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Germany had a spelling reform in the 90s that changed words to be spelled more phonetically rather than how they would have been spelled in their origin languag
by ajmurmann 6y ago
Germany had a spelling reform in the 90s that changed words to be spelled more phonetically rather than how they would have been spelled in their origin languages. For example "Delphin" (dolphin) became "Delfin" because German isn't Greek.
- titanomachy 6y agoAnd even Greek uses a single letter for the "f" sound. The fact that "φ" is transliterated as "ph" is a historical accident: in ancient Greek the letter was pronounced like p with an extra puff of air, like in "Phuket".
- dhosek 6y agoWhich is reflected in some contractions where, e.g., ἀπὸ αἵματος becomes ἀφ’ αἵματος
- titanomachy 6y agoInteresting! Never seen that phenomenon, do you know if it persists in Modern Greek?
- catalogia 6y agoIsn't that how it's spelled in Greek too though? Well, with the Greek alphabet anyway. I think it's Δελφίν.