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Re: USAGE: Language revival

From:Charles <catty@...>
Date:Tuesday, November 23, 1999, 21:21
some innocent person wrote:

> Trying to learn to read > English phonetically is a little like trying to learn to read Chinese > phonetically -- our written symbols do not correspond accurately with our > spoken ones, and when one reads (especially when one reads quickly), one > recognizes words not as phonetic units but as symbols.
Phonetic spelling is a trap; orthographic pronunciation is the counter-intuitive but effective solution. (And in case that turns out to be flame-bait to anyone, I'm opting out of it right now.)