The Screwed-Up History of English Spelling | Otherwords

The English spelling system is a MESS... arguably more than any other language. How did it get this way?

Otherwords is a PBS web series on Storied that digs deep into this quintessential human trait of language and fınds the fascinating, thought-provoking, and funny stories behind the words and sounds we take for granted. Incorporating the fıelds of biology, history, cultural studies, literature, and more, linguistics has something for everyone and offers a unique perspective into what it means to be human.

Host: Erica Brozovsky, Ph.D.
Creator/Director: Andrew Matthews & Katie Graham
Writer: Andrew Matthews
Producer: Katie Graham
Editor/Animation: Andrew Matthews
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy

Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Associate Director of Programming for PBS: Niki Walker

Stock Images from Shutterstock
Music from APM Music
Otherwords is produced by Spotzen for PBS.
© 2022 PBS. All rights reserved.

[silverviper]

My favorite description of English is that it is not a language, it is three languages stacked on top of each other wearing a trench coat trying to pass as one language

[rmdodsonbills]

It's also true that when English adopts a loan word it's much more likely to use the spelling from the original language, while other languages tend to adapt the spelling to their own spelling rules. Another thing I've noticed as I listen to people from other parts of the US is that we can't consistently change the spelling to match the phonetics because we don't pronounce words the same way. Where I grew up "bag" rhymes with "lag" but a few hundred miles east of here, it rhymes with "leg." In Texas, "on" rhymes with "San Antone." You can't standardize that!

[danielvuoristo]

As a Swedish speaker, it's fascinating to hear old versions of English words that are identical to modern words in Swedish and other Nordic languages, for example hus and hund

[ts]

As much as our language can be a challenge, even for native speakers, I do love how our history is ingrained in the language. Though admittedly this was small comfort to dyslexic me in school.

[lynnettevelez]

This just further backs up the meme "english beats up other languages in dark alleys, then rifles thru their pockets for loose grammar and spare vocabulary". Love it!

[bwalker]

As a French speaker, this video did not convince me that your language is more screwed up than mine. Our snobbery is pretty hard to beat.

[digitaljanus]

I once talked with the former editor of the Canadian Oxford English Dictionary, and she told the story of one of those "inkpot" words that went awry. These early modern scholars put a silent "p" at the beginning of "ptarmigan" (the bird) because they assumed the name came from "pteron", ancient Greek for "wing". But the ptarmigan was pretty much unknown to the ancient Greeks; the name actually comes from Scottish Gaelic "tàrmachan" meaning "croaker".

She also half-joked that there were about a dozen different pronunciations for "porpoise" going around in the 16th century, and the "standard" one must have been chosen by throwing darts at the available options.

[ankitsonariya]

Erica is one of sweetest hosts on any informational show I've seen

[themroc]

I am from France, a country famous for writing two times more letters than it pronounces. But I also learned to speak Spanish as a child, and I always found it remarkable how everything you write in Spanish is pronounced just the way it's written, to the point that making kids do dictations in schools would make no sense. But as an adult I went to live in Argentina, where the Spanish language and pronunciation has been modified by an enormous influx of Italians and other Europeans immigrants in the 19th and 20th century, and here Spanish orthography has become almost as opaque to the language's phonology as it is in France.
One of the most glaring examples is how people here pronounce v and b in the exact same manner, to the point that I have spent time explaining to them how the letters sound different in other languages, and they seem physically unable to hear the difference. And confusions between v and b are the most common spelling mistakes you'll find here. They also pronounce s and z in the same manner, so that words like caza (hunt) and casa (house) are undistinguishable. To this day, now that I am perfectly bilingual in rioplatense Spanish, my go-to method when I am in doubt about the spelling of a word is trying to remember how it was pronounced in Spain's Spanish.

[brenkelly]

Fabulous. As a trained linguist, this was the best video explanation on the spelling for all ages and included many key idea built in, like the great vowel shift, and given with wit, humor, and examples. A must for students, teachers, anyone learning English, and anyone spelling or writing in English— heck, everyone. A+ professor!

[luisespineira]

Erica is a great host. She makes this topic enjoyable to listen.

[DeclanMBrennan]

Lots of people are saying Erica Brozovsky is a great presenter which she indubitably is, but I think the emphasizing graphics also contribute a lot to getting a high volume of information across in such a short time while still being very entertaining.

[sandradermark]

The English language is like a Norman château built on the foundations of a Saxon mead hall, then finished in Renaissance Tudorbethan style and furnished with furniture and curiosities from all over this planet.

[MoneyGist]

"Most other languages have spelling systems that are regular and predictable."

French: "Am I a joke to you?"

[Torlik]

As someone who speak french as a first language, when I read something in english it's always a fun game to look at words that where borrowed from french and try to guess how it's pronounced in english.

[darrowoflykos]

Recently discovered your channel and can’t get enough, I can’t stop plowing through your videos. Great content!

[azuarc]

Now in my 40s, and monolingual, I thought I was generally done learning (pre-existing) words. Then yesterday I discovered that "quay, " a word I'd only ever seen written, is pronounced like "key, "

[rab]

Just found this series. Loved them all so far. I'll be going back to watch them all! She actually makes grammar and etymology fun!

[luuketaylor]

Of all the years I've spent binging linguistic content here on YouTube, this has got to be my new favorite video, Dr. B! I'm honestly in a bit of shock that after all this time I never learned, in such brevity, this concept of hypercorrection. I've already sent this video to a few of my friends who are English teachers so they too can enjoy wrapping their heads around this. Storied is a gem on this platform.

[MorganThaGorgan]

One of my favorite phenomenons in English speakers is this idea that if you have only ever read a word, but have never heard it said you end up with completely different words.
For years, I thought rapport was pronounced just as you see it (rap-part). Turns out you don't even pronounce the t and the a is more like an e (rep-poor).
Weirdly enough, I have found Spanish, Cayuga, Seneca, Cherokee and Navajo to be easier to learn and more consisten than english. English really is one of those languages where even the speakers don't know it very well.