Why is it that the English language doesn't take itself seriously?

Question

I came across a book at the library today; it had words in the title like "through" and "dough". I guess a better question would be, why don't words that have similar letters have the same sound?

Answer 1

Well, it is, it's just seriously inconsistent... :P

English is one of the world's most mongrel languages...

A structure with a germanic base with a lot of norse, french and latinate higher vocabulary has, since the dawn of the British empire, been massively supplemented by words drawn from all over the planet.

Because of the very different origins of the words, and also because English is a language in which words have been simplified at different rates, words with identical spellings end up with distinct pronunciations.

And of course, the worldwide spread of the language, to the US, Australia, India, large parts of Africa, has made it diverge even more.

I personally think it's great - makes it more vibrant (though admittedly notoriously difficult to learn).

Answer 2

Fortunately, "ough" is an extreme example. But this problem owes a lot to the numerous changes that took place in English when the original Old English (a Germanic language) was transformed by the invasion of the Norman French. The "gh", for instance, indicated a consonant sound (like the "ch" of Scottish "loch", only with the voice added), but under the French influence that sound was lost.

Check the following on this particular change and some of its consequences (including the variation in vowel sounds that you mentioned): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_consonants#Elimination_of_velar_fricatives_in_English

Another reason for the same vowels and vowel-combinations being pronounced differently is that English has, from the very beginning, been a cluster of dialects with their own variations. Sometimes the spelling we end up with is based on ONE dialect, but then the pronunciation used in ANOTHER dialect "won out" that is, became the standard/accepted way to say it. (And of course, a living language can and does continue to change -- and spelling OFTEN does not keep up with changes in the spoken language.)

The article above notes that the role played by the invention of the printing press. Part of what happened is that printing began to establish many spellings BEFORE the modern pronunciation was settled.


About the "difficulty" of English --- it is neither the easiest nor the most difficult (many would award Basque the second honor). For one thing, spelling is not the ONLY thing in a language. Also, there are many complex grammatical forms in other languages that English speakers do not have to deal with.

Answer 3

contrary to what the lady upstairs stated, english is the most difficult language in the world - and we're the silliest people for promoting it.

Answer 4

because it is the way it is...
I guess if you happen to study French, you'd be down on your butts....

English is the easiest language in the world.