The Irregularities in the Correspondence of Sound and Symbol in English

Jiaying Li

doi:10.18282/l-e.v10i1.2215

Jiaying Li Beijing Forestry University School of Foreign Languages

Article ID: 2215

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18282/l-e.v10i1.2215

Keywords: Irregularities, Orthography, Great Vowel Shift, Dialects

Abstract

In English, there is no simple sound-symbol correspondence system. One letter of the alphabet does not represent the same sound all the time, nor does a specific sound always find its representation in one letter of the alphabet. This inconsistency of English sound and its spelling symbols poses a great difficulty to L2 and foreign language learners. This study will look at the reasons for this problem of inconsistency; the manifestation of these inconsistencies and make some suggestions to ease the problem for second and foreign language learners.

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