I have to laugh when I listen to the French talking about the English language.
According to them, it is a language of exceptions.
“Where are the rules?“, they ask me.
They have a point!
I’m certainly not going to argue with that, when it comes to English pronunciations.
Take the group of letters ‘OUGH‘. There doesn’t seem to be any logic in the pronunciation of the following:
- dough, though
- through
- tough, rough, enough
- trough, cough
- hiccough
- bough, Slough, plough
- borough, Loughborough, thorough
- ought, bought, fought, thought
- drought
- brought, overwrought
- lough
That makes 9 distinct pronunciations of OUGH!
I must admit I had to research the pronunciation of the last one. Clearly not part of my regular vocabulary.
Enter
Gerard Nolst Trenité (1870-1946)
Born in Utrecht in the Netherlands, son of a minister, teacher and writer under the pseudonym CHARIVARIUS, he regarded himself as an observer of the English language.
His poem, called CHAOS, clearly shows his mastery of the English language, and above all, its idiosyncrasies.
So here goes.
Enjoy the read. Enjoy the poetry. Enjoy the absence of rules!
The CHAOS by Gerard Nolst Trenité
special thanks to GOODREADS (see link below in Resources)
“Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter,……………..
click to see the full poem …………
― Gerard Nolst Trenité, Drop your Foreign Accent
Resources
lock.mp3. (2023). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/lough
Gerard Nolst Trenité (Author of The Chaos). (n.d.). https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5441150.Gerard_Nolst_Trenit_
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