2006-11-21 00:28:12 · 11 answers · asked by Andrea 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
The answer to that question actually lies in the meaning of the word itself. Like many words in the english language, that we use every day, the word Phonetic derives from a old greek word "phone" meaning "a sound".. particularly as it applies to the spoken word. When the word passed into use in English, it kept its original spelling as translated from its Greek origin. The word is used to refer to the way a word would look if it were spelled strictly as it sounds, and the word "phonetic" is pronounced with the sound of "f"
Hence, the name given to that piece of equipment most of us use every day, called the "telephnone" "tele" being another greek word meaning "from a distance". The tele - phone is an instrument by which sound (our voices) is transmitted from a distance.
When we talk about the way a certain word would be spelt IF we spelt it just the way it sounds, we refer to "phonetic" spelling (which would be "fonetic") But really this shouldn't apply to the word "phonetic" because "ph" also has the "f" sound anyway.
2006-11-21 00:49:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately the English language in not completely logical and has many flaws. I like the irony of Phonetic tho, very nice!
2006-11-21 08:34:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It goes back to the linguistics of the English language.. some words from Greek, some Latin, etc..... By the way.. the word is SPELLED and not spelt
2006-11-21 08:33:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because:
a) it derives from the root morpheme 'phon-', therefore all morphological variations will carry this over (phonetic, phoneme, phonological, telephone, headphones, etc etc etc), and
b) it's been like that since we stole it from the Greeks many centuries ago, and
c) English rarely follows systematic patterns on any linguistic level
2006-11-21 08:32:52 · answer #4 · answered by Chilli 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because that is the way the people who formulate words for the dictionary wants it.
2006-11-21 08:31:35 · answer #5 · answered by WC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good point! Like why is dyslexic such a hard word to spell?
2006-11-21 08:30:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
fonetic juste dusent sownd rite dus it?
2006-11-21 08:34:49 · answer #7 · answered by mojo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmm...thats a good question. Why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways?
2006-11-21 08:30:56 · answer #8 · answered by pppersephone06 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think phonic should be spelt fonik!
2006-11-21 08:58:11 · answer #9 · answered by twinkletoes 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It probably is in the States.
2006-11-21 08:30:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋