Rules for pronunciation from spelling?

Question

Is there a kind of list of rules that one could rely on for the pronunciation while reading?I'm quite sure there's some kind of rule that explain how to properly read english. It often happens when I read, especially since I started to study a bit more how to pronounce correctly, that I read words that I already know but I have to look up to the dictionary to check how that word is actually pronounced.

Answer 1

There are several very helpful spelling and pronunciation rules that are often omitted in formal language instruction.

One such rule is that C softens to /s/ when followed by E, I, or Y. Otherwise C says /k/.

Silent final E has many roles beyond the one it is most famous for, which is making the vowel say its name. However, that only explains about half of silent final E words. For example, in DANCE and PRINCE, the A and I are short. So why do they have a silent final E? The E is there to make each C soften to /s/. Otherwise the words would say /dank/ and /prink/.

The rule for C softening also explains why picnic + ing gets a K to form picnicking. Without the K, the C would be next to an I and would have to soften to /picnising/.

As you can see, a single simple rule can explain so many mysteries of English. While is English is often characterized as being full of exceptions, it is really a deliciously rich and robust code.