Name spelling rules

[AngSam]

I have a question. Are there any rules on spelling and pronouncing names? How about correcting people on how to spell and pronounce names, would you bother?
Example, girl named Joan (general pronouncing sounds like John) but her is Jo An?
Or Laura not Lora but LAUra
Your thoughts?

Its like claiming that rhotic accents add in an "uh" sound to make the "Ruh" of an R. They don't.

I actually don't know what you mean. Or why you seem to be offended. I am English, and adding rs between a word that ends with a vowel and another that starts with one is a recognised feature of the English accent. It is called an intrusive r.

I'd just like to add that at no point was I picking holes or claiming that pronouncing r was better than not or vice versa, just pointing out that there is a difference. A difference that some people with different accents on this thread have used to describe how names are pronounced by them/in their area. I have no idea why one poster has taken offence and denied this happens.

@steppemum The scottish person should have been able to hear the difference between wh and w. I have vivid memories of primary school and being taught the different sounds that which and witch make.

@WooMaWang I've just wandered around saying which & witch numerous times & have come to the conclusion that when saying which the sound is sort of pushed outwards & witch it is drawn inwards if that makes any sense probably not

The added R is definitely a thing my sister (Scottish born & bred) has been in Kent for around 15 years & has picked it up - she has a sort of weird hybrid accent now & it's infuriating talking to her so much so that I ask tell her to speak properly.

Which is why people get confused when someone writes, "i put it in the draw".

This is just bad writing though surely irrespective of how you pronounce the word it is still spelt the same way?

This is just bad writing though surely irrespective of how you pronounce the word it is still spelt the same way?

I agree but you come across it a lot. The reasoning given for it being done is because it sounds the same so the extra letters seem pointless. I've also been told that language evolves so maybe that's just how it will be written from now on. Can't see that happening...

Why do people write 'loose' when they mean 'lose'. Is it to do with predictive text, or ignorance?

Francis
I totally understand your friends objections!

The problem is, I CAN'T pronounce the r on the end, no matter how much I try. And I speak 4 languages, 3 of which use a rhotic r, 2 MUCH more than any British regional accent (although, having written that, I realise that many Scottish speakers have a very strong rhotic r, so manybe not) so I have really, really tried to learn it. I must sound like I have a lisp to native speakers

WooMaWang - does it not depend on which part of Scotland? I can't remember where she was from though.
I can, if I over exaggerate, make a difference between which and witch. The h is breathed out a bit, but in any sort of normal speech, no difference for me.

@eddiemairswife because they do not know the correct spelling. That simple. And because they are both actual words, it wont be flagged up by spell check.

How people write ‘alot’ as a word I never understand, because the red line appears straight away!

I don't know of any Scottish people who wouldn't hear the difference between the w and wh sound. There would never be any confusion between weather and whether for example because they are pronounced differently up here.

@CalleighDoodle my spellcheck tells me outwith isn't a word but I chose to ignore it because it's clearly defective

@NatashaAlianovaRomanova I now have all my English colleagues using outwith as it's such a useful word in our industry and they now can't live without it.

@WaxOnFeckOff i use it with London based colleagues & clients all the time. We should start a petition to have it added to the dictionary, if we can have words like fleek & twerk I don't see why we can't have outwith it's the perfect opposite to within.

I can 't hear the difference between w and wh.
Which and witch sound the same to me.

We should start a petition to have it added to the dictionary

I'm up for that. :o

It's very difficult teaching sounds to children with different accents. We have a phonics lesson that concentrates on the wh sound and as we pronounce it, then it's easy. I'd struggle if I was teaching it in an area where they didn't. I guess which becomes wich

If you've seen family guy you might have seen stewie saying hhhhwwwwip, coool hhhhwipp, emily.

What part of the UK is it that has a hard g on the end of words like going?

I've seen 'in tact' a few times. 'High rate' has to be one of the best ones I've seen.

I agree with @Corneliawildthing about the difficulty teaching phonics to children with different accents. I'm in Ireland but we work with Jolly Phonics which uses an RP accent, I think. The 'er' phoneme causes huge consternation each year as it's pronounced completely differently in the local accent. We stick with how it's pronounced locally