yvanspijk, 23 days ago Why is 'laugh' written with -ugh while it ends with an [f] sound? It's because the spelling 'laugh' reflects how the word was pronounced in Late Middle English, some 500 years ago. Click the video to listen to a phonetic reconstruction of how this verb evolved from 3rd-century BC Proto-Germanic to modern-day Standard English. The Middle English to Early Modern English stages are based on the dialect of the region of London. video/mp4
Why is 'laugh' written with -ugh while it ends with an [f] sound?
It's because the spelling 'laugh' reflects how the word was pronounced in Late Middle English, some 500 years ago.
Click the video to listen to a phonetic reconstruction of how this verb evolved from 3rd-century BC Proto-Germanic to modern-day Standard English.
The Middle English to Early Modern English stages are based on the dialect of the region of London.
video/mp4
phryk, 23 days ago @yvanspijk People have obviously already mentioned that laghen is pronounced like "lachen" in German, but what I find funnier is that laugh(e) is pronounced exactly like the German "Lauch" for leek.
@yvanspijk People have obviously already mentioned that laghen is pronounced like "lachen" in German, but what I find funnier is that laugh(e) is pronounced exactly like the German "Lauch" for leek.
faticake, 23 days ago @yvanspijk i love this. How does the diacritic for [l] in Old English affect its pronunciation?
@yvanspijk i love this. How does the diacritic for [l] in Old English affect its pronunciation?
yvanspijk, 23 days ago @faticake It shows it's an unvoiced [l] sound, so you don't use your vocal cords. Icelandic, too, has it in words starting with 'hl'.
@faticake It shows it's an unvoiced [l] sound, so you don't use your vocal cords. Icelandic, too, has it in words starting with 'hl'.
faticake, 23 days ago @yvanspijk thanks! Had to go to YouTube to hear more example of voiceless [l]
@yvanspijk thanks! Had to go to YouTube to hear more example of voiceless [l]
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