Why do some letters in the alphabet produce the same sound?

Answer 1

Hi!

In some languages there is a correlation between a letter (or group of letters) and a sound. Italian and Spanish are relatively phonetic, for example. Other languages, like English, aren't phonetic. Alphabets don't produce sound - they are a tool used to write down language. They don't always (or usually even!) accurately portray the sounds in language though.

English is based mostly on old Germanic and Latin roots. Our writing system reflects the long history of the written word using not just modern languages, but early modern English, Old English, French, Latin, German and other languages that influenced our language along the way. This means that words in English are often based on a historical way of using the language. The word "often" for example is not pronounced as it is written. In American English we say "off in". Another example is "I'm going to go to the store" If you speak quickly and informally, you say "I'm gonna go ta the store" or if you are really sloppy "I munna go ta the store"