5 ms·
No, not really. I have the same opinion and I'm not a native English speaker. English has some good properties for a common language: - It has a simple gramma
by sergiosgc 13y ago
No, not really. I have the same opinion and I'm not a native English speaker.
English has some good properties for a common language:
- It has a simple grammar
- It is spoken by the entertaining media
- It already has a head start
Now, if they could actually fix the major flaws:
- Spelling is absurd. It's not just bad, it is absurd.
- For foreigners, the UK accents are terrible. It took me a couple of days in London before I could understand people; and I came from a base of being perfectly fluent
Come to think of it. Scratch that fixing the UK accent part. It's a cool accent, double-oh seven style.
For the love of god, fix the spelling:
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"Eye Rhymes, by Helen Bowyer"
Bear and dear //
Share, I fear //
The pointless deceptivness //
Of there and here.
Some and home //
Tomb and comb, //
Sin against the tongue //
Like from and whom.
Howl and bowl //
Foul and soul, //
Mislead the ear //
Like doll and toll. //
Give and dive //
Live and thrive, //
Bewilder the moppet //
Of six or five.
Love and hove //
Dove and strove //
Sound no more alike //
Than glove and cove.
Pew and sew //
Do and go //
Fail expectation //
Like now and slow.
Laid and said //
Must be read //
As if they rhymed //
With neighed and Ned.
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As I said before, English spelling's bonkers.
- DanBC 13y agobend, send, spend, friend. Rough - 'ruff' Cough - 'coff' Bough - 'bow' Though - 'tho' Through - 'throo' hiccough - 'hiccup' Bought - 'bawt'
- nekopa 13y agoI'm still waiting for HN member ghotifish to show up, as his name is pronounced fish fish: gh as in cough o as in women ti as in nation
- Dylan16807 13y agoThankfully you're not actually allowed to pick pronunciation arbitrarily in new words. Especially if they violate common or semi-common patterns.
- galawa 13y agothe internet is full of every one censorship,from government,politics and economic sanction. when do you think will the internet world be totally free for everyone?
- Houshalter 13y agoWhat are you talking about?
- galawa 13y agoi meant some site are banned or there are blocked and hence affect internet freedom.
- tjgq 13y agoAn even better one (linked because it's too long to paste here): http://www.i18nguy.com/chaos.html http://www.i18nguy.com/chaos.html
- jahewson 13y agoLikewise, five different words all pronounced the same: or, oar, ore, awe, aww.
- hobs 13y agoWhere do you live that or and awe sound the same? I get or, oar and ore, but awe (such as awe shucks, or awesome) and aww sound nothing like or in the midwest.
- mdpye 13y agoCertainly in the UK, 'or' and 'awe' or very similar. But I'm pretty sure the same is true across the states. The 'awe' in 'awe, shucks' is not even really a word, just a sympathetic utterance in the same sort of class as 'um' and 'aaah', so I don't think it has an official spelling, just a phonetic approximation. It is certainly distinct from the word 'awe' that's the root of 'awesome'. Edit: I meant to point out that I have never seen 'awe, shucks' written before, always 'ah' or 'aww', but I can see how it might be written that way based on a Midwestern accent.
- JetSetWilly 13y agoWhat part of the UK? They are wildly different in Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland, in fact probably anywhere except for the south of England, and even there it doubtless varies.
- mdpye 13y agoReally? Can you have a stab at describing the difference? Because I've spend the vast majority of my life between Edinburgh, Nottingham and Leeds and I can't bring it to mind. I can see a slight differentiation in places with more solid 'r's (Scotland and the borders for instance), but any wild variation escapes me...
- JetSetWilly 13y ago