traït

Traït is a Catalan word written with a diaeresis over the i. It is the past participle of the verb trair, meaning to betray, and can function as an adjective meaning “betrayed.” In Catalan morphology it inflects for gender and number: masculine singular traït, feminine singular traïta, masculine plural traïts, feminine plural traïtes.

Orthography and pronunciation are notable for the diaeresis on the i. The ï signals hiatus, separating the vowels so the sequence a-i is pronounced as two distinct vowels rather than as a single diphthong. As a result, traït is typically pronounced as two syllables, roughly tra-ït, rather than as a single smooth ai vowel.

Etymology traces traït to the verb trair, itself derived from older Romance forms such as Latin tradere via Occitan and Catalan development. The diacritic mark over the i is a feature of Catalan orthography used to indicate hiatus in certain vowel combinations, including those formed by i following a non-high vowel.

Usage in modern Catalan is primarily grammatical, appearing in verb phrases such as ha traït (“has betrayed”) and in attributive or predicative adjective sense when describing a betrayed entity or person. The related noun for a person who betrays is traïdor, and the noun for treason is traïció.

See also: Catalan language, trair (to betray), diaeresis, hiatus, Catalan orthography.