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ArchivesRe: Leigh vs Lee
in reply to a message by thegriffon
Thank you
I simply seek to ensure that we do not argue - life is too short; the history of English - as with any language, cannot be entirely separated from a social history - with the confluence through the "hundred years war" amidst the English & French brought additional Latin influence via francais (I am not attempting to be correct with my francais phrase - only to lighten intentions).
So perhaps the Leigh spelling may also sound as "Leif".
I love that among many other words - the word 'Apophthegm' still bears traces of "editorial difficulties".
I intend these questions rhetorically - not toward you.
Once we edit the 'ph' (and eventually the g) from "Apophthegm" to "Apothegm" to "Apotheme" - (moving from 'g' to 'y' to silent 'e') have we given commercial book / dictionary publishers the right to remove traces of history for profit? Indeed we have! Who is to decide the correct spelling? If I were a student at a spelling B, or even just a (weekly?) spelling test, would I be incorrect to spell the with the "ph" when lexicographers themselves use the 'ph' for words borrowed from Greek? I find it disturbing that children are graded, and sadly degraded, for spelling when there is no source of absolute validity.
I simply seek to ensure that we do not argue - life is too short; the history of English - as with any language, cannot be entirely separated from a social history - with the confluence through the "hundred years war" amidst the English & French brought additional Latin influence via francais (I am not attempting to be correct with my francais phrase - only to lighten intentions).
So perhaps the Leigh spelling may also sound as "Leif".
I love that among many other words - the word 'Apophthegm' still bears traces of "editorial difficulties".
I intend these questions rhetorically - not toward you.
Once we edit the 'ph' (and eventually the g) from "Apophthegm" to "Apothegm" to "Apotheme" - (moving from 'g' to 'y' to silent 'e') have we given commercial book / dictionary publishers the right to remove traces of history for profit? Indeed we have! Who is to decide the correct spelling? If I were a student at a spelling B, or even just a (weekly?) spelling test, would I be incorrect to spell the with the "ph" when lexicographers themselves use the 'ph' for words borrowed from Greek? I find it disturbing that children are graded, and sadly degraded, for spelling when there is no source of absolute validity.
This message was edited 6/18/2018, 3:31 AM
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