From: Ole Stig Andersen <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Ole Stig Andersen <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: spelling [was: Re: Difficult to perceive phonetic contrasts]
>Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 00:08:21 +0200
>
>John Wells wrote
>
> > And what about "lead (Pb), lead (v. present), led (v. past)", but
> > "red, read (present), read (past)"? Why do we all have to burden our
> > memories with such inconsistencies? Lectal variation has nothing to do
>with >
> > it.
>
>Which prompts me to ask:
>
>I see the common sense in the notion that spelling "inconsistencies" burden
>the memory, but is it correct? Is there any kind of hard evidence to that
>effect?
>
>
>Ole Stig Andersen
>Copenhagen
Paulescu 2000? states that languages lilke Italian that have consistently
spelled orthographies have half the number of dyslexics as USA or UK. He
thinks the cause for half the dyslexics in USA and UK is the inconsistent
phonetic spelling of English.
tom z
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