English Words

7.2.1
The apparent madness in the English spelling system
The English orthography is still reasonably phonemic—but not entirely so. Over the centuries, a
combination of factors has undermined the phonemic nature of English spelling. Unfortunately for the
person trying to become literate, although English spelling is mostly rule-governed the rules are extremely
complex and riddled with exceptions. The aim of this chapter is to outline some of the principles that lie
behind English spelling and to give you a flavour of how the system works. But it is not my intention to
provide an exhaustive survey of the relationship between English spelling and pronunciation. For that turn
to books like Scragg (1973), Sampson (1985), Stubbs (1980) and Vachek (1973).
I will start as every critic or reformer of English spelling starts —by listing (in [7.4]) some of the glaring
examples of the irregularities, inconsistencies and arbitrariness of English spelling that have led some to
proclaim that the relationship between spelling and pronunciation is simply mad.
[7.4]
aisle
could
isle
quay
are
debt
key
rough
although
do
knight
son
aunt
does
knock
sugar
autumn
dough
laugh
trough
ENGLISH WORDS 85

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blood
eye
listen
two
bough
fought
move
victuals
climb
fraught
of
water
colour
friend
once
where
come
ghoul
people
who
cough
hour
psalm
you
(based on Crystal 1988:68)
In fact, the list in [7.4] does not contain the worst examples. The pronunciation of unfamiliar place names
and personal names provides even worse horrors. It is the equivalent of negotiating a verbal minefield. All
too often the spelling has only a tenuous link with the pronunciation. For instance, there is a hamlet near
Lancaster in Lancashire called Quernmore—you probably expect it to be called, /kw :nmeme/; the
Northumbrian town of Alnwick is pronounced /ænIk/ not */:lnwIk/; the Yorkshire town of Keighley is
pronounced /ki: lr/ not */ki:flr/; Hawick in Scotland is pronounced /h:Ik/ not */hæwIk/; the Glasgow suburb
of Milngavie is pronounced /mIlgaI/ not */mIlngævI/, and so on.
Frequently, the relationship between the spelling and pronunciation of personal names is equally
unpredictable. For instance, Beauchamp is pronounced; /bi:t em/ Cockburn is prounced /keubn/; Maugham
is pronounced /m:m/ or /m:m/; Mainwaring is pronounced as /mænerI /, Clowes may be pronounced /
klaUz/or /klu:z/, and so on.