33: Why spelling is hard but also hard to change
b'Why does \\u201cgh\\u201d make different sounds in \\u201cthough\\u201d \\u201cthrough\\u201d \\u201claugh\\u201d \\u201clight\\u201d and \\u201cghost\\u201d? Why is there a silent \\u201ck\\u201d at the beginning of words like \\u201cknow\\u201d and \\u201cknight\\u201d? And which other languages also have interesting historical artefacts in their spelling systems? Spelling systems are kind of like homes \\u2013 the longer you\\u2019ve lived in them, the more random boxes with leftover stuff you start accumulating. \\n\\nIn this episode of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about spelling, and celebrate the reasons that it\\u2019s sometimes so tricky. We then dive into quirks from some of our favourite spelling systems, including English, French, Spanish, Tibetan, and Arabic. \\n\\nThis month\\u2019s bonus episode is about direction words! When you\\u2019re giving directions, do you tell someone to go north, left, or towards the sea? In this bonus episode, e talk with Alice Gaby about how different languages use different direction words. Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to gain access to the directions episode and 27 previous bonus episodes.\\n\\nBecause Internet, Gretchen\\u2019s book about internet linguistics, is coming out next month, and if you like the fun linguistics we do for Lingthusiasm, you\\u2019ll definitely like this book! You can preorder it here in hardcover, ebook, or audiobook (read by Gretchen herself) \\u2013 preorders are really important because they signal to the publisher that people are excited about linguistics, so they should print lots of copies! We really appreciate your preorders (and you can look forward to a special Q&A episode with behind the scenes info on Because Internet once it\\u2019s out!)\\n\\nFor links mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/185735719586/lingthusiasm-episode-33-why-spelling-is-hard'