Re: Opinions on English

Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
> I *like* them.  They're fun.  :-)
Yeah, irregularities give languages character, I think.  :-)  Of course,
I also like the lunisolar basis of Easter.  A fixed date would be so
dull.  I think Christmas should be tied to Easter, say, exactly 9 months
after Easter, or exactly 3 months before Easter.  Not that that would
ever happen, of course.  :-)

> Now *that's* something that puzzles me, and that I have a hard time
> explaining to ESL grad students.  I usually tell them to memorize the
> whole thing as a unit and not try to break it into components.
Yeah, that's probably the best idea.  It's not "put up with" but
"putupwith".  :-)

> I like these because they're useful in humor, puns, poetry.  I can see
> where others would find them annoying.
The things like "read/read" /rid/-/rEd/ are irritating.  For instance,
does the phrase "read as" mean /rEd &z/ or /rid &z/.  That is, does it
say "this is read as" or "you should read this as"?  I read it with
/rEd/.

However, I feel that the ability to distinguish homophones like know/no,
write/right/rite/-wright, night/knight, etc., useful.

--
Dievas dave dantis; Dievas duos duonos
Flabín tiDikául wafnaftáti; nailabíl tiDikául walíibi
God gave teeth; God will give bread - Lithuanian proverb
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