--- Christophe Grandsire skrzypszy:
> >Exceptions:
> >- words ending on _isch_ kept their old spelling: "telefonisch", "Belgisch"
>
> How come words like "vis" and "kennis" are written like this then? weren't
> they written "visch" and "kennisch" originally? (I'm pretty sure about
> "visch", less about "kennisch" ;))) )
"Vis" and "kennis" both have a closed "i" /I/. Removing "ch" would alter the
pronunciation from [tel@fonis] to [tel@fonIs]. The only way to avoid that would
be writing "telefonies" (a spelling BTW that gained some popularity in the
seventies, but never made it).
BTW I think you are right about "kennis"; I don't think it has ever been
written "kennisch".
> Also, you forgot to add that proper names weren't affected by the reform,
> which explained why my supervisor at Philips was called Eric Bosch,
> pronounced /bOs/ ;))) .
True.
Jan
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"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones
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