The illogicality of English Pronunciation

Question

Reading Eddy's post on the Variations of "Ough" reminded me of a word puzzle I learned years ago.

Try to find out what this is spelling, and why:

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GHOTI

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This sounds out a common English word, however it is spelled phonetically with letters that are used in other words but that together create the same sound as the answer.

If you think you have guessed the word, tell us why it is the answer by providing an explanation using other words which make similar sounds. (There may be more than one answer... )

Answer 1

Ghoti is fish.

"gh" is "f" as in rouGH; "o" is "i" as in wOmen; 't" is "sh" as in naTIon.

(When I was an English teacher, I used this with my kids.)

Wow~~If this is the correct answer~~that's fantastic! I was stuck on "GH" as "F". :-) - Dee914, Jan 12, 2010

Answer 2

This is an old grammar school problem that actually makes several errors regarding the circumstances that allow certain pronunciations. That being said, the most amusing answer to pronounce "g" as the second "g" in "slugged" (ie. it is silent), "t" as the second "t" in "slotted (also silent), "h" as in "what" (also silent), "i" as in "drained" (also silent), and "o" as in "you" (also silent.)

So... What's your guess? - chaparrito, Jan 12, 2010

The traditional answer is fish, but it is incorrect since it violates several rules of pronunciation, as does my answer that it is silent. - lorenzo9, Jan 13, 2010

So what you're saying is that your answer is - chaparrito, Jan 13, 2010

Right? :-D - chaparrito, Jan 13, 2010

Yep :) - lorenzo9, Jan 13, 2010

Answer 3

It's "fish".

Volpon already explained it pretty well...."f" in enough or rough, "i" like women, and "sh" like nation, station, corporation...

My geography teacher told me that one in grade school.

Next!

Answer 4

Well Volpon and Silent-H are correct, and lorenzo knew the answer but took it a step further by saying that ______ is also correct (that is, silence... nothing... )

• F = 'G H' from the sound these latters make in 'Rough'
• I = 'O' from the sound this letter makes in 'Women'
• S H = 'T I' from the sound these latters make in 'Nation'

Of course I did not mean this as a way to explain English pronunciation rules, but rather as an enlightening way to look at it from an English learners point of view. For this reason many can learn to speak English more easily than they can learn to read English. You may find it interesting that there is has been interest for many years by a small movement to change the structure of English spelling. Check out this Wiki article for some background. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_spelling_reform

Answer 5

Ok, so, I had an idea, and then I wrote it out, and then I read back through everyone else's answers again, and then I realized that I had completely missed the point, so, that is why I'm just blabbering on and on right here.

I must say though, that is very confusing and made me think. Made me think hard...

Hard, eh? I hope you didn't strain anything. ;-) - chaparrito, Jan 13, 2010

Answer 6

Just another reason English is hard.