English spelling

(Edward Carney)

British Worker: I can’t work today. I’ve got diarrhoea.American Boss: Diarrhea? That’s dreadful. You could have sent me a sick note.Bristish Worker: but I can’t spelling it.

Letter Spell

<said><text>

/sed//tekst/

Vowel letterConsonant letter

Five Vowels

aeio

u

Lick Lack

5 pairs of vowels can have single-letter spellings:

<e> <i> <o> <u><a>

Scrap Scrapi

ng

Met Meter

Pip Piper

Cop Coping

Rub Rubby

Keeping a constant spelling may involve the use of so- called “silent” letters.

Sign resignation, signal, signature.

In some cases the “g” and “k” are quite empty letters.

“g” gnarled, gnat, gnome.

“K” knee, knife, knock, know.

<-e>Bathe, breathe, loathe, wreathe

Bath, breath, loath, wreath.

Voiced

Voiceless

<e>

Browse

Copse

Lapse

Please

Tease

Tence

Cops

Laps

Pleas

Teas

Tens

Brows

Prevent confusion

LOOK-ALIKES AND SOUND-ALIKE

MINUTE

<vain> <vane> <vein><foul> <fowl><meat> <meet>

<mete>

Bark,, Crricket, Flat, Leaves

May be an

adjective

A really minute insect.

Or a noun Half

minute

/ə/About AsparagusAuthor CaravanDriver PoliteTogether courageous

“Schwa”

Life - DeathEarth - HeavenSun - MoonDay - NightBlack - White

Broad - NarrowTeach - LearnSeek - FindEat - Drink

A SYSTEM OF SUBSYSTEMS

10

English spelling has to cater for a wide range of English accents, which differ in their goodness of fit with present spelling conventions.

CourtCoresFloorFormelly

Southern England

Without /r/

Scottish, Irish and American

Have Kept their /r/

The spelling system has to cater as best it can for phonetic differences between speakers.

If people were encouraged to spell as they spoke, there would emerge a number of different written dialects of English.

THE PRICE OF HISTORY

11