Why Spelling in English Is so Difficult

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Why Spelling in English Is so Difficult

Recently, 14-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States. She correctly spelled 22 words during a 90-second spell-off.

The words included phreatophyte, excimer, saccharose, and finally the winning word "moorhen," which means a female, red grouse¹ bird.

Most Americans, however, would find it difficult to spell any of these words!

From an early age, native English speakers know there are clear differences between how words are pronounced and how they are spelled. But they do not know that the difference is unique to English among major languages.

Languages like Italian or Finnish can be spelled more easily because each letter of the alphabet matches to one sound. Students studying these languages can have 90 percent reading accuracy after the first year. That information comes from Philip Seymore in the British Journal of Psychology².

In English, many letters of the alphabet have two or more sounds. This is why even after years of learning, students of English are still far below Italian or Finnish students in reading accuracy.

History of the English language

English started as a Germanic language. It is most closely connected to German and Dutch, especially in grammar and basic vocabulary.

During the Norman invasion in the 12th century, Old English was spoken but French was used in government and legal documents. And Latin was used in religious and educational activities. As a result, more French and Latin words entered the English language.

The printing press was invented in the late 1400s. This helped to establish English spelling and strengthen the connection between how English is spoken and how it is written. The English of today is how the language was written at the time.

However, the spoken language started to change in the 1500s with the pronunciation of all long vowels⁴, especially in southern England.

For example, the word "bite" was pronounced closer to "beet⁵" in 1400, before changing through the years to its current sound. The effect was that the English language had old spellings, but new sounds.

One letter, many sounds

English has 26 letters in the alphabet, but over 44 individual sounds depending on the variation of spoken English.

There are several sounds represented by only one letter.

For example, the letter "C" can sound like an "S" as in "city." And it also sounds like a "K" as in "cat."

If that is not hard enough, let's try to pronounce the letter "X" as /ks/ in "box", as /gz/ in "exam" and just /z/ in "xylophone."

So many ways to sound a vowel³

There are only 5 or 6 vowel letters in the English alphabet. They include A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. But there are 20 different ways to sound them! For example, a double "o" sound in English can be pronounced as /u/, as in the word "boot" or /ʊ/ as in the word "book".

These sounds are formed by air moving through the mouth and throat freely. In the study of language, called linguistics⁶, teachers use a drawing to represent the mouth and show where vowels are formed.

At the center is the most common vowel sound of "uhhh." It is the most relaxed and natural sound. It takes almost no effort of the tongue or throat to create the sound.

Brian M. Sietsema is an Associate Pronouncer for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He observes that since it takes little effort, the sound "uhhh" often makes its way into pronunciations.

For example, the word "please" often turns into "PUH-lease" when someone is trying to call attention.

This is another reason why spelling in English is so difficult!

Words in This Story

unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else

accuracy – n. the ability to work without making mistakes

printing press – n. a machine that prints books, newspapers, magazines, and similar materials in large numbers

vowels – n. speech sounds made with your mouth open and your tongue in the middle of your mouth not touching⁷ your teeth, lips, etc.

consonants⁸ – n. a speech sound (such as /p/, /d/, or /s/) that is made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air breathed out from the mouth

1 grouse   

n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦

参考例句：

• They're shooting grouse up on the moors.他们在荒野射猎松鸡。
• If you don't agree with me,please forget my grouse.如果你的看法不同，请不必介意我的牢骚之言。

2 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

3 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

4 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

5 beet   

n.甜菜；甜菜根

参考例句：

• He farmed his pickers to work in the beet fields. 他出租他的摘棉工去甜菜地里干活。
• The sugar beet is an entirely different kind of plant.糖用甜菜是一种完全不同的作物。

6 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

7 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

8 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》