jellybelly44  +  629177 Fri, 02 Jan 09 01:03 PM I was wondering if anyone could explain why some words are spelt the same but pronounced slighlty differently? For example 'sun' is pronounced differently in 'unsung' compared to in 'asunder'. Any ideas? jellybelly44 Joined on Fri, Jan 2 2009 New Member 01

	gosz  +  629322 Fri, 02 Jan 09 07:34 PM The are zillions of such examples (e.g. the different sounds in eat and great). English is very irregular when it comes to its pronunciation rules. As far as I know, the reason would be the language's complicated history - it started it off as a Germanic language with influences from the surrounding Scandinavian and Celtic and possibly other languages. The English language from this period (5th - 12th c.) is called Old English. It later underwent serious changes due to what the invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066 brought along, namely the French language, which, unlike English, is a Romance language. The language from this period is referred to as Middle English. To sum up, you can find traces of various influences in nowadays English that are reflected in the various ways of spelling and pronuncation. gosz Joined on Fri, Jan 2 2009 New Member 11 Pronunciation, Spelling, Speaking, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Writing, Languages

	CalifJim  +  629391 Sat, 03 Jan 09 01:38 AM Welcome to English Forums! The context can make a big difference. The n, for example, is pronounced differently when it is followed by a g or k or c or x or q, compared with when it is followed by other letters. unsung, asunder. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,395 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages, Context

	Kooyeen  +  629648 Sat, 03 Jan 09 03:33 PM CalifJim “The n, for example, is pronounced differently when it is followed by a g or k or c or x or q, compared with when it is followed by other letters. unsung, asunder.” Heh, now you are forcing me to ask you about some interesting stuff! How do you say "increase"?   /ɪnkris/ or /ɪŋkris/? How about uncommon? With /nk/ or /ŋk/? This has to do with assimilation, and I have been struggling with this damn feature for quite a while. It is very difficult, if not impossible for me, to "hear" assimilation while listening to English, unless it's done in very slow speech too. Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,969 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts Speaking, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Speeches, Languages