(no subject)

[badstar]

why did they pick the "e" to be the silent letter at the end of words? who has this sort of authority? why don't we have silent a's at the end of words?

Comments

[twistedcat.livejournal.com]

they do in texas...

[mmc327.livejournal.com]

I hope all Texans don't mangle the English language like Shrubby does. There has to be hope for the rest of that state's residents.

[mmc327.livejournal.com]

The letter "b" is also silent at the end of some words. Case in point: numb.
English is just a screwy language when it comes to spelling vs. pronunciation, but French is as well. Spanish is the only language I've studied where the spelling is consistent with the pronunciation.
It's a wonder more people don't mangle the language like our dear Shrub does. I've heard it's not an easy language for foreigners to learn because there are so many differences between the way a word is spelled and the way it is pronounced and also because English grammar isn't easy for many foreigners to learn.

From what I've heard . . .

[pagandenma.livejournal.com]

Chinese is the hardest language to learn to write, due to having several THOUSAND characters to learn.

English is the toughest language to learn to speak. Between pronounciations, slang, idioms, pluralizations and such, it's a doozy.

Considering NATIVE speakers often screw English up, I'm not surprised.

[penguinicity.livejournal.com]

It wasn't anyone's decision, e's just lazy.

[blackpaladin.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of the Babylon 5 quote:
“Who are you?”
“Now, that’s really not important.”
“Who are you?”
“Who decides that the workday is from 9 to 5, instead of 11 to 4? Who decides that the hemlines will be below the knee this year and short again next year? Who draws up the borders, controls the currency, handles all of the decisions that happen transparently around us?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ah! I’m with them. Same group, different department.”
- Sheridan and Justin, "Z'ha'dum"

:-)

[delphinastar.livejournal.com]

ROFLMAO

No words- just laughing!

[forexample.livejournal.com]

The core reason is that English doesn't change spelling as pronunciation. At one time or another every letter in our older words was pronounced. English also has a heritage of absorbing words from every language it encounters and not changing the spelling.

Ultimately this lack of change is good. Imagine if words were spelled phonetically. New York pronunciation is different from London which is different from Dallas which is different from Sydney. We would cease to have a mutually intelligible language before long.

E is a special case. It isn't just silent at the end of words, it serves as a marker changing the sound of the vowel before it. An example: not and note.

[ranger-hotsauce.livejournal.com]

He's lived in Texas for what, three years or so? I don't think you can hold it against him. I've lived in PA for 18 years, and people still tell me I have an accent.

[fuego.livejournal.com]

ha! lemme guess...it's the ones with the central-PA-Dutch accent that tel you that?

[mmc327.livejournal.com]

Who? Shrubby? Shrubby lived in Texas his whole life except for like the first year of his life and the years at the prep school and the years in the White House. So he is basically a Texan.
I think twistedcat is a girl, if that's who you meant in your comment.

[ranger-hotsauce.livejournal.com]

My mistake, thanks. It's "rancher" he can't really lay any claim to, not "Texan".

[ranger-hotsauce.livejournal.com]

Nope. Amusingly, the folks back up in New York tell me I've picked up an accent, so I have no idea what I sound like anymore.

[mmc327.livejournal.com]

He also can't lay claim to being a good President or even an average one.

[corpslave.livejournal.com]

Don't forget about silent R's in Boston.

[needa.livejournal.com]

Imagine if words were spelled phonetically. New York pronunciation is different from London which is different from Dallas which is different from Sydney. We would cease to have a mutually intelligible language before long.

We had that for a long time. It's now called Middle English. Recognizing regional spelling variations due to pronounciation differences is one of the things that still throws me. The fact that the same word can be spelled different ways in the same document isn't usually as bad, since they all have roughly the same pronounciation.