Given that English is derived mostly from German, when Anglo-Saxons (German tribes) migrated to Britain, how do you explain that although German has a strict correspondence between written language and spoken language (the sounds largely follow 1-1 what is written)… English has sooo intricate pronunciation rules, sometimes directly at odds with what is written? (Too … Read more
Written English vowels differ from other Latin-based orthographies. Consider what the written vowels in the romance languages represent. Also, for example, consider this simple comparison between a few German and English vowels: German English a = [a] a = [e] e = [e] e = [i] i = [i] i = [aj] Has this always … Read more
I’ve seen a contraction of two words. I can’t see why it wouldn’t’ve been possible to have been contracted twice. Is it possible and how should it be punctuated? Update: Ok, to sum up the answers so far This appears in spoken British and American English It is from one of the lower registers of … Read more
