Hooked on Phonics
I love the English language. To be able to express yourself clearly, cleverly, and completely is a joy.
There are some issues, though...
I don't know why, but I was thinking about the word "cough" the other day (probably because everyone around me is impolitely coughing on me with their tiny, pink tongues sticking out.) which made me think of the word "photography."
I thought to myself, "Okay, I can sorta understand why "ph" makes the "fffff" sound, but where they HECK did they come up with "ffff" out of "gh"???!!!
Yeah, I know...You probably wouldn't like being in my head for more than about 5 minutes what with the oh-so-riviting conversations that go on in my brain.
It's no wonder that non-English speakers find English so boggling.
Since there really aren't any rules to English, can you imagine some poor, little student of English trying to make heads or tails out of the gh-ph problem?
"I would like everyone to write a 100 word essay on photography, due on Friday."
"Ohkey-dohkey," thick with foreign accent.
"Ghotograghy was devheloped (ha ha! I make joke!) by Sir John Herschel in 1839, but primitive camerhas, called pinhole camerhas, were described by Ahristotle, U-qlid, and Moe Tee, a Chinese ghilosogher ( See Wikipeedeah). I, myself, ham an hamature ghotogragher..."
See?
Or suppose they were interchangeable? "Ghotography." "Photograghy."
Or suppose they meant different things if spelled differently?
Photography: from the Greek words 'photos' - meaning light and 'graphein' - to draw.
Ghotograghy: from the Xlieitheaihneneeese words 'ghoto' - meaning manure and 'graghein' - to lick.
That's the problem with stealing words from every other language on the planet. I am surprised anybody can make any sense.
There are some issues, though...
I don't know why, but I was thinking about the word "cough" the other day (probably because everyone around me is impolitely coughing on me with their tiny, pink tongues sticking out.) which made me think of the word "photography."
I thought to myself, "Okay, I can sorta understand why "ph" makes the "fffff" sound, but where they HECK did they come up with "ffff" out of "gh"???!!!
Yeah, I know...You probably wouldn't like being in my head for more than about 5 minutes what with the oh-so-riviting conversations that go on in my brain.
It's no wonder that non-English speakers find English so boggling.
Since there really aren't any rules to English, can you imagine some poor, little student of English trying to make heads or tails out of the gh-ph problem?
"I would like everyone to write a 100 word essay on photography, due on Friday."
"Ohkey-dohkey," thick with foreign accent.
"Ghotograghy was devheloped (ha ha! I make joke!) by Sir John Herschel in 1839, but primitive camerhas, called pinhole camerhas, were described by Ahristotle, U-qlid, and Moe Tee, a Chinese ghilosogher ( See Wikipeedeah). I, myself, ham an hamature ghotogragher..."
See?
Or suppose they were interchangeable? "Ghotography." "Photograghy."
Or suppose they meant different things if spelled differently?
Photography: from the Greek words 'photos' - meaning light and 'graphein' - to draw.
Ghotograghy: from the Xlieitheaihneneeese words 'ghoto' - meaning manure and 'graghein' - to lick.
That's the problem with stealing words from every other language on the planet. I am surprised anybody can make any sense.
Comments
The rules are simple and they make sense.