What does "ghoti" spell?

Question

I heard this in one of my lingustics classes. It makes sense and I pity the fool who tries to learn English as a second language...

Answer 1

Yes, English spelling can be an adventure, and I enjoy Shaw's joke.

But for what it's worth (at the risk of being a killjoy) -- English spelling is often about the history and relationships of words, not just phonetics... and CONTEXT is critical. Thus:

1) "gh" cannot make the "f" sound at the BEGINNING of a word.. only after "ou"

(the "f" is a result of a cluster of sound changes in late Middle English/early Modern English; mainly the "Great Vowel Shift" which contributed to all those troublesome "ough" words)

2) "o" [or other vowels] shifting to an i/e sound in a Germanic language is the result of "i-umlaut", that is, it is caused by adding a suffix with an i/e vowel. You don't have one here

3) "ti" can only become a "sh"-sound when it is a transition between syllablles (so there must be another vowel after the i), not at the end of a word

Answer 2

It spells "ghoti", but it's pronounced as "fish". I believe George Bernard Shaw came up with that one.

For those who don't know, it's "gh" as in "enough", "o" as in women, "ti" as in "action".

Answer 3

fish
George Bernard Shaw pointed this "word" out , during his campain to have English orthography (spelling), changed. (as Spanish was in 1910.
D.

Answer 4

fish
attributed to Mr Shaw GB, the great word architect

Answer 5

spells"fish"

in "tough" the pronunciation of "gh" = "f"
in "women" the pronunciation of "o" = "i" (as in sit)
in "mention" the ponunciation of "ti" = "sh"

so ghoti = fish

Answer 6

the fish is correct phonetially

Answer 7

i have no clue your guess is as good as mine! lol never heard of the word!!!