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Languages and Linguistics

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,855 posts)

15. It's important to remember several things about our language.

Reply to bucolic_frolic (Original post)

Mon Mar 22, 2021, 02:19 PM

Mar 2021

One is that we have an awful lot of words we've "borrowed" from other languages. Which means the spelling may remain what it was in the other language.
Another is that pronunciation has changed over time.
A third is that a lot of our spelling was standardized at least 200 years ago, an the spelling and pronunciation no longer match up.

Every time someone suggests we switch to a purely phonetic spelling in English, I roll my eyes, because there would be various spellings of a lot of words, and some of them might be incomprehensible to many of us.

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28 replies

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Highlight:

English must be so confusing to ESL people - where is the 'g' in anxiety? [View all] bucolic_frolic Mar 2021 OP

Sometimes the "g" silent, as in night intrepidity Mar 2021 #1

Silent...invisible...don't laugh at ghosts. ret5hd Mar 2021 #2

Night...anxiety...ghosts...I hear you nt intrepidity Mar 2021 #4

ESL? Haggard Celine Mar 2021 #3

English as a Second Language, I guess. Glorfindel Mar 2021 #8

OMG! Haggard Celine Mar 2021 #13

We also tend to pronounce "luxurious" as if it contained both a Glorfindel Mar 2021 #5

Cool Whip: ret5hd Mar 2021 #9

Thanks! I have never seen "Family Guy." Glorfindel Mar 2021 #12

Lol happybird Mar 2021 #18

Dumdum's LUG-xhur-ee always made me clench my teeth, as did "YUGE" Warpy Mar 2021 #16

Some people have anxiety, others angst-iety. Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #6

So I think you might be close... 2naSalit Mar 2021 #21

Or the p in hamster! TxGuitar Mar 2021 #7

I've seen people spell it with a 'p' too! Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #10

I was just a hampster from New Hampshire bucolic_frolic Mar 2021 #14

Uh oh... 2naSalit Mar 2021 #22

A YouTube video could generate clicks and bucks bucolic_frolic Mar 2021 #24

People from all over the planet have told me it's easy to communicate in English Warpy Mar 2021 #11

I pronounce it that way too. Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #19

While thinking about the "writing on the wall," I became "beside myself" NCjack Mar 2021 #20

I say it with the "G-Z" slide... 2naSalit Mar 2021 #23

It's important to remember several things about our language. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2021 #15

It's the price of success Shermann Mar 2021 #17

Well... 2naSalit Mar 2021 #26

Touche! Shermann Mar 2021 #27

Thank goodness for standardization... 2naSalit Mar 2021 #25

There are a million "anomalies" in English that include weird spelling, grammar, and idioms. Martin68 Mar 2021 #28