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The wonders of English spelling (files.catbox.moe)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

And why is "kn" even a thing in English?

Knowledge? Knight? Knee? Knapsack? Knitting?

How does that make any sense at all?

Edit" and then there's Gnome! Why isn't it Knome? Or Gnowledge?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

because it was literally pronounced like that not too long ago, compare "knight" to "knekt" in swedish.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

In Dutch we still have "knecht" (knave/servant), and I recall that Dutch and English have some overlap, so it makes sense.

I also recall a video about English, having adopted the Latin alphabet, made less sense than English under the previous Futhark (runes).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'll be honest I've always found it weird that they decided to stop pronouncing those consonants at some point. Those words just sound better with the K pronounced!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Great voul shift and the Normans.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

It’s gnomic.