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Talk6 min

Why is English so confusing?

Arika Okrent · TED

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About

Spelling reformers have been advocating for changes to make English spelling more intuitive and less irregular. One example of its messiness: take the “g-h” sound from “enough,” the “o” sound from “women” and the “t-i” sound from “action,” and you could argue that “g-h-o-t-i” spells “fish.” So, how did English get like this? Arika Okrent explores the complexity of English spelling conventions. [Directed by Emily Howells, Aaron Brady, narrated by Jack Cutmore-Scott, music by Aaron Brady].

The talk

  1. Why is English so confusing? 6 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Arika Okrent
Year
2024
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
History, Languages and linguistics, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed