Spelling Pronunciations in Children and Foreigners
Children who read a great deal often produce spelling pronunciations, since they have no way of knowing, other than the spelling, how the rare words they encounter are correctly pronounced. Well-read second language learners are likewise vulnerable to producing spelling pronunciations.
However, since there are many words which one reads far more often than one hears, the problem also affects adult native-language speakers. This, in turn, leads to the language evolution mentioned above. What is a spelling pronunciation in one generation often becomes standard in the next.
Read more about this topic: Spelling Pronunciation
Famous quotes containing the words spelling, children and/or foreigners:
“The old saying of Buffon’s that style is the man himself is as near the truth as we can get—but then most men mistake grammar for style, as they mistake correct spelling for words or schooling for education.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“Our children tremble in their teen-age cribs,
whirling off on a thumb or a motorcycle....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“They spell it Vinci and pronounce it Vinchy; foreigners always spell better than they pronounce.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)