The trouble with spelling

1. The trouble with spelling Why it is not always easy

2. Why the problem? • English is made up of words from many different languages • Pronunciation has changed over the years – spelling hasn’t eg. Sword, climb • Not enough letters for all the sounds • American and British versions of same words

3. There is hope • Many English words are phonetic • There are some basic rules • If the words don’t follow rules – they fit into families of sounds

4. Why is English complicated? • Very old Language (2000 Years) • Mixed up with four or more languages together • Made up of phonetic words Eg. cat sat but • Non-phonetic words Eg. Caught know thorough women Write the above words phonetically

5. Make up a sentence using as many of the common words as you can.

6. History of English spelling • Celts in the British Isles spoke Gaelic • 55BC Julius Caesar conquered Celts. For 4 centuries it was a Roman colony – speaking Latin. (London was called Londinium) • Wrote in Latin using Greek Alphabet

7. Old English • The next invaders were from Germany. They spoke Anglo Saxon or Englisc. • It is now called Old English • Verbs like Ich am (I am) He is (he is) Thu arth (you are) • Nouns like mon (man) wif (wife) lond (land) • London called Lundenburg (London town)

8. Here come the Vikings • 4 centuries later, Britons were speaking German, with Celtic or Roman thrown in. • Vikings invaded with their own language – words such as knife, axle, gate, egg, skirt.

9. The last invasion • In 1066 it was the turn of the French. • London was now called Londres • Some French words became common such as tournament, castle, parliament, justice. • This was called Middle English

10. Modern English • By the 15th century there were also Spanish words (potato, tobacco), Indian words (pyjama) and Greek words (comedy, grammar, logic) • So complicated, people started simplifying pronunciation. So it became easier to say but harder to spell. • Printing started before it could be simplified.

11. Today • We have over 500,000 words now from all over the world. Try to think of 5 words which are relatively new in our language.

12. The alphabet • Began with the Egyptians and their hieroglyphics (holy pictures) • Take a sound that we speak • Find a word that starts with that letter • Draw a picture of that word • Make up words out of pictures What were the drawbacks? Why did it only last 3000 years?

13. The Greeks • Came up with a set of sound symbols called the alphabet (named after the first two letters – alpha (a) and beta (b) • This idea was huge and was copied by the Romans who added some more symbols.

14. Why the alphabet isn’t enough • The 26 symbols don’t fit all other languages. • In English we have at least 20 vowel sounds and 30 consonant sounds. • Too many sounds in too few letters • Eg. ‘a’ in cat ‘a’ in father ‘a’ in mate ‘a’ in sofa

15. Don’t worry • The Chinese came up with their own system (about the same time as the Egyptions). • It has 2500 symbols to use! • It makes our 26 letters seem easy. D-d y-- kn-w? Th- -nc--ntGr--kswr-t- -s-ng -nly c-p-t-l l-tt-rs. Wh-t’s m-r-, th-y wr-t- l-ft t- r-ght -nd r-ght t- l-ft, th- w-y - f--ld -s –r-- pl—gh-d. Th- str-ct l-ft t- r-ght r-l- c-m- m-ch l-t-r.

16. So .... • That is why English is such a confusing language to spell. However, there are rules to learn and words to practice to make sure we do the best we can!