Oh boy- explaining the English language!!

pjlippert

pjlippert

Cathlete
Holy cow!! This is incredible trying to figure out how to explain why "gh" makes the "h" sound, and "ough" makes the sound it makes- oof... etc. etc.. I know the school is doing a great job in teaching the reading skills and such, (as did our amzing tutor over the Summer keep him on top of thigns) but it does make one wonder where these strange rules of the "English" language evolved from! My DS who is in 2nd grade is asking me why does it make this sound and that sound... I'm at a loss! Any ideas as to where to find the explanation for our interesting rules of grammar?!?!?

Thanks!
Pam
 
English doesn't make much sense, does it?
How about "tough" vs "through" vs. "though"? Same spelling, different sounds.
Or "lose" rhyming with "choose" but not with "chose".
It boggles the mind.

(sorry, can't help with reference books!)
 
I LOVE this about English... and I think it DOES make sense.

Before the great vowel shift, a lot of these words will have been pronounced the same way: through/though would have had the same vowel sound. But as for the 'gh' sound, before English began to soften (largely a resul of french influence) these sounds were pronounced much as written. This is why proper OLD English almost sounds like German.

The reason for such variation, at least in England, occured with the printing press, brought in in the 15th century by William Caxton. this spread the south eastern dialect around BRitain. But some areas of Britain kept dialect words, hence variation in pronunciation.

For reccommended books, I think Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue is BRILLIANT, it really is interesting. Also, Melvyn Bragg's: the adventures of English, is interesting too.
 
toffeedog said:
plow-plough
labor-labour
program-programme
Usa English very different to Uk Engish.
Click to expand...

You are right. THat's why I like Bill Bryson's book so much. He tells the story of the English language, no matter WHERE in the world it occurs. So he dedicates a lot of time to the differences between Uk English and US English.

It really can be amusing how different the two are though; sometimes it can cause all manner of confusion! ;)
 
HA! Hey ZoZo - I don't know that I've ever "met" anyone besides me who knows about the great vowel shift. I love that! Every now and again when my DH is at a loss for any rational explanation for something he just shrugs his shouders and says "it MUST be because of the great vowel shift."
 
L Sass said:
HA! Hey ZoZo - I don't know that I've ever "met" anyone besides me who knows about the great vowel shift. I love that! Every now and again when my DH is at a loss for any rational explanation for something he just shrugs his shouders and says "it MUST be because of the great vowel shift."
Click to expand...

He he Lorrie. It definitely is one of those things... if there's no other reason.. it HAS to be the great vowel shift! :) Your husband's got it right! :)
 
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