Children differ enormously in their ability to spell, depending on the quality of the visual memory they were born with. Roughly half will never become very proficient.
One of these days people will come to realise that making children learn so much illogical nonsense is insane, verging on child abuse, and decide to modernise English spelling. With 80 of the 91 main English spelling patterns having some or many exceptions, and at least 4,217 common English words containing unpredictable spelling quirks of some kind, there is no quick or easy way to learn them all.
I analysed the spellings of the 7,000 most used English words to establish exactly how regular / irregular English spelling is.
U can see the results below, with examples of the main patterns and all different spellings. - (The figures in brackets show how many of the 7,000 words which I analysed use each of the main patterns - and how many have different spellings. (0) means the spelling has no exceptions.)
- a: cat – plait, meringue (466 a – 3 other)
- a-e: plate – wait, weight, straight, great, table dahlia, fete (338 – 69)
-ain: rain – lane, vein, reign, champagne (39 – 19)
-ay: play – they, weigh,ballet, cafe, matinee (35 – 20)
- air: care – hair, bear, aerial, their, there, questionnaire (31-are – 27 other)
- ar: car – are + (Southern Engl. bath) (138 – 1)
- au: sauce – caught, bought,always, tall, crawl (44 au – 76 other)
-aw: saw – (0)- but in UK 11-aw + 40 awe, or, four, sore, war
- b: bed (0)
- ca/o/u: cat, cot, cut – character, kangaroo, queue (1022 – 33)
cr/cl: crab/ clot – chrome, chlorine (192 – 10)
-c: lilac –stomach, anorak (89 – 9)
-ck: neck –cheque, rec (62 – 6)
k: kite/ kept – chemistry (124 – 7)
-k: seek –unique (36 – 5)
-sk: risk –disc, mosque (86 – 10)
qu: quick – acquire, choir (78 – 4)
x: fix – accept, except, exhibit (98 – 15)
- ch: chest – cello (155 – 1)
-tch: clutch – much (24 – 7)
9 d: dad – add, blonde (1,010 – 3)
10. e: end– head, any, said, Wednesday, friend, leisure,
leopard, bury (301 – 67)
11. er: her – turn, bird, learn, word, journey (70er – 124 other)
12. ee: eat– eel, even, ceiling, field, police,people,
me, key,ski, debris, quay (152ea – 304 other)
--y: jolly– trolley, movie, corgi (475 – 39)
13. f: fish– photo, stuff, rough (580 - 44)
14. g: garden– ghastly, guard (171– 28)
15. h: house– who (237 – 4)
16. i: ink– mystery, pretty, sieve, women, busy, build (421 – 53)
17. i-e: bite – might, style, mild, kind, eider, height, climb
island indict sign (278 – 76)
-y: my – high,pie, rye, buy, I, eye (17 – 14)
18. j: jam/ jog/ jug (0)
jelly, jig – gentle, ginger (18 – 20)
-ge: gorge (0)
-dg: fidget– digit (29 – 11)
19. l: last– llama (1,945 – 1)
20: m: mum– dumb, autumn (1,128 – 19)
21. n: nose– knot, gone, gnome, mnemonic (2,312 – 34)
22. -ng: ring (0)
23. o: on– cough, sausage, gone(357 – 5)
want – wont (19 – 1)
24. o-e: mole – bowl, roll, soul; old – mould
boast, most, goes, mauve (171 – 100)
-o: no –toe, dough, sew, cocoa, pharaoh, oh, depot (106 – 59)
25. oi: oil– oyster (29 –1)
-oy: toy –buoy (12 – 1)
26. oo (long): food– rude, shrewd, move, group, fruit, truth, tomb,
blue, do, shoe, through, manoeuvre (94 – 108)
27. oo (short): good– would, put, woman, courier (15 -21)
28. or: order– board, court; wart, quart – [worn, quorn] (188 – 16)
-ore:more – soar, door, four, war, swore, abhor (23– 17)
+ (14 –aw/awe in UK)
29. ou: out– town (74 – 24);
-ow: now – plough (11 – 4)
30. p: pin (0)
31. r: rug– rhubarb, write (1,670 – 27)
32. s: sun – centre, scene (138 – 49)
-ce: face – case; fancy– fantasy (153 – 65)
33. sh: shop – chute, sure, moustache, liquorice (166 – 30)
-tion: ignition– mission, pension, suspicion, fashion (216 – 81)
34. t: tap, pet – pterodactyl, two, debt (1,398 – 4)
--te: delicate – democrat (52 – 3)
35. th (sharp): this (0)
36. th (soft): thing (0)
37. u: up– front, some, couple, blood (308 – 68)
38. u-e: cute – you, newt, neutral, suit, beauty, Tuesday, nuclear (137 – 21)
-ue: cue –few, view, menu (20– 22)
39. v: van (0)
-ve: have –spiv (116– 3) [80 with surplus –e]
-v-: river– chivvy (73 – 7) – v/vv after short vowel
40. w: window– which (216 – 31)
41. y: yak– use (31 – 11)
42. z: zip– xylophone (16 – 1)
-se: rose –froze (85– 33)
wise– size (UK 31 – 3, US 11 – 22)
43. zh: -si-/-su-: vision, measure – azure (20 – 3)
44. Unstressed, unclear vowel sound (or schwa),
occurring mainly in 8 endings and 2 prefixes:
-able: loveable– credible(33 – 17)
-ccle: bundle (2 consonants + -le for -l) (0)
-al: vertical– novel, anvil, petrol (200+ – 32)
-ary: ordinary– machinery, inventory, century, carpentry(37 – 55)
-en: fasten– abandon, truncheon, orphan, goblin, certain (73 – 132)
-ence: absence– balance (33 – 26)
-ent: absent – pleasant (176 – 58)
-er: father –author, armour, nectar, centre, injure,quota (UK 340, US 346 – 135/129)
butcher – picture (42 –ure)
de-: decide – divide (57 – 29)
in-: indulge – endure (73 – 30)
Consonant doubling rule for showing short, stressed vowels:
merry (regular) – very(missing) – serrated(surplus)
(423 - 554 - 195)
The use of doubled consonants for distinguishing between long and short a, i, o and u (e.g. mate - matted, diner - dinner) is further undermined by 200 surplus -e (gave - have, surprise - promise).
Masha Bell