Both the native speakers of English and the multilinguals (That's us!) are aware how confusing the English language is in terms of spelling, as well as pronunciation. Speaking of "inconsistencies" of pronunciation in English, I recalled the day when I attended my summer class in Engl102 - Introduction to Linguistics. My teacher discussed the general or universal rules in phonology (a.k.a. the study of sounds or phonemes in words in a language). He then mentioned the word "ghoti," which is pronounced as "fish."
So why is "ghoti" pronounced as "fish?"
First, the words containing the gh sequence are pronounced as /f/, as in the words laugh, cough, and rough.
Second, the sound of the letter o in the word women is /i/.
Last, the ti sequence has a /sh/ sound as in association, action, and initial.
But this doesn't mean that the word "ghoti" is a legitimate word in the English language. The word "ghoti" shows the inconsistency of English spelling. This gives us an impression that the English spelling and English pronunciation is not always the same.
Now, can you give me the "pronunciation equivalent" of ghoughpteighbteau? :)
So why is "ghoti" pronounced as "fish?"
First, the words containing the gh sequence are pronounced as /f/, as in the words laugh, cough, and rough.
Second, the sound of the letter o in the word women is /i/.
Last, the ti sequence has a /sh/ sound as in association, action, and initial.
But this doesn't mean that the word "ghoti" is a legitimate word in the English language. The word "ghoti" shows the inconsistency of English spelling. This gives us an impression that the English spelling and English pronunciation is not always the same.
Now, can you give me the "pronunciation equivalent" of ghoughpteighbteau? :)
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