously from the northern end and the southern. The dry land portions were tackled with traditional mountain tunnelling techniques, with a single main tunnel. However, for the 23.3 km undersea portion, three bores were excavated with increasing diameters respectively: an initial pilot tunnel, a service tunnel, and finally the main tunnel. The service tunnel was periodically connected to the main tunnel with a series of connecting drifts, at 600-1000 m intervals. The pilot tunnel serves as the service tunnel for the central five-kilometre portion. Beneath the Tsugaru Strait, the use of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) was abandoned after less than two kilometres (2 km) owing to the variable nature of the rock and difficulty in accessing the face for advanced grouting. Blasting with dynamite and mechanical picking were then used to excavate.

Maintenance
A 2002 report by Michitsugu Ikuma described, for the undersea section, that "the tunnel structure appears to remain in a good condition." The amount of inflow has been decreasing with time, although it "increases right after a large earthquake". In March 2018 at 30 years of age, maintenance costs amounted to 30 billion Yen or US$286 million since 1999. Plans are to increase speed and provide mobile communication at the full track.

Structure
Initially, only narrow-gauge track was laid through the tunnel, but in 2005 the Hokkaido Shinkansen project started construction which included laying dual gauge track (providing standard gauge track capability) and extending the Shinkansen network through the tunnel. Shinkansen services to Hakodate commenced in March 2016, and are proposed to be extended to Sapporo by 2031. The tunnel has 52 km of continuous welded rail.

Two stations are within the tunnel—Tappi-Kaitei Station and Yoshioka-Kaitei Station. They serve as emergency escape points. In the event of a fire or other disaster, the stations provide the equivalent safety of a much shorter tunnel. The effectiveness of the escape shafts at the emergency stations is enhanced by having exhaust fans to extract smoke, television cameras to help route passengers to safety, thermal (infrared) fire alarm systems, and water spray nozzles. Before the construction of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, both stations contained museums detailing the history and function of the tunnel that could be visited on special sightseeing tours. The museums are now closed and the space provides storage for work on the Hokkaido Shinkansen. The two were the first railway stations in the world built under the sea.

title: Seikan Tunnel


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Socialist Union of Popular Forces

The Socialist Union of Popular Forces (الاتحاد الاشتراكي للقوات الشعبية; ; Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires, USFP) is a social-democratic political party in Morocco.

History and profile
The USFP was formed as a breakaway from the National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP), a socialist opposition party which had itself split from the Istiqlal Party in 1959. The USFP was established in 1975.

The party won the 1997 parliamentary election, and led the government of Morocco with a centre-left coalition. During this period, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, who led the USFP, served as the Prime Minister of Morocco.

In the parliamentary election held on 27 September 2002, the party won 50 out of 325 seats, making it the largest party in the Moroccan parliament. Following those elections, it formed a government with the Istiqlal Party in a three-party coalition known as the "Koutla".

In the next parliamentary election, held on 7 September 2007, the USFP won 38 out of 325 seats, losing 12 seats and becoming only the fifth largest party in parliament. The USFP was included in the government of Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, formed on 15 October 2007.

The USFP is a full member of the Socialist International and an observer of the Party of European Socialists.

In the run-up to the November 2011 parliamentary elections, the USFP sought to present a united front with the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) and Democratic Forces Front (FFD) to reverse the loss of support for the Moroccan left in the preceding years. The party placed fifth, with 39 seats, in the 2011 elections.

The USFP won 34 seats in the 2021 parliamentary election, an increase of 14 seats since the last election.

title: Socialist Union of Popular Forces


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Movement for Democracy in Algeria

The Movement for Democracy in Algeria (Mouvement pour la démocratie en Algérie) (MDA) was a political party in Algeria. It is moderately Islamist and boycotted the 2002 elections.

History and profile
The Movement for Democracy in Algeria was founded by Ahmed Ben Bella in 1982. However, the party was legalized in 1990. In 1995, the party was one of the signatories of the Sant'Egidio platform, an attempt of many major opposition parties to put an end to the Algerian Civil War, which was brokered by the Italian Catholic Community of Sant'Egidio.

title: Movement for Democracy in Algeria


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Mass society

Mass society is a concept that describes modern society as a monolithic force and yet a disaggregate collection of individuals. The term is often used pejoratively to refer to a society in which bureaucracy and impersonal institutions have replaced some notion of traditional society, leading to social alienation. The term "mass man" has been applied to individuals living within this context.

In a sense, all societies are mass societies, but the term typically refers to a developed countries that possess a mass culture and large-scale social, political and economic institutions which structure daily life for the majority of people. In modern times the term has taken on more importance and broader scope with the advent of mass media and the internet.

History
Descriptions of society as a "mass" took form in the 19th century, referring to the leveling tendencies in the period of the Industrial Revolution that undermined traditional and aristocratic values, and replaced monarchy with various forms of liberal democracy. Political theorists such as Alexis de Tocqueville analyzed mass society and pinpointed its beginning in the French Revolution.

Various conservative theorists developed concepts of mass society in which it replaces aristocracies with the "tyranny of the majority" or "mob rule" and José Ortega y Gasset, for instance, lamented the decline of high culture. Marxist accounts, such as those of the Frankfurt School, critiqued the prevailing forms of mass society as one dominated by a culture industry that served the interests of capitalism. However, Marxism-Leninism created its own form of mass society called bureaucratic collectivism by its critics. The idea of historic processes being driven exclusively by "laws of dialectics" highlighted the role of masses as the main field of social change, as opposed to individuals whose role is always negligible.

Mass society as an ideology can be seen as dominated by a small number of interconnected elites who control the conditions of life of the many, often by means of persuasion and manipulation. This indicates the politics of mass society theorists – they are advocates of various kinds of cultural elite who should be privileged and promoted over the masses, claiming for themselves both exemption from and leadership of the misguided masses.

"As technological innovation allowed government to expand, the centralized state grew in size and importance." "Since then, government has assumed responsibility for more and more areas of social life: schooling, regulating wages and working conditions, establishing standards for products of all sorts, and providing financial assistance to the elderly, the ill, and the unemployed." "In a mass society, power resides in large bureaucracies, leaving people in local communities with little control over their lives. For example, state officials mandate that local schools must meet educational standards, local products must be government-certified, and every citizen must maintain extensive tax records.  Although such regulations may protect and enhance social equality, they also force individuals to deal increasingly with nameless officials in distant and often unresponsive bureaucracies, and they undermine the autonomy of families and local communities."

Mass society theory has been active in a wide range of media studies, where it tends to produce ideal visions of what the mass media such as television and cinema are doing to the masses. Therefore, the mass media are necessary instruments for achieving and maintaining mass societies. "The mass media give rise to national culture that washes over the traditional differences that used to set off one region from another." "Mass-society theorists fear that the transformation of people of various backgrounds into a generic mass may end up dehumanizing everyone."

Sociologist C. Wright Mills made a distinction between a society of "masses" and "public".

He states: "In a public, as we may understand the term,
 * 1) virtually as many people express opinions as receive them,
 * 2) Public communications are so organized that there is a chance immediately and effectively to answer back any opinion expressed in public.
 * 3) Opinion formed by such discussion readily finds an outlet in effective action, even against – if necessary – the prevailing system of authority.
 * 4) And authoritative institutions do not penetrate the public, which is thus more or less autonomous in its operations.

In a mass,
 * 1) far fewer people express opinions than receive them; for the community of public becomes an abstract collection of individuals who receive impressions from the mass media.
 * 2) The communications that prevail are so organized that it is difficult or impossible for the individual to answer back immediately or with any effect.
 * 3) The realization of opinion in action is controlled by authorities who organize and control the channels of such action.
 * 4) The mass has no autonomy from institutions; on the contrary, agents of authorized institutions penetrate this mass, reducing any autonomy it may have in the formation of opinion by discussion".

In The End of the Modern World (1957), theologian Romano Guardini referred to the individual caught up in the mass society as "mass man": "to either a greater or lesser degree mass man is convinced that his conformity [with mass society] is both reasonable and just".

title: Mass society


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Milkmaid

A milkmaid, milk maid, milkwoman, dairymaid, or dairywoman is a girl or woman who milks cows. She also uses the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese. Many large houses employ milkmaids instead of having other staff do the work. The term milkmaid is not the female equivalent of milkman in the sense of one who delivers milk to the consumer; it is the female equivalent of milkman in the sense of cowman or dairyman. As a result of exposure to cowpox, which conveys a partial immunity to the disfiguring (and often fatal) disease smallpox, it was noticed that milkmaids lacked the scarred, pockmarked complexion common to smallpox survivors. This observation led to the development of the first vaccine.

Cultural references

 * A legend of a Dun Cow is about the milkmaid who guided the monks of Lindisfarne carrying the body of Saint Cuthbert to the site of the present city of Durham in 995 AD.
 * There is a famous painting by Johannes Vermeer entitled The Milkmaid (c. 1658).
 * Aelbert Cuyp, another Dutch artist, created the drawing known as A Milkmaid (c. 1640–1650).
 * The eponymous heroine of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1892) works as a milkmaid.
 * The folktale The milkmaid and her pail is a cautionary tale about a milkmaid who spends her time daydreaming.
 * The California native flower commonly called milkmaids is named for its resemblance to the hat often worn by milkmaids.
 * Kid Harpoon has a song called "Milkmaid"; the music video features actress Juno Temple.
 * Tori Amos references a milkmaid in the first verse of the song "Father Lucifer”.
 * The "8th day" verse of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" mentions "eight maids a-milking".
 * The Philippines has a condensed milk brand called Milkmaid, a product of Nestle.
 * The San Francisco Milk Maid is cookbook author Louella Hill, author of Kitchen Creamery (Chronicle, 2014).
 * The character Milkmaid in August Strindberg's The Ghost Sonata.

title: Milkmaid


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Day-age creationism

Day-age creationism, a type of old Earth creationism, is an interpretation of the creation accounts in Genesis. It holds that the six days referred to in the Genesis account of creation are not literal 24-hour days, but are much longer periods (from thousands to billions of years). The Genesis account is then reconciled with the age of the Earth. Proponents of the day-age theory can be found among both theistic evolutionists, who accept the scientific consensus on evolution, and progressive creationists, who reject it. The theories are said to be built on the understanding that the Hebrew word yom is also used to refer to a time period, with a beginning and an end and not necessarily that of a 24-hour day.

The differences between the young Earth interpretation of Genesis and modern scientific theories believed by some day-age creationists such as the Big Bang, abiogenesis, and common descent are significant. The young Earth interpretation says that everything in the universe and on Earth was created in six 24-hour days, estimated to have occurred some 6,000 years ago. Modern scientific observations, however, put the age of the universe at 13.8 billion years and the Earth at 4.5 billion years, with various forms of life, including humans, being formed gradually over time.

The day-age theory attempts to reconcile the Genesis creation narrative and modern science by asserting that the creation "days" are not literal 24-hour days, but actually lasted for long periods of time (as day-age implies, the "days" each lasted an age). According to this view, the sequence and duration of the creation "days" may be paralleled to the scientific consensus for the age of the earth and the universe.

History
A kind of figurative view can be traced back at least to Saint Augustine in the 5th century who pointed out, in De Genesi ad Litteram (On the Literal [Interpretation of] Genesis) that the "days" in Genesis could not be literal days, if only because Genesis itself tells us that the sun was not made until the fourth "day".

Scottish lawyer and geologist Charles Lyell published his famous and influential work Principles of Geology in 1830–1833 which interpreted geologic change as the steady accumulation of minute changes over enormously long spans of time and that natural processes, uniformly applied over the length of that existence (uniformitarianism), could account for what men saw and studied in creation.

In the mid 19th century, American geologist Arnold Guyot sought to harmonize science and scripture by interpreting the "days" of Genesis 1 as epochs in cosmic history. Similar views were held by a protégé of Lyell, John William Dawson, who was a prominent Canadian geologist and commentator, from an orthodox perspective, on science and religion in the latter part of the 19th century. Dawson was a special creationist, but not a biblical literalist, admitting that the days of creation represented long periods of time, that the Genesis flood was only 'universal' from the narrator's limited perspective, and that it was only humanity, not the Earth itself, that was of recent creation.

American geologist and seminarian George Frederick Wright was originally a leading Christian Darwinist. However reaction against higher criticism in biblical scholarship and the influence of James Dwight Dana led him to become increasingly theologically conservative. By the first decade of the 20th century he joined forces with the emerging fundamentalist movement in advocating against evolution, penning an essay for The Fundamentals entitled "The Passing of Evolution". In these later years Wright believed that the "days" of Genesis represented geological ages and argued for the special creation of several plant and animal species "and at the same time endowed them with the marvellous capacity for variation which we know they possess." His statements on whether there had been a separate special creation of humanity were contradictory.

Probably the most famous day-age creationist was American politician, anti-evolution campaigner and Scopes Trial prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. Unlike many of his conservative followers, Bryan was not a strict biblical literalist, and had no objection to "evolution before man but for the fact that a concession as to the truth of evolution up to man furnishes our opponents with an argument which they are quick to use, namely, if evolution accounts for all the species up to man, does it not raise a presumption in behalf of evolution to include man?" He considered defining the days in Genesis 1 to be twenty-four hours to be a pro-evolution straw man argument to make attacking creationists easier, and admitted under questioning at the Scopes trial that the world was far older than six thousand years, and that the days of creation were probably longer than twenty-four hours each.

American Baptist preacher and anti-evolution campaigner William Bell Riley, "The Grand Old Man of Fundamentalism", founder of the World Christian Fundamentals Association and of the Anti-Evolution League of America was another prominent day-age creationist in the first half of the 20th century, who defended this position in a famous debate with friend and prominent young Earth creationist Harry Rimmer.

One modern defender is astronomer Hugh Ross, who in 1994 wrote Creation and Time defending the day-age view in great detail, and who founded the day-age creationist ministry Reasons to Believe. Another person who has defended the view is Rodney Whitefield.

Interpretation of Genesis
Day-Age creationists differ from young Earth creationists in how they interpret a number of crucial Hebrew words in Genesis, and thus how they interpret the genealogies and creation account contained in it.

They point out that the Hebrew words for father ( ' ab) and son (ben) can also mean forefather and descendent, respectively, and that the Biblical scripture occasionally "telescopes" genealogies to emphasise the more important ancestors. This, they argue, renders genealogically based dating of the Creation, such as the Ussher chronology, to be inaccurate.

They admit that yom can mean a twenty-four hour solar day, but argue that it can refer to an indefinitely long period of time. In their view, it is in this sense that the word is employed in Genesis 2:4, with a "day" of God's total creation taking place in the course of "days" of creation.

Day-age creationists often point to phenomena such as the Cambrian explosion as evidence of one of the Creation "days" appearing in the fossil record as a long period of time.

title: Day-age creationism