2006-12-12 01:13:34 · 11 answers · asked by Marina S 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
I spent years studying this at uni as part of my Dutch degree. I can remember a few things about the High Germanic sound shift. English and the Low German languages: Dutch and English differ from Modern Standard German partly because Standard German has undergone a second or High German Consonant Shift. English preserves the older common Germanic sounds which were changed in High German between the sixth and the eighth centuries.
Just looking at consonants:
From German to English, "T" became "D"
Bett ---> Bed
Tür ---> Door
Laut ---> loud
"Pf" or "f" became "P"
Pfeffer ---> pepper
Lauf ---> lope
Pfeife ---> pipe
"cht" became "ght"
acht ---> eight
fracht ---> freight
macht ---> might
I find it fascinating..
2006-12-12 03:33:11 · answer #1 · answered by Wildamberhoney 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They are mostly Old English in derivation and their pronunciation has changed over a thousand or so years. Back in the time of Beowulf they would have had two or more syllables.
Language is dynamic and constantly evolves but it is interesting when you look at societies where there has been little change - in the UK we have regional dialects which are in danger of dying out , more's the pity.
2006-12-12 09:23:07 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The 'gh' used to be pronounced a few hundred years ago, but as the English language evolved it was dropped. Unlike some other languages, we haven't had a major reform in spelling.
(By the way, it's 'Why DO English verbs... and so FEW sounds.')
2006-12-12 12:36:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Who knows? Just one of the mysteries of the English language.
Take the word 'tough'. Keep adding letters and you get
trough
through
thorough
then
thought
2006-12-12 16:14:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
probably because they are derived from other words in other languages and countries (ie. old english), and, probably, back in the day, a lot of those letters used to be pronounced.
2006-12-12 09:39:48 · answer #5 · answered by KJC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Cause many of these words come from german words (roots), like licht, became light in english and so on...
2006-12-12 09:23:16 · answer #6 · answered by morganna_f 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it's weird, isn't it?
Why isn't "phonetics" spelled like it sounds? I mean, of ALL the words in the english language, you'd think that one would be.
2006-12-12 09:16:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because its English, and we like to be complicated, lol
2006-12-12 09:16:32 · answer #8 · answered by Milky Mindless 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
If you think that's weird, concider how many ways you can say "ough"
rough ("uf")
dough ("oh")
slough ("ew")
cough ("off")
hiccough ("up')
Peterbourgh ("eruh")
2006-12-12 09:20:20 · answer #9 · answered by borscht 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
the sound are silent so you can't hear them
2006-12-12 09:21:15 · answer #10 · answered by Dragon Hart 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋