Why is French spelling so bad?

The biggest reason for unpronounced letters is that, at one time, the letters were pronounced. Spelling tends to reflect the language as it was spoken when the language was standardized, rather than how it’s pronounced today.

Why is French so Unphonetic?

French is phonetic, it’s just that the rules aren’t the ones you are used to. English is not phonetic because the rules come from so many sources that contradict each other.

Is it true that English has the worst and most inconsistent spelling systems?

It is largely correct that English has one of the most messy/chaotic spelling systems in the world. The phoneme-grapheme (what you speak v/s the way you encode that sound in writing) mapping is much more haphazard and unpredictable.

Does the letter K exist in French?

The French alphabet is based on the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, uppercase and lowercase, with five diacritics and two orthographic ligatures. The letters ⟨w⟩ and ⟨k⟩ are rarely used except in loanwords and regional words.

Can you think of an example of the annoying inconsistencies between spelling and pronunciation in English?

One of the main reasons for this is that many, many English words are NOT spelled as they are spoken. This difference between pronunciation and spelling causes a lot of confusion. The combination “ough” provides an excellent example: Tough – pronounced – tuf (the ‘u’ sounding as in ‘cup’)

How is Z pronounced in French?

The letter ‘Z’ in French is pronounced like the ‘Z’ in English: listen. That’s simple enough, but there’s one twist to the ‘Z’ in French as it can also be a silent letter. This occurs in almost every instance in which the ‘Z’ appears at the end of a word.

How do you write Z in French?

Unlike the English, who call it a “double-u,” the French use “double-v” and pronounce it (doo-bluh-vay) after the ‘V’ which is pronounced (vay)….Letters and Pronunciation.

Why did they change the spelling of English words?

The French feverier first became English feverere, or feverell. But in the 16th and 17th centuries, a craze for all things classical caused writers to start re-Latinizing their spelling—making words look more like their ancient language sources, whatever their current pronunciation.

What are the rules for English spelling?

While there may be no single set of “rules” for English spelling, there are many different conventions and patterns we can use to help make it easier to grasp. We’ll briefly review these conventions below, but you can continue on to each individual section to learn more.

What is the double the final consonant spelling rule?

The Double the Final Consonant Spelling Rule or Guideline: You double the final consonant in single syllable words that have a single vowel before that consonant and that are also followed by a suffix

How do you spell thought in different ways?

Some of the spellings “thought” has gone through include: þoht, ðoght, þou?te, thowgth, thouch, thotht, thoughte, and thowcht. Later, English lost the /x/ sound, but only after the spelling conventions had been well established. Today, whenever you see one of those ‘gh’ spellings, say a little “ach!” in the memory of English /x/. 2. KNEAD