h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've always wondered why English has such horribly inconsistent use spelling of vowels. And now I know.

Interesting maybe how one of the newest forms of written English IS reflecting the way we speak now - texting.

Maybe this is the way we would write in all forms now if the language had not become 'fixed'?

Thanks for noticing the entry!

What I like about our inconsistent spelling is that it captures a history. Having that history ever before us is the prize we get in return for the price of having to learn all the rules and exceptions. Actually, I find that the more one learns the history, the more one just forgets about the rules and spells correctly without thinking about it. It's actually quite freeing.

I bet I've spelled something wrong in this post.

I took a Phonectics class in Spanish and one of the most interesting thing I learned, or at least one of the things that has stayed with me, is that phonetically speaking, English has something like 24 "vowels." In the phonetics class, the word 'vowel' was used to represent sound. I don't know if that's the meaning, but I thought it was interesting. For instance, in the dictionary that upside down 'e' is called a schwa and represents a specific type of sound. I copied this off a website http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000383.htm

Schwa

The schwa is the vowel sound in many lightly pronounced unaccented syllables in words of more than one syllable. It is sometimes signified by the pronunciation "uh" or symbolized by an upside-down rotated e.

A schwa sound can be represented by any vowel. In most dialects, for example, the schwa sound is found in the following words:

The a is schwa in adept.

The e is schwa in synthesis.

The i is schwa in decimal.

The o is schwa in harmony.

The u is schwa in medium.

The y is schwa in syringe.

Authorities vary somewhat in the range of what is considered a schwa sound, but the above examples are generally accepted.

Anyway, it's very interesting.

What I was taught concerning schwa in my classes way back was "in English, unstressed vowels resolve to schwa." So, bas(schwa)cly, (schwa)ny vow(schwa)l that has no stress is pr(schwa)nounced "uh". This becomes particularly evident in the case of American newscasters who are tired and have paralysed lips.

In my wanderings through the origins of my language (English, honest) I note that there are many Old English (or Anglo-Saxon, if you like) varieties. Most studies get hung up on West Saxon as most scripts were 'normalised' to that dialect. Compared to Northumbrian, it is definitely weird. Being a denizen of the upper right-hand bit of England (just) Northumbrian seems to roll off the tongue better.

Instead of listening to university dons droning on in West Saxon versions of Beowulf, try listening to a Northumbrian version of Caedmon's Dream with a Geordie accent (that's Newcastle for outsiders). It has two distinct advantages. 1) it probably sounds as it was intended to sound and 2) it's short.

An interesting entry. Thanks.

When I was taking Old English, the fashion was for everything to be in its actual dialect; the editions used were very conservative (close to the manuscripts. At one point I got myself some of Magoun's "normalizations" of Beowulf and the Vercelli book and it just looked like gibberish to me. I always use the appropriate dialect (not normalized texts) when I'm working with the poems now.

Well done sir !

If you want a real (of the subject) laugh, find a copy of a recording of Moses Hadas reading Cicero in Latin with a Georgia (U. S.) accent.

oops! my parenthetical comment should have read "off the subject".

A nicely done article. Kudos!

You seem to have a good grip on the history of English. I have heard that many of the interesting quirks in the language result from the Roman influence in Anglo-Saxon areas. Specifically that Romans (these "Romans" were supposedly French) married Saxons (German) in the general vicinity of Modern England but were forbidden to speak with them, so a "pidgin" language developed, which we call English.

Supposedly this accounts for the "big word-small word" pattern of English. The Upper Class (or today, the more educated group) speaks a 'Frenchified' English, with 'fancy' words for everything, as in "It is completely typical for an aspirant neophyte linguist to commit such a faux-pas." Versus a 'Germanicly' curt, "The new guy always screws-up, do'n he?" Any thoughts?

The 'Roman' or 'Romance' influence came from the French (after 1066) but essentially, you are right. For many centuries, it was a case of them (the French/English ruling class) and us (the English peasants - although the term 'peasant' is French - the English did not have such class structures).

Just to make things even more interesting, these invaders were Norman/French. They were Vikings who had settled around Caen for two or three generations. (The settlement was a pay-off from the French to stop Viking raids!) No one can accuse early British History of lack of interest.

Giving 'Normandy' to the 'Normans' was a fairly clever ploy. Much smarter than the initial efforts at avoiding Viking attacks:

From http://www.internationalreports.net/europe/denmark/2002/thefury.html
"The word Danegeld (literally, money for the Danes) came about by a payment of 7,000 pounds of silver to a Viking chieftain named Ragnar, who was actually Norwegian. He had just spent his Easter Sunday, 845, sacking and burning Paris. Charles the Bald, in a monumental piece of royal misjudgment, considered the Vikings to be less dangerous than a court intrigue and local rebellion that was occurring at the same time. But all his money did was to show the Vikings how much he had, and they started coming back, every year, for more. And more."

The guide is missing Entries on both this period and the Norman conquest of England... pity.

Did I mention that I'm really surprised and pleased at how much discussion this entry has generated?

Thanks everybody.

I should mention that I have another entry, A938469, which is languishing far down in peer review. If you liked "the Great Vowel Shift", you'll hate "the Hero on the Beach".

Thank you for an intresting entry, Anhaga.
The scottish examples of prenouncing house -hoos and cow -coo almost has a swedish sound. We spell them hus and ko. It is really intresting to se how the languages are related and influenced to/by each other

Northern English was heavily influenced by Old Norse (the ancestor of Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic [and Faroese, if I remember correctly]) since the Vikings ruled the North of England from their capital at Jarvik (York) for a great many years. Your observation of a Swedish echo is, therefore, quite appropriate.

I believe you and I had this conversation about viking-scandinavian-olde-english languages being closely related in another forum here at h2g2. Do you by any chance have linguistics as a profession?

No, not linguistics as such. I am by training a scholar of Anglo-Saxon Language and Literature. This seems, of necessity, to make me a multidisciplinarian.

Why? I find itmore like It has to be fascinating to be able to read texts that are so old. Like