why does the pronunciation of letters become different when used in words?

Question

it's like we've been given lessons on how letters sound but then they become different when used in words...

Answer 1

Spellings map out the pronunciations of words. Some languages, like Spanish, Finnish, and Serbo-Croation, use a very predictable spelling system where one letter represents one phoneme. English doesn't.

In English, the pronunciation given a letter depends on position and accent. For example, y is a consonant at the beginning of you, a short vowel in the middle of gym, and a long vowel at the end of fly (accented) and any (unaccented).

Complicating the system still further is the fact that many English words are imports. For example, chauffeur is imported from the French, with French spelling and pronunciation.

A dreadful language? Man alive.
I'd mastered it when I was five.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 2

Yet another reason English is so hard to learn.
You might enjoy this:
Ghoti is a constructed example word used to illustrate irregularities in English spelling. It is pronounced just like fish:
(gh as in laugh, o as in women, and ti as in nation).
Ghoti is often cited to support English spelling reform, and is often attributed to George Bernard Shaw, a supporter of this cause. However, a biography of Shaw attributes it instead to an anonymous spelling reformer.

Answer 3

Because languages have different phonemes, but only a limited number of letters to represent them, without adding letters to its alphabet/character set.

Answer 4

it defend