[Lexicog] English homonyms

[Mike Maxwell]

Kim Blewett wrote:
> Referring to John Roberts' list of homophones. Great list. I agree that all
> languages have some degree of homophony, but English is likely the most
> extreme example of different spellings for homophones.
 > ...
> John lists several examples which are homophones in British English but not
> in American English:

I think that's the issue--English orthography is so highly etymological
that it abstracts away from a lot of dialectal variation.  So what's a
homophone in one dialect may not be in another--one reason spelling
reform has never caught on in English, I suppose.

Besides, where would we be without that quintessential American
intelligence test, the Spelling Bee?  (Sorry, don't get me going on
this, or I'll be spouting off about how useless it is to teach more than
the bare essentials of algebra to High School students.  And that will
definitely be off-topic.)

	Mike Maxwell


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