Spelling pronunciation occurs when a word is pronounced according to its modern spelling rather than its traditional pronunciation. It is caused by adding foreign words to a language and ignoring original pronunciation. It differs from pronunciation spelling, which is used to capture dialect or accent. Other languages also have orthographic pronunciation. Noah Webster proposed rewriting American words to fit their pronunciation, but this would have created a divide between British and American English.
Spelling pronunciation occurs when a word is pronounced according to its modern spelling and not the way it is traditionally pronounced. There are multiple reasons such pronunciations occur, including adding foreign words to a language and ignoring the original pronunciation. The common feature of the pronunciation of words as written is the inclusion of hitherto silent letters such as the “t” in “often.”
In English, spelling pronunciation occurred due to the clash between Old English and Norman French with their separate linguistic structures and spellings. Old English spelled words as they sounded and pronounced each written letter. The Normans changed the spelling of words to fit the French spelling system. Spelling pronunciation probably occurred when the modified spelling was first encountered and pronounced literally according to the English pronunciation system.
Taking the pronunciation of a word from its spelling should not be confused with the spelling of a word as it is pronounced. The latter is called pronunciation spelling, and because it is a reverse collocation, it is easily confused with pronunciation spelling. Pronunciation spelling is usually used when writing in dialect or when trying to capture an accent. Examples of this spelling change include “I want” becoming “I want” and “I want” becoming “I have to”.
‘Clothes’ is an example of a spelling-based pronunciation change. For generations, it was pronounced as “near”, but later the word “th” in the middle was added as a pronounced sound. The same happened with the falcon; the original pronunciation omitted the ‘l’, but it later found its way into speech. The same rarely happens with regard to “salmon”, where the “l” remains largely invisible.
There are a number of differences between each dialect and each major or national form of English. Americans pronounce “figure” as a rhyme of “pure,” but the British pronounce it as a rhyme of “greater.” American English tends to pronounce words with the cluster “alm” as written, while British speakers pronounce it more traditionally, when it sounds like “arm.”
Other languages also have the phenomenon of orthographic pronunciation. Spanish often takes words into their language without changing their spelling or rephrasing so that the spelling fits the sound. This resulted in Rorschach being pronounced “Rorsas” and Bach being pronounced “Bax”. Japanese alters every foreign word that enters its lexicon in two ways; forms a local pronunciation based on spelling or reformulations based on sound. The pronunciation of the spelling in Japanese resulted in ‘symmetry’ becoming ‘shimetorii’.
Noah Webster and other American intellectuals and politicians have put forward the idea of rewriting all American words to fit their pronunciations. This idea would have eliminated orthographic pronunciation entirely, but it would also have created a chasm between the British and American versions of English. Webster and others believed that a uniform, literal spelling system would help foreigners learn English as a second language.
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