Klarinet Archive - Posting 001031.txt from 2000/02

From: "Dee D. Hays" <deehays@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: Language (was ligatures)
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 01:25:47 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Hausmann" <bhausman@-----.com>
Subject: Re: [kl] re: Let's get back to ligatures

> At 05:35 PM 2/26/2000 -0500, Topper <leo_g@-----.com> wrote:
>
> I think we cut a fair amount of slack to list members for whom English (or
> one of the American dialects) is not their primary language. We ASSUME
> that their grammar in spelling in French, German, Swahili, or whatever is
> impeccable!
>

It may not be impeccable but at least in German, Italian and Spanish (I
don't know about French or Swahili though), spelling is not nearly the
problem it is in English. There is a much closer correspondence to the way
a word is pronounced and the way it is spelled. English too often adopts
the foreign spelling and pronunciation of a word when it enters our
language. Thus we end up with words like "ennui," "spaghetti," "luncheon,"
etc. Contrast this to the typical practice in German or Italian. They
either change the spelling so that it fits the rules of their language,
keeping the pronunciation the same, or take the opposite approach of
changing the pronunciation to what their native rules would yield for that
spelling.

My German teacher told me of a German friend of hers who was afraid to use
the word "doughnut" in speaking because she could never remember which
pronunciation for "ough" was used here. And then contemplate the oddities
of spelling and pronunciation in the following set of words.

"Though the tough cough and hiccough plough him through"

We have to memorize the spellings for these words. Our spelling rules just
don't cut it here. I will admit that "plough" has pretty much fallen out of
usage as the spelling of choice but it is still valid and is still recorded
in the dictionary.

Let's hear it for "Have Fun With English!"

Dee Hays
Canton, SD

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