2007-10-05 12:21:24 · 8 answers · asked by smudgeuk9 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
Why isn't FISH spelled as GHOTI?
GH pronounced "f" as in cough.
O pronounced "i" as in women.
TI pronounced "sh" as in attention.
2007-10-05 23:25:38 · answer #1 · answered by Valmiki 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Paul offers a valid clue. The "English" language is basically a borrowed compilation of many others...Latin being one.
Imagine for a moment someone not able to speak this language; but trying to learn it. Imagine too a child perhaps being taught "Phonetically" then having to deal with language and spelling in a real sense.
I have to say however; without any offense to anyone...many lanuguage "structures" can be confusing to anyone speaking English yet unfamiliar with that new language...IE: languages that compound words into a meaning for SOMETHING SPECIFIC; OR a language that may scramble words in a sentence unlike the English language; as that regards nouns/ verbs/ etc.
The examples of confusion are endless. Is it easy to understand Read and Read in TENSE; for someone unfamilar? Might RED add to the confusion?
Consider this pint as well, and with no offense meant at all, to anyone.
We learn to speak, long before we gain understanding. We copy/emulate/repeat...to learn. Even the ignorant have communication skills; while many; most educated cannot articulate a simple thought.
2007-10-05 12:43:57 · answer #2 · answered by DIY Doc 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Bought a Dr. Seuss book once titled "The Tough Coughed as He ploughed the Dough". It was not the kid's rhyming kind of book, but was in fact Dr. Seuss for adults. All sorts of theories in there.
2007-10-05 14:18:19 · answer #3 · answered by Little Lulu 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The English language has many such anomalies. The reason is that English is a collection of words adopted from other languages.
Our language was taken from the languages of nations that occupied us over centuries. Words come from such languages as Greek,Latin and French.
2007-10-05 21:16:00 · answer #4 · answered by resignedtolife 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Spell it right. I'm very anal about proper spelling. There's no excuse for misspelling when there is the spell check button. I make a game out of proper spelling, to get zero wrong after using spell check.
2016-05-17 06:20:48 · answer #5 · answered by eva 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because english is a derrivative of many other lauguages.
2007-10-05 12:27:50 · answer #6 · answered by Paul S 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It wasn't the cough that carried him off
It was the coffin they carried him off in
2007-10-05 12:36:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
why is f**k off spelled off not ough?
2007-10-05 12:59:41 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋