Tagged Questions
0
votes
0answers
106 views
Reform of English writing?
As is commonly known, English is quite notorious for having a writing system that is far removed from the actual way it is most commonly pronounced. I understand that there are important historical ...
0
votes
3answers
170 views
When we will use soft and hard sound in 'c'? [closed]
Sometimes we use the soft sound, and sometimes the hard – but why? Is there any rule?
6
votes
1answer
627 views
Variations in the pronunciation of “ea”
Perhaps this is more of a Linguistics question, so I apologize if this is not posted in the right place.
Why is it that these words in English sound so different?
earth = /ɜrθ/ “urth”
hearth ...
11
votes
1answer
297 views
Ordering of English sound changes in verbal morphology
As we all know, the Early Modern English 3sg verbal ending -eth has become -s in Modern English. This presumably happened in two steps:
Elision of the unstressed e in the final syllable
Changing ...
7
votes
1answer
454 views
How did the “double consonant to shorten vowel” thing come about? (“furry” vs. “fury”)
In English, a doubled consonant most commonly means "shorten the previous vowel", where "shorten" means map phonemes like this:
[aɪ] -> [i]
[oʊ] -> [ɔ]
etc
For example, fury is pronounced [fjʊri] ...
23
votes
3answers
2k views
Why did only English undergo the Great Vowel Shift, making pronunciation stray so far from spelling?
Lots of people have wondered why English seems to be one of very few languages with such irregular spelling, far from its pronunciation. The answers include the Norman invasion, and the Great Vowel ...
20
votes
2answers
1k views
Why do written English vowels differ from other Latin-based orthographies?
Written English vowels differ from other Latin-based orthographies. Consider what the written vowels in the romance languages represent. Also, for example, consider this simple comparision between a ...
