29. Illogical Vowel Spellings

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One can list and categorise the numerous words that have a vowel spelt in an unexpected way

THE UNRELIABILITY OF ENGLISH SPELLING

English spelling is famous for not accurately representing pronunciation. There are some interesting historical reasons for this in a book by the well-known linguist David Crystal − click here for a review by the Guardian newspaper.

Spellings can mislead in various ways. There may be a consonant that is not pronounced (see 155. Silent Consonants), or even an entire syllable (e.g. in comfortable, temperature and parliament). Some consonants, such as -s on verbs and nouns, change their pronunciation according the sound before them (see 243 Pronunciation Secrets, #2). Some vowels, such as the “e”s in present, change their pronunciation but not their spelling according to the way their word is used (see 11. Homonyms and Homographs and 125. Stress and Emphasis). And some spellings have no “main” pronunciation but multiple alternatives with no obvious rule for choosing among them (e.g. “ough” in though, thought and through; or “ch” in chair and choir − see 90. The Greek Impact on English Vocabulary).

Illogical vowel spellings are another major kind of spelling unreliability. They may be defined as vowel letters whose pronunciation in a particular word is different from what it is in most other words. The pronunciation of the letter “a”, for example, is normally expected to be as in cap or cape or carp (or as /Ə/ when unstressed), but in the word village is illogical because it must be pronounced like the letter “i” (/vɪlɪʤ/). Such unexpected pronunciations are likely to cause errors in the same way as unexpected grammar does (see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1).

There are very few easy clues to the pronunciation of illogical vowels. It can occasionally help if you know a language where one originated (see 90. The Greek Impact on English Vocabulary and 135. French Influences on English Vocabulary). Usually the pronunciations just have to be discovered and memorised (see 91. Pronunciation in Reading Aloud). The aim of the present post is to provide a reference list of as many illogical vowel spellings as possible.

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VOWEL LETTERS VERSUS VOWEL SOUNDS

Before looking at the list, however, I want to highlight the important distinction between vowel letters and vowel sounds. Most people, when asked what a vowel is, will list the five main English vowel letters: a, e, i, o and u. If asked what sounds these represent, they will fairly easily recognise that each letter represents at least two different sounds: “short”, as in cap, and “long”, as in cape (the presence or absence of a final “e” making the difference), so that ten English vowel sounds can be quickly named. However, the actual total of English vowel sounds is around 21, more than in many languages.

When there are only five vowel letters to express so many sounds, it is no wonder that English spelling is so tricky. Adding an “e” to the end of words is one of various clever ways that English has of getting around this spelling problem. Other devices are combining two vowel letters together (ea, ei, ie, oi, ou, etc.), and putting a particular consonant after a vowel: “r” as in words like harp and firm, “w” as in raw, and “y” as in pay and boy (see 155. Silent Consonants).

In each of the lists that follow, all of the words have the same vowel sound, but none of them spells this sound in the expected way. The vowel in question is shown at the start of the list by means of both a phonetic symbol and a word with normal spelling. This will hopefully highlight the irregularity of the spellings in the list so that they can be memorised more easily. As already mentioned, the lists are not complete. This means that I would be grateful for any additions that readers can suggest. 

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LIST OF ILLOGICALLY-SPELLED VOWELS

(a) Illogical Spellings of /e/ said as in “bed” 

said (an especial problem!), says, ate, any, head, lead (noun), read (past tense verb), thread, (in)stead, dread, bread, breadth, meadow, measure, jealous, cleanse, weapon, breath, leaven, heaven, heather, leather, feather, weather, realm, meant, bury, lieutenant (= lef-), leopard, jeopardy, Geoffrey, leisure, heifer, friend. 

 

(b) Illogical Spellings of /ı/ said as in “sit” 

I am not counting as illogical the very common use of “e” to spell /ı/ at the start of many words, like prefer, as well as in the -est ending and in some instances of –es and -ed, e.g. rushes and reported (see 86. The Pronunciation of “e” and “i”). The more illogical spellings are:

village (and most words ending –age, e.g. advantage, average, damage, message, passage, village – see 135. French Influences on English Vocabulary), knowledge, women (both vowels), minute (noun), busy, business, captain, forfeit, biscuit, circuit, guilt, guitar, sovereign, challenge, furnace, solace, surface, purchase, determine, urine, doctrine, intestine, discipline, hypocrite, promise, abyss, analytic, pyramid, sieve, anemone, breeches.

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(c) Illogical Spellings of /ʌ/ said as in “cup” 

The letter “o” so frequently has this sound that it is almost an ambiguous vowel rather than an illogical one. Examples are ton, won, son, front, stomach, other, oven, cover, monk, monkey (but not donkey!), money, monetary, month, mother, among, (ac)company (but not companion!), accomplish, accomplice, covenant, come, some, comfort(able), compass, London, onion, worry, wonder(ful), constable, sponge, love, dove, done, does, sloven(ly). Other notable words are southern, flourish, touch, double, trouble, cucumber (not strictly illogical, but confusing because the first “cu-“ is pronounced differently), rough, tough, slough, enough, hiccough, blood, flood.
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(d) Illogical Spellings of /ɒ/ said as in “boss”

because, laural, gone, scone, trough, cough, shoulder, mould, knowledge, yacht, blancmange, exalt, halt, halter, salt(y), what, wad, was, wallet, wand, wander, want, wanton, warrior, wash, watch, warrant, swan, swap, swat, quaff, quality, quantity, qualify, quantify, quandary, quash, quarrel, squander, squash, squat, squalid, fiancé, rendezvous, entrepreneur.

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(e) Illogical Spellings of /eə/ said as in “care” or “hair” 

pear, bear, tear, wear, vary, variable, parents, area, malaria, scarce, their, there, where, heir (silent “h”), mayor, prayer.
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(f) Illogical Spellings of /ɔ:/ said as in “born” or “lawn” or “roar” or “taut”

August, automatic (“au” is not so illogical, but in these words it is often mispronounced to sound like “ow” in now), all (and most other -all words like ball, call, small – but not shall), alter, altar, alternative, almighty, almost, almanac, although, walk, stalk, talk, war, ward, warm, warn, wart, towards, warble, swarm, water, wharf, quart, quarter, four, pour, your, court, mourn, tournament, door, poor, floor, boor, caught, taught, naught(y), haughty, daughter, distraught, ought, thought, fought.

 

(g) Illogical Spellings of /ɑ:/ said as in “harm” 

are, ask, cask, mask, task, clasp, grasp, clerk, heart, can’t, chant, slant, grant, father, lather, rather, example, half, alms, balm(y), calm, palm, qualm, psalm, aunt, laugh(ter), castle, glass, massage, sabotage, garage (American English), mirage, moustache, repertoire, reservoir, memoire, 

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(h) Illogical Spellings of /u:/ said as in “tooth” or “blue” or “blew”

do, to, who(m), shoe, manoeuvre, tomb, womb, move, prove, lose, wound (= injure), lieu , fruit, suit(able), juice, sluice, bruise, cruise.

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(i) Illogical Spellings of /eɪ/ said as in “hate” or “rain” or “may”

alien, ache, they, whey, vein, great, break, steak, eight, weigh, neigh, deign, feign, reign, fete, bidet, cachet, ricochet, ballet, bouquet, chalet, tourniquet, fiance(e), negligee, gauge, bass, plague, vague.

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(j) Illogical Spellings of /i:/ said as in “sees” or “eat” or “these” or “piece”

thesis, bidet, criteria, bacteria, experience, stereo, people, quay, key, simile, police; marine, aubergine, cuisine, magazine, margarine, routine.

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(k) Illogical Spellings of /əʊ/ said as in “boat” or “low” or “hoe” or “go”

loth, sloth, solar, sew, plateau, tableau, mauve, brooch, soul; folk, yolk.

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(l) Illogical Spellings of /ɜ/ said as in “fir” or “fur” or “her”

word, world, worm, worse, worth(y), heard, pearl, earn, learn, rehearse, gourd, journey, scourge, courteous, courtesy.

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(m) Other Illogical Spellings 

(/ju:/ as in due – few – too) beauty, feud, queue;  (/æ/ as in hat) plait;  (/ʊ/ as in book – put) woman, should, could, would, bosom;  (/aɪ/ as in bite – light – my – dye – die) buy, aye, diet, lichen, either, guide, guile, height, island, viscount, indict; (/ɪə/ as in here – pier – fear – beer) idea, weir, weird, query;  (/au/ as in now – foul) bough, plough.

28. Pronoun Errors

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Pronouns can cause errors in a surprisingly wide variety of ways 

DEFINITION OF PRONOUNS

Most people see pronouns as a way to repeat a noun meaning without repeating the noun itself (see 5. Repetition with Synonyms) – in other words as a kind of good repetition, similar to the use of DO for an earlier verb. With this use, pronouns do not stand for a constant idea as nouns do, but change their meaning according to the noun they represent. The pronoun it, for example, may mean a flower in one place and a belief in another; and when I is used by me, it will mean me, but when somebody else uses it, it will mean them.

Sometimes, however, pronouns act differently:

(a) Remember this: prices will fall. 

This here stands not for a noun, but for a whole statement, and it comes before what it represents instead of after, so that it is not exactly repeating anything. For more pre-noun uses, see 145. Highlighting with “What” Sentences and 190. Special Uses of “it”.

Moreover, some words with a pronoun use can also be adjective-like, with a directly-following noun. Technically, they are then usually called “determiners” (see 110. Nouns Without “the” or “a”). One example is this: In (a), it could precede a noun like prediction. Similar are all, any, each, enough, his, one, other, that and what. Other can give special problems (see 133. Confusions of Similar Structures 1, #2). Pronouns that cannot become determiners include mine, theirs, him, who, everybody, none and words ending in -self.

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COMMON PRONOUN ERRORS

Five common pronoun errors are discussed below. To find others, click on “Pronouns” in the CATEGORIES menu on the right. 

ERROR 1: it INSTEAD OF this 

The choice between it  and this (or their plurals they/them and these) usually depends on what they represent. For a special difference in telephone introductions, see 190. Special Uses of “it”, #1. In written texts, the choice is mostly based on where in the previous sentence the relevant noun occurs: it/they tends to repeat the subject of the previous sentence, while this/these repeats anything else. Compare: 

(b) Many factors influence people buying commodities. They can each be represented by a letter. 

(c) People buying commodities are influenced by many factors. These can each be represented by a letter. 

Example (b) has they because the repeated word (factors) is the subject of the previous verb influence. In (c), factors is not the subject of its verb, so is repeated with these, not they. If they was used, the reader might well link it with people instead of factors.

This is also the right choice when an entire preceding statement is being referred to. For example, both (b) and (c) would need this if their second sentence was …affects the way goods are marketed. This can even refer to multiple previous sentences, but normally remains singular, often after all.

This can also refer to a heading (see 178. How to Write a Heading): 

(d) PRONOUNS: these are referring words. 

Using they here instead of these would be incorrect.

An occasional alternative where this/these is possible is that/those. For the difference, see 234. Adjective and Pronoun Uses of “that”.

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ERROR 2: this WITH UNCLEAR MEANING

Because this can stand for any part of a previous sentence except its subject, there is quite often a danger that the reader will be unsure which one is intended. Even if the correct understanding is reachable with careful thought, forcing the reader to stop and think is still not desirable. Here is an example of an unclear this:

(e) Clearing forests creates a greater risk of drought. This then has to be remedied. 

Does this mean risk or drought? It is important to know which because each is remedied differently.

The advice when beginning any sentence with this is to consider adding a following noun. If this represents a single word like risk, the following noun will have to be either the same word again (not all repetition is bad – see 24. Good and Bad Repetition) or a synonym like danger. Of course, this with a noun after it will change from a pronoun to an adjective.

There is an exercise at the end of this post for practising the use of this with a generalizing noun.

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ERROR 3: RELATIVE PRONOUN WITH UNCLEAR MEANING

Relative pronouns (that, which, who, whom) mostly repeat the meaning of a noun mentioned shortly before them (see 34. Relative Pronouns and Commas and 200. Special Uses of Relative clauses). An unclear meaning is possible when the noun is one of two separated by a preposition. This situation is sometimes problem-free, sometimes not. Compare: 

(f) Drink water from a well, which tastes better.

(g) Alloys are mixtures of elements which have metallic properties.

In (f), which obviously means water, not well, because we taste water, not wells. Common sense ensures there is no uncertainty about which. In (g), however, common sense cannot help. Do the metallic properties belong to mixtures or elements? This is an important question because different answers cause the set of possible alloys to be different. If only the mixtures must have metallic properties, then some of the elements within them conceivably need not. However, if it is the elements in an alloy that must have metallic properties, then alloys cannot contain non-metallic elements.

In fact, it is only the mixtures that must have metallic properties (the alloy steel, for example, contains non-metallic carbon alongside metallic iron). Although a reader with scientific knowledge might understand that, ordinary readers could not be expected to. For them, sentence (g) would be unclear. One way to improve it is to change alloys into the generalizing singular an alloy:

(h) An alloy is a mixture of elements which has metallic properties. 

Now mixtures also becomes singular (a mixture), so that it and elements, the other noun before which, are no longer both plural. This means we can clearly associate the right noun with which: singular mixture before has, plural elements before have. This example well illustrates how even small grammar points like agreement can have huge importance for comprehension (see 288. Grammatical Subtleties).

Unclear meaning is not the only common error with relative pronouns. Others include repeating one with a second pronoun, and misusing commas.

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ERROR 4: PRONOUN REPRESENTING A FARAWAY NOUN 

Sometimes the noun that we want to represent with a pronoun is not in the sentence before but earlier. In these cases it is better to repeat the noun. The problem with faraway original nouns is that the reader has to remember what they are – and the further away they are, the harder the remembering becomes. Faraway nouns also increase the number of possible alternative nouns that the pronoun might stand for, making the reader more likely to match the pronoun with the wrong noun. 

Similar to pronouns representing faraway nouns are pronouns at the start of a paragraph. New paragraphs create as much of a separation of ideas as distance does. The advice, then, is to avoid using pronouns in the first sentence of a paragraph.

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ERROR 5: BROKEN AGREEMENT RULE 

Some pronouns change their form according to the type of noun they represent. For example, he becomes she when representing a female instead of male noun, and they when representing a plural rather than singular one (see 204. Grammatical Agreement). Making the wrong choice seems especially likely when it is between certain singular and plural forms. The singular ones usually involved are he, him, she, her, it, this and that. Their plural equivalents are they, them, these and those.

Here is a typical error:

(i) *It is important when using pronouns to give it the correct form. 

The singular it here should of course be the plural them because it represents a plural noun pronouns. My advice for avoiding this error is to pause before writing any of the pronouns listed above, and to look consciously for the noun it represents in order to check whether a singular or a plural form is needed.

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PRACTICE EXERCISE: “this” + SUMMATIVE NOUN

The following exercise is from my book Grammar Practice for Professional Writing. Each pair of spaces below needs this (or these) and a noun. Each noun should summarise words written in bold letters in the sentence before it. An example is given at the start. Suggested answers are at the end.

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1. Young people who have grown up without proper parental care are more likely to become criminals, take drugs and suffer failed relationships.  However,     this           outcome     is avoided if antisocial behaviour is treated with a loving rather than punitive response.

2. An overhead projector enables a presenter to show complex visuals that have been prepared in advance.  However  ________  _________  is lost if the electricity supply is unreliable.

3. Tourist entry visas for this country are not at all difficult or expensive to obtain.   ________   _________ reflects the government’s need for more visitors and the foreign currency that they bring.

4. In 1914 the major European powers were strongly competing for overseas colonies, and they had formed a network of international alliances to protect their interests.  ________    ________  help to explain why war broke out that year.

5. Significant improvements in international transport and communications mean that the number of people interested in the football World Cup and keen to travel to the host country has grown dramatically.  However, the availability of tickets has remained roughly constant, with the result that they can now be sold over the Internet at astonishingly increased prices.  _______ _________ illustrates the strong influence of supply and demand on prices.

6. British tourists like to be out in hot, sunny weather, they often choose food that is cooked in a very simple way, and they are unwilling to learn even a few words of any foreign language.  ________  _________ make them easily recognisable when they are on holiday abroad.

7. A refrigerator works by pumping a special gas through a narrow tube that passes both inside and outside the cooling space.  Whilst inside this space, the gas is pressurized so much that it condenses, taking heat from its surrounds.  When it passes to the outside, it is changed back into gas, thus releasing the previously-collected heat. _______  _________  continues until the temperature inside falls to the required level.

8. Yip (1994) cites a Chinese learner of English who professed amazement at the previously unheard-of idea that the subject of an active verb might receive rather than cause the action of the verb, and whose verb form accuracy rapidly improved after this usage had been highlighted.  _______  _________  suggests that incomplete information about the English voice system can cause unnecessary confusion, and that there is value in providing more complete descriptions.

9. Women in employment tend to have fewer children because usually they attach great importance to keeping their job and they are affluent enough to resist the pressures that force poorer women to have large families.  ________  _________ clarify the link between economic growth and population decline.

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ANSWERS (other choices may also be possible)

2 = this advantage;  3 = this policy;  4 = these developments;  5 = this situation;  6 = these characteristics;  7 = this process;  8 = this evidence;  9 = these reasons.