Example -- You can pronounce NOW. (take a bow)
But put a K in front of it and get -- KNOW (ho, ho, ho)
These examples require context --
LEAD The verb-- I will lead you to the store
or the noun -- Lead is a piece of metal.
How do you pronounce polish? (Oh, you are getting the idea.)
Polish the silverware.
or
Polish is his first language.
Then there is the fun you can have with the language. (I suppose this can be done in other languages as well.)
I am smart; you are overbearing.
I am calm; you are comatose.
I am thrifty; you are stingy.
Okay, enough of that. How about a couple of cartoons!
Look Out! He'll be cross-eyed!
Very much an issue for tots learning to spell, and trying to teach English to speakers of other languages. Plenty of exceptions to the general rules! I recall in a high school English class hearing that "knight" in Chaucer's time would have been pronounced "k'nicked" or something similarly gutteral. Almost Klingon.
ReplyDeleteAnd now we're klingon to these old spellings...
ReplyDelete