It takes almost no effort of the tongue or throat to create the sound.īrian M. If that is not hard enough, let’s try to pronounce the letter “X” as /ks/ in “box”, as /gz/ in “exam” and just /z/ in “xylophone."Īt the center is the most common vowel sound of “uhhh.” It is the most relaxed and natural sound. There are several sounds represented by only one letter.įor example, the letter "C" can sound like an “S” as in “city.” And it also sounds like a “K” as in “cat.” The effect was that the English language had old spellings, but new sounds.Įnglish has 26 letters in the alphabet, but over 44 individual sounds depending on the variation of spoken English. However, the spoken language started to change in the 1500s with the pronunciation of all long vowels, especially in southern England.įor example, the word “bite” was pronounced closer to “beet” in 1400, before changing through the years to its current sound. The English of today is how the language was written at the time. This helped to establish English spelling and strengthen the connection between how English is spoken and how it is written. The printing press was invented in the late 1400s. As a result, more French and Latin words entered the English language. And Latin was used in religious and educational activities. It is most closely connected to German and Dutch, especially in grammar and basic vocabulary.ĭuring the Norman invasion in the 12th century, Old English was spoken but French was used in government and legal documents. This is why even after years of learning, students of English are still far below Italian or Finnish students in reading accuracy.Įnglish started as a Germanic language. In English, many letters of the alphabet have two or more sounds. That information comes from Philip Seymore in the British Journal of Psychology. Students studying these languages can have 90 percent reading accuracy after the first year. Languages like Italian or Finnish can be spelled more easily because each letter of the alphabet matches to one sound. But they do not know that the difference is unique to English among major languages. Most Americans, however, would find it difficult to spell any of these words!įrom an early age, native English speakers know there are clear differences between how words are pronounced and how they are spelled. The words included phreatophyte, excimer, saccharose, and finally the winning word “moorhen,” which means a female, red grouse bird. She correctly spelled 22 words during a 90-second spell-off. Recently, 14-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States.
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