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Just a note on the difference between written and spoken words in languages in general, I'm Danish, and we have this a lot, words that are pronounced totally di
by dusted 5y ago
Just a note on the difference between written and spoken words in languages in general, I'm Danish, and we have this a lot, words that are pronounced totally different from the letters that comprise them, and only general rules, with plenty of exceptions on how they sound in different contexts, even the same word will be pronounced different depending on contexts, and also words that mean different things, are spelled diffrently and yet sound the same when spoken (so you need to know the context + know that there are these different, same-sounding words).
When I was a child, I was convinced that all these traps had been designed to keep outsiders out, and to allow people to show their level of education.
I always thought these traps were there to make it clear who were higher class, when I started learning English I became convinced this was the case.
Now I'm older and realized that it's probably just because languages are not designed, and some evolve worse than others.
- WalterBright 5y agoPronunciations and meanings shift all the time in English. Sometimes, words even flip meanings - like "fine" can mean anything but fine. Depends on the context!
- throwaway2037 5y agoJapanese has a similarly maddening expression for non-native speakers: "Kekko desu." (けっこです。) For example, if you have coffee and someone asks you if you want milk and sugar... to decline, you might reply "kekko desu" -- which means "it's fine as it is." It's tough to understand when to use it correctly! Still now, after more than 10 years of learning Japanese, I have memorised a few key situations when it is correct/safe to use the expression.
- WalterBright 5y agoI adjust my use of English to the person or group I am talking to. This is sometimes derided as "coded speech", but I think it is just common courtesy. But sometimes the word choices of ESL speakers just sound better than proper English, and I tend to pick that up, too. For example, I still find myself saying now and then: "I'm going to make some shoppings." "It's time for go."
- boudin 5y agoI think it's more historical than anything. If someone has a better explanation I would like to hear it though. For example, words that comes from French have the letter "i" pronounced the french way, other pronounced like a "y"
- Ratalala 5y agoAnd the local variations. In NZ the bulk of "e"s in words like pen, ten, etc. are often pronounced as "i"s, like in pin or tin. Took me a while to get used to it.
- dmurray 5y agoSome of them, but I don't think this is a rule. I would say more so for uncommon words that are recognizably French, and less so in US English. Historical accident is definitely the main cause. Compare dauphin, cinema, dime.
- demetrius 5y ago> I was convinced that all these traps had been designed to keep outsiders out, and to allow people to show their level of education While this is not the original reason, this is one of the reasons not to change things. For example, ‘distinguishing educated and ignorant people’ had been named a reason to keep Ѣ in the Russian alphabet (it was eventually removed after the revolution).
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- bradknowles 5y agoFrench does this too, and thanks to the official guardian and creator of the language known as L’Academie Française, they don’t have that excuse. But don’t get me started on Welsh.