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You can change the spelling of one word in the English language to match how they are pronounced. What word do you pick? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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I'm picking "Colonel" needs to be respelled to match how it's pronounced.

Try to pick a word no one else has picked. What word are you respelling?

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[–] 0 points 3 years ago (4 children)

English is pretty good (generally) at doing the same thing.

Y'all are just bringing up words that English stole from other languages.

You can use phonetics to figure out how to pronounce most words in English.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (2 children)

    The amount of words that are not "stolen" from other languages is neglible..

    Cat from German Katze, from Latin catta
    Car(t) from German Karren
    Kitchen grom German Küche
    Bike/Bicycle from French bicycle
    Leaf from German Laub
    Beef, mutton, pigeon from French boeuf, mouton, pigeon
    Cow, sheep, dove from German Kuh, Schaf, Taube
    Computer from Latin computare
    Sun and moon from German Sonne and Mond
    Lunatic from Latina luna
    Death from German Tod
    Snug from Norse snøggr
    Funny from Swedish fånig
    Breeze from Spanish brisa
    Ranch from Spanish rancha
    Brave from Italian bravo
    Arcade from Italian arcata
    Dildo from Italian diletto
    ....

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

    --James D. Nicoll

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