On 10/04/2014 11:02 AM, Anton Aylward wrote:
When I moved from Manchester to London many people couldn't understand what I was saying. English, like many other languages, might have the same spelling but differing pronunciation of words according to regions. The extreme case of this is Chinese where the dialects differ but the written form is the same.
Other Brits tell me that the "Parisian" French they learnt in England and used satisfactorily in Paris was unintelligible and no use in Quebec City; and even within Quebec the province the French I used that acceptable in the Maritime provinces was met with incomprehension by some shopkeepers outside Montreal. (And I couldn't understand them either!)
Sometimes, when watching British TV shows, I wonder if they're speaking English. ;-)
I'm sure that people in the USA are well aware that different regions handle vowels, long and short, differently, words like "grass" and "grasp".
Doing a network install in Kentucky once I was told that I sounded like someone from New York by one person, from Vermont or Maine by another. Both were surprised to hear I was from Canada. "How do you think Canadians sound?" "well, not you you."
I was born in Toronto and raised in the area. Some people think I have an accent. I guess Toronto born, British decent people are a minority these days.
At a conference in Baltimore one time I thought the receptionist sounded like she was from Kent, England. No, she said she was from New Mexico.
Going from the sound to the dictionary often doesn't help. English has too many homonyms and homophones even before you start dealing with accents.
Dictionaries are great when you know the spelling up front.
I've often referred to the dictionary to find the spelling of words. Perhaps that's why my spelling is generally fairly good (typos excepted) and why I rarely use the wrong word. It's really amazing how often I've heard people use the word "concerning", when it's obvious from the context that they don't know what it means. It means relating to, not worrisome, disturbing etc. Another one I often notice is how people don't seem to know the difference between fewer and less. It's fewer for things you count and less for things you measure. Then we get to your, when it should be "you're" etc.. When I was a kid, I learned to use a dictionary. It's clear that many people don't know how. I've owned one for many years and it still sits on my bookshelf. But these days, I'm more likely to use an on-line one. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org