nwdfanparade wrote:cracka wrote:The English language. F*** its confuses me. Isn't the rule i before e except after c. Well then why the F*** is forfeit spelt like it is.
On the Q.I. programme, Stephen Fry pointed out that there are so many words that contradict the " i before e " rule that the rule is virtually useless.
The correct and more reliable form of the rule is:
When the sound is "ee" it is "i" before "e" except after "c".
"Forfeit" is not pronounced "for
feet" but more like "
forfit". (Except maybe in the USA.)
It as a bit like like de
fence in English and
deefence in the US.
Similarly C and G are normally, but not always, soft before Y,
So, "sycle" for cycle and "jyroscope" for gyroscope.
And while we are here, schedule is "shedule" in English and "skedule" only in American.
But there are always exceptions because English as a language is not simply Germanic or Latinate, but a complex blend of words from many sources.