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English Spelling is Completely Logical
So long as you understand the entire history of English
English spelling is completely logical. That is the argument of a linguistics professor I know. She says it all makes sense as long as you know the history of English. However, I disagree. No amount of historical knowledge makes English spelling entirely predictable and often left me feeling like the picture above. But it can help a bit.
When it comes to English spelling there are many questions: why don’t we use a phonetic system? Why, do we have so many different ways to represent one sound, and so many different sounds represented by one spelling? More to the point, why has nobody sorted out this mess?
Worry not, I have the answers, it’s a story that involves inventive monks, rogue vowels, and a bunch of language nerds, so buckle up!
Reason 1: Monks doing their best
Let me take you back to England in the year 650 CE (or thereabouts). Christianity is all the rage among the local Anglo-Saxon population, the country is divided into small kingdoms, and it is probably raining (when is it not).
The first English Christian monks were settling down in their shiny new monasteries with fresh quills and parchment, ready to start writing the…
