Why does English spelling not show the sound?
Because the spelling was fixed before the vowels changed and then kept the spellings of words borrowed from French, Latin, Greek and elsewhere. Consonants stayed fairly reliable, which is why the procedure works at all, but vowels and stress have to be learned word by word.
Because the spelling was fixed before the vowels changed and then kept the spellings of words borrowed from French, Latin, Greek and elsewhere. Consonants stayed fairly reliable, which is why the procedure works at all, but vowels and stress have to be learned word by word.
Consonants are stable, vowels are not: the spelling froze before the vowels shifted and then absorbed borrowings without changing them. That is why stress and vowel quality have to be learned word by word while b, d and t stay reliable.
How to Pronounce English Words Correctly When You Have Only Read Them →