jon (07/09/82)
'ghoti' has always annoyed me. It actually breaks spelling rules,
since 'gh' and 'ti' are pronounced funny only in certain environments.
'gh' may be pronounced
'g' at the beginning of a word (ghost)
'g h' in a compound word (doghouse)
silent, following vowels (night)
'f', FOLLOWING vowels. I can think of no case except following
ou or au (rough draught)
'o' pronounced as 'i' is even rarer.
Thus, while 'ghoti' does compress several oddities into one string,
it is absurd to suggest that it demonstrates English
spelling/pronunciation. In fact, I find that the quirks illustrated are
among the easier rules of English. ible/able and ent/ant are much harder
to get right.3215rfs (07/09/82)
Your reply concerning ghoti supports the point the G. B. Shaw made when he presented the word, and made again when he willed a sum of money for the salvation of the English language. These strange spelling rules that have more deviations then adherents tend to drive us all crazy. Rich