View source for Spelling pronunciation

{{Short description|Pronunciation of a word influenced by its spelling}}
{{Distinguish|Pronunciation respelling{{!}}Pronunciation spelling}}
{{Original research|date=April 2022}}
A '''spelling pronunciation''' is the [[pronunciation]] of a word according to its spelling when this differs from a longstanding standard or traditional pronunciation. Words that are spelled with letters that were never pronounced or that were not pronounced for many generations or even hundreds of years have increasingly been pronounced as written, especially since the arrival of mandatory schooling and universal literacy.

Examples of words with silent letters that have begun to be often or sometimes pronounced include ''often'', ''Wednesday'', ''island'', and ''knife''{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}. In addition, words traditionally pronounced with [[vowel reduction|reduced vowels]] or [[syncope (phonetics)|omitted consonants]] (e.g. ''cupboard'', ''Worcester''), may be subject to a spelling pronunciation.

If a word's spelling was standardized prior to sound changes that produced its traditional pronunciation, a spelling pronunciation may reflect an even older pronunciation. This is often the case with compound words (e.g., ''waistcoat'', ''cupboard'', ''forehead''). It is also the case for many words with silent letters (e.g. ''often''<ref name=often>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/often ''often''] in the American Heritage Dictionary</ref>), though not all—silent letters are sometimes added for etymological reasons, to reflect a word's spelling in its language of origin (e.g. ''victual'', rhyming with ''little''<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/victuals?show=0&t=1360598212 ''victuals''] in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary</ref><ref name=victual>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120721040203/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/victual ''victual'' in ''Oxford Dictionaries'']</ref> but derived from [[Late Latin]] ''victualia''). Some silent letters were added on the basis of erroneous etymologies, as in the cases of the words ''island''<ref name=island>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/island ''island''] in the American Heritage Dictionary</ref> and ''scythe''.

Spelling pronunciations are often [[linguistic prescription|prescriptively discouraged]] and perceived as incorrect next to the traditionally accepted, and usually more widespread, pronunciation. If a spelling pronunciation persists and becomes more common, it may eventually join the existing form as a standard variant (for example ''waistcoat''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/waistcoat?view=uk |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715083206/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/waistcoat?view=uk |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 15, 2012 |title=Definition for waistcoat - Oxford Dictionaries Online (World English) |publisher=Oxforddictionaries.com |access-date=2012-05-27}}</ref> and ''often''), or even become the dominant pronunciation (as with ''forehead'' and ''falcon'').

==Prevalence and causes==
A large number of easily noticeable spelling pronunciations occurs only in languages such as French and English in which spelling tends to not indicate the current pronunciation. Because all languages have at least some words which are not spelled as pronounced,<ref>Even a language such as Finnish where almost all words are written as pronounced (in other words phonemically, often incorrectly called "phonetically") has exceptions, e.g. ''sydämen, ruoan, onko, konepaja, osta paljon, osta enemmän'' (phonemic spelling would be: sydämmen, ruuan, ongko, koneppaja, ostap paljon, osta 'enemmän), and many words borrowed from other languages.</ref> spelling pronunciations can arise in all languages. This is of course especially true for people who are only taught to read and write and who are not taught when the spelling indicates an outdated (or etymologically incorrect) pronunciation. In other words, when many people do not clearly understand where spelling came from and what it is (a tool for recording speech, not the other way around), spelling pronunciations are common.

On the other hand, spelling pronunciations are also evidence of the reciprocal effects of spoken and written language on each other.<ref name="stubbs">[https://books.google.com/books?id=dZg9AAAAIAAJ Michael Stubbs, Language and Literacy: the Sociolinguistics of Reading and Writing. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul], pp.&nbsp;31-32.</ref> Many spellings represent older forms and corresponding older pronunciations. Some spellings, however, are not etymologically correct.

Speakers of a language often privilege the spelling of words over common pronunciation, leading to a preference for, or prestige of, spelling pronunciation, with the written language affecting and changing the spoken language. Pronunciations can then arise that are similar to older pronunciations or that can even be completely new pronunciations that are suggested by the spelling but never occurred before.<ref name=stubbs/>

==Examples of English words with common spelling pronunciations==
* ''kiln'' with a fully pronounced n, instead of a silent n. Kiln was originally pronounced kil with the n silent, as is referenced in Webster's Dictionary of 1828.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Kiln | title=Websters Dictionary 1828 - Webster's Dictionary 1828 - Kiln }}</ref> From ''English Words as Spoken and Written for Upper Grades'' by James A. Bowen 1900: "The digraph ln, n silent, occurs in kiln. A fall down the kiln can kill you."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7xHAQAAMAAJ |title = English Words as Spoken and Written, for Upper Grades: Designed to Teach the Powers of Letters and the Construction and Use of Syllables |last1 = Bowen |first1 = James A. |year = 1915}}</ref>
* ''often'', pronounced with {{IPAc-en|t}}. This is actually a reversion to the 15th-century pronunciation,<ref name=often/> but the pronunciation without {{IPAc-en|t}} is still preferred by 73% of British speakers and 78% of American speakers.<ref>Wells, J. C. (2008). ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'', 3rd edn, Harlow, UK: Longman, p. 560.</ref> Older dictionaries do not list the pronunciation with {{IPAc-en|t}} although the 2nd edition of the [[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]] does (and the first edition notes the pronunciation with the comment that it is prevalent in the south of [[England]] and often used in singing; see the ''[[Dictionary of American Regional English]]'' for contemporaneous citations that discuss the status of the competing pronunciations). The sporadic nature of such shifts is apparent upon examination of examples such as ''whistle'', ''listen'' and ''soften'' in which the ''t'' remains usually silent.
* ''forehead'' once rhymed with ''horrid'' but is now pronounced with the second syllable as {{IPAc-en|h|ɛ|d}} by 85% of American speakers and 65% of British speakers. This is actually a reversion to the original pronunciation.<ref>Algeo, John (2010). ''The Origins and Development of the English Language'', 6th edn, Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p.&nbsp;46.</ref>
* ''clothes'' was historically pronounced the same way as the verb ''close'' ("Whenas in silks my Julia goes/.../The liquefaction of her clothes"—[[Robert Herrick (poet)|Herrick]]), but many speakers now insert a {{IPAc-en|ð}}, a voiced ''th''. This is actually a reversion to the 15th-century pronunciation.<ref>{{cite web |author = John Wells |url = http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/clothes.html |title = OED note on history of "clothes" |publisher=Phonetic-blog.blogspot.com |date=2010-07-16 |access-date=2012-05-27 }}</ref>
* ''salmon'' is pronounced by a minority of English speakers with {{IPAc-en|l}}, due to the letter l being re-introduced, despite being neither written nor pronounced in the original Anglo-French pronunciation.
* The modern British pronunciation of ''solder'' is usually {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|əʊ|l|d|ər}}, but the North American pronunciation of solder is usually {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɒ|d|ər}} with a silent {{angbr|l}}. The word ''solder'' is derived from the old French ''souder'', and the {{angbr|l}} was re-introduced in the 1500s on etymological grounds with the Latin ''solidāre''.<ref>{{cite web | title=Solder - Etymology, Origin & Meaning | url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/solder }}</ref> Even though the pronunciation without the {{IPAc-en|l}} was the traditional way to pronounce it in Britain, the spelling pronunciation with the {{IPAc-en|l}} eventually became the standard there.<ref>https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/solder_1</ref>
* ''falcon'' is now nearly always pronounced with {{IPAc-en|l}}, and only 3% of speakers have no {{IPAc-en|l}}.<ref>Wells, J. C. (2008). ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'', 3rd ed., Harlow, UK: Longman, p. 297.</ref> The {{IPAc-en|l}} was silent in the old pronunciation: compare French {{lang|fr|faucon}} and the older English spellings ''faucon'' and ''fawcon''. That may suggest either analogical change or the reborrowing of the original Latin.
* ''alms'', ''balm'', ''calm'', ''psalm'', etc. are now often pronounced with {{IPAc-en|l}} in some parts of the [[United States]]. In most of the [[United Kingdom]], the traditional {{IPAc-en|ɑː|m}} pronunciation continues to prevail.
* ''comptroller'' is often pronounced with {{IPAc-en|m|p}}; the accepted pronunciation is controller (the ''mp'' spelling is based on the mistaken idea that the word is related to ''comp''(''u'')''tare'' "count, compute," but it comes from ''contre-roll'' "file copy").
* ''ye'' (actually, ''yͤ'' or ''Þe''), the [[definite article]], as in ''[[Ye Olde]] Coffee Shoppe'', is often pronounced like the archaic English [[Ye (pronoun)|pronoun ''ye'']] instead of as the word ''the'', based on the misleading use of the symbol ''y'' to substitute for the archaic printer's mark ''[[Þ]]'': the letter thorn.<ref>Algeo, John (2010). ''The Origins and Development of the English Language'', 6th edn, Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 142.</ref> (On the other hand, the beginning of the pronoun ''ye'' in [[Middle English#Pronouns|Middle]] and [[Early Modern English#Pronouns|Early Modern]] English is correctly pronounced like the beginning of ''you''.)
* ''Mackenzie, Menzies, Dalziel'' now include the sound {{IPAc-en|z}} in place of the original {{IPAc-en|j}}, due to the [[Insular G|insular flat-topped ''g'']] of Gaelic scripts being commonly transcribed into English as the similar-looking letter ''z''.
* ''armadillo'' and other words from [[Spanish language|Spanish]] with the [[Ll|double-L]] pronounced {{IPAc-en|l}} instead of {{IPAc-en|j}} (the latter being the closest approximation to the sound in Latin American Spanish); similarly, the [[Italian language|Italian]]-sourced ''maraschino'' (cherry) and ''bruschetta'' with the {{IPAc-en|ʃ}} associated with that consonant cluster in German instead of the {{IPAc-en|s|k}} of Italian.
* ''victuals'', pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|ɪ|t|əl|z}} (rhyming with ''skittles''), whose ''c'' (for a consonant that had been lost long before the word was borrowed from French) was re-introduced on etymological grounds, and the word is sometimes pronounced with {{IPAc-en|k|t}}. The original pronunciation is reflected in, for example, the cat food brand "Tender Vittles".
* The pronunciation of ''waistcoat'' as ''waist-coat'' is now more common than the previous pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɛ|s|k|ə|t}}.
* ''conduit'', historically pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|n|d|ɪ|t}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ʌ|n|-}}, is now nearly always pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|n|dj|u|ɪ|t}} in most of the United States.
* ''covert'', historically pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ʌ|v|ər|t}} (reflecting its link with the verb ''cover'') is now usually pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|oʊ|v|ər|t}}, by analogy to ''overt''.
* ''medicine'', historically pronounced with two syllables but now quite often with three (some speakers use two when they mean medicaments and three when they mean medical knowledge; the pronunciation with three syllables is standard in the [[United States]]).
* ''Bartholomew'', formerly pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɑːr|t|əl|m|i}} or {{IPAc-en|b|ɑːr|ˈ|t|ɒ|l|ə|m|i}}, is now {{IPAc-en|b|ɑːr|ˈ|θ|ɒ|l|ə|m|j|uː}}.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
* ''Anthony'' (from Latin {{lang|la|Antonius}}), now (in Anglophone countries outside the UK) is typically {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|n|θ|ən|i}} rather than {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|n|t|ə|n|i}}.
* Numerous placenames with traditional pronunciations have been displaced by ones influenced by the spelling: ''[[St. Louis]]'', formerly {{IPAc-en|s|æ|n|ˈ|l|uː|i}} now (in the US) {{IPAc-en|s|eɪ|n|t|ˈ|l|uː|ɪ|s}}, ''[[Papillion, Nebraska|Papillion]]'' ([[Nebraska]]), formerly {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|æ|p|i|ˈ|ɒ|n}} now {{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|p|ɪ|l|i|ə|n}}. [[Montpelier, Vermont|Montpelier]], the capital of [[Vermont]], is now pronounced {{IPAc-en|m|ɒ|n|t|ˈ|p|iː|l|i|ər}}, instead of the French {{IPA|fr|mɔ̃pəlje|}}.
* Sir [[George Everest]]'s [[surname]] is pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|v|r|ɪ|s|t}}.<ref>{{cite video | people = Claypole, Jonty (Director); Kunzru, Hari (Presenter) | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074phg | title = Mapping Everest | medium = TV Documentary | publisher = BBC Television | location = London |date = 2003 }}</ref> The mountain named after him – ''[[Mount Everest]]'' – is generally pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|v|ər|ɪ|s|t}}.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Everest%2C%20Mount?r=14 Everest, Mount – Definitions from Dictionary.com] (Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006)</ref>
* Interjections such as ''tsk tsk!'' or ''tut tut!'' (a pair of [[dental clicks]]), now commonly {{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɪ|s|k|_|ˈ|t|ɪ|s|k}} and {{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ʌ|t|_|ˈ|t|ʌ|t}}.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
* The words ''Arctic'', ''Antarctic'' and ''Antarctica'' were originally pronounced without the first {{IPAc-en|k}}, but the spelling pronunciation has become very common. The first c was originally added to the spelling for etymological reasons and was then misunderstood as not being silent.<ref>See "The Fight for English" by David Crystal (p. 172, Oxford University Press) and the entry for "antarctic" in the [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Antarctic Online Etymology Dictionary].</ref>
* ''hotel'', originally pronounced {{IPAc-en|oʊ|ˈ|t|ɛ|l}} because of the pronunciation of the French {{lang|fr|hôtel}}, is now usually pronounced with an audible ''h''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hotel | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925144750/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hotel | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 25, 2016 | title=Oxford Languages &#124; the Home of Language Data }}</ref>{{clarify|reason=audible 'h'? As in..?|date=September 2024}} Nevertheless, ''maître d'hôtel'' is pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|eɪ|t|r|ə| |d|oʊ|ˈ|t|ɛ|l}}.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/maitre_d%27hotel | title=Oxford Languages &#124; the Home of Language Data }}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
* ''herb'', a word with origins in [[Old French]], is generally pronounced with a silent ''h'' in the United States. The same was true of the United Kingdom until the 19th century, when it adopted a spelling pronunciation, with an audible ''h''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/herb | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929093135/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/herb | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 29, 2016 | title=Oxford Languages &#124; the Home of Language Data }}</ref>
* ''Ralph'', originally pronounced {{IPAc-en|r|eɪ|f}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɑ:|f}} in the United Kingdom, is now often pronounced {{IPAc-en|r|æ|l|f}}.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~wedgwood/framesetpronunciation.html | title=Home > Ralph Wedgwood, USC Philosophy > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences }}</ref>
* German loanwords such as ''spiel'' and ''stein'' are sometimes pronounced as beginning with {{IPAc-en|s}}, as if they were native English words, instead of {{IPAc-en|ʃ}}. In German, initial ''s'', immediately before ''p'' or ''t'', is pronounced as if it were ''sch'' {{IPAc-en|ʃ}}.
* ''nephew'' was, until recent generations, predominantly pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|v|juː}} in Britain, descended from Middle English ''[[wikt:nevew|nevew]]'' and originally loaned from Old French ''[[wikt:neveu|neveu]],'' a spelling which remains unchanged into modern French. But the ''v'' was later changed to ''ph'' where the ''p'' hints at its Latin root ''[[wikt:nepos|nepot]],'' which can be found in more recent Latin loanwords like ''nepotism.'' Today, spelling pronunciation has shifted the word's pronunciation predominantly to {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|f|juː}}.

==Opinions==
{{Original research|section|date=January 2015}}
Spelling pronunciations give rise to varied opinions. Often, those who retain the old pronunciation consider the spelling pronunciation to be a mark of ignorance or insecurity. Those who use a spelling pronunciation may not be aware that it is one and consider the earlier version to be slovenly since it slurs over a letter. Conversely, the users of some innovative pronunciations such as {{not a typo|"Feb|uary"}} (for ''February'') may regard another, earlier version as a pedantic spelling pronunciation.

[[Henry Watson Fowler]] (1858–1933) reported that in his day, there was a conscious movement among schoolteachers and others encouraging people to abandon anomalous traditional pronunciations and to speak as is spelled. According to major scholars of early modern English (Dobson, Wyld et al.), in the 17th century, there was already beginning an intellectual trend in England to pronounce as is spelled. That presupposes a standard spelling system, which was only beginning to form at the time.
Similarly, quite a large number of corrections slowly spread from scholars to the general public in France, starting several centuries ago.<ref>Peter Rickard, ''A History of the French Language'' (1989).</ref>

A different variety of spelling pronunciations are phonetic adaptations, pronunciations of the written form of foreign words within the frame of the phonemic system of the language that accepts them. An example of that process is the final silent consonant in French ''croissant'' {{IPA|/kʁwa.sɑ̃/}} sometimes being pronounced {{IPA|/kɹəˈsɑnt/}} in English.

==Children and foreigners==
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2020}}
Children who read frequently often have spelling pronunciations because, if they do not consult a dictionary, they have only the spelling to indicate the pronunciation of words that are uncommon in the spoken language. Well-read [[second language]] learners may also have spelling pronunciations.

In some instances, a population in a formerly non-English-speaking area may retain such second language markers in the now native-English speaking population. For example, Scottish Standard English is replete with second language marks from when [[Scots language|Scots]] started to be subsumed by English in the 17th century.

However, since there are many words that one reads far more often than one hears, adult native-language speakers also succumb. In such circumstances, the spelling pronunciation may well become more comprehensible than the other. That, in turn, leads to the language evolution mentioned above. What is a spelling pronunciation in one generation can become the standard pronunciation in the next.

==In other languages==
In [[French language|French]], the modern pronunciation of the 16th-century French author [[Montaigne]]’s name as {{IPA|[mɔ̃tɛɲ]}}, rather than the contemporary {{IPA|[mɔ̃taɲ]}}, is a spelling pronunciation.

When English ''club'' was first borrowed into French, the approved pronunciation was {{IPA|fr|klab|}}, as being a reasonable approximation of the English. The standard then became {{IPA|fr|klyb|}} on the basis of the spelling, and later, in Europe, {{IPA|fr|klœb|}}, deemed closer to the English original.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/club |title=Trésor de la langue française |publisher=Cnrtl.fr |access-date=2012-05-27}}</ref> The standard pronunciation in [[Quebec French]] remains {{IPA|fr-CA|klʏb|}}. Similarly, ''shampooing'' "shampoo; product for washing the hair" at the time of borrowing was {{IPA|fr|ʃɑ̃puiŋ|}} but it is now {{IPA|fr|ʃɑ̃pwɛ̃|}}.

[[Italian language|Old Italian]] had a pair of post-alveolar affricates {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} (as in {{IPA|[ˈpaːt͡ʃe]}} and {{IPA|[priviˈlɛːd͡ʒo]}}, written ''pace'' and ''privilegio''), and one of post-alveolar fricatives {{IPA|/ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/ʒ/}} (as in {{IPA|[ˈbaːʃo]}} and {{IPA|[ˈprɛːʒo]}}, written ''bascio/bacio'' and ''presgio/pregio''), which could only occur between vowels. During the 13th century, the afore mentioned affricates became allophonically fricatives if singleton and intervocalic (the modern Tuscan pronunciation of ''pace'' and ''privilegio'' being {{IPA|[ˈpaːʃe]}} and {{IPA|[priviˈlɛːʒo]}}), essentially merging {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} - {{IPA|/ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} - {{IPA|/ʒ/}} into positional allophones and rendering obsolete and useless the -s- spellings. After the Italian Unification, the Tuscan pronunciation of ''pace'' and ''privilegio'' was deemed too vulgar and dialectal for the standard language, and the original pronunciation was indirectly restored; in the modern Standard Italian accent, they're always realized as {{IPA|[ˈpaːt͡ʃe]}} and {{IPA|[priviˈlɛːd͡ʒo]}}. Since the spelling did not distinguish between the original pairs of post-alveolar affricates and fricatives, ''bacio'' and ''pregio'' started being unetymologically pronounced {{IPA|[ˈbaːt͡ʃo]}} and {{IPA|[ˈprɛːd͡ʒo]}} as well.

In present-day Italian, a few early [[English language|English]] [[loanword]]s are pronounced according to [[Italian spelling]] rules such as ''water'' ("toilet bowl," from English ''[[Water closet|water (closet)]]''), pronounced {{IPA|[ˈvater]}}, and ''[[wikt:tramway|tramway]]'', pronounced {{IPA|[tranˈvai]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Water - Significato ed etimologia - Vocabolario |url=https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/water/?search=water/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Treccani |language=it}}</ref> The Italian word ''ovest'' ("west") comes from a spelling pronunciation of [[French language|French]] ''ouest'' (which, in turn, is a phonetic transcription of English ''west''); that particular instance of spelling pronunciation must have occurred before the 16th century, when the letters [[u]] and [[v]] were still indistinct.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Òvest - Significato ed etimologia - Vocabolario |url=https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/ovest/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Treccani |language=it}}</ref>

A few foreign proper names are normally pronounced according to the pronunciation of the original language (or a close approximation of it), but they retain an older spelling pronunciation when they are used as parts of Italian [[street name]]s. For example, the name of [[Edward Jenner]] retains its usual English pronunciation in most contexts, but ''Viale Edoardo Jenner'' (a main street in [[Milan]]) is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈvjale edoˈardo 'jɛnner]}}. The use of such old-fashioned spelling pronunciations was probably encouraged by the custom of translating [[given name]]s when streets were named after foreign people: ''Edoardo'' for ''Edward'', or ''Giorgio'' for ''George'' for ''Via [[George Washington|Giorgio Washington]].''

In [[Spanish language|Spanish]], the ch in some German words is pronounced {{IPAslink|tʃ}} or {{IPAslink|ʃ}}, instead of {{IPAslink|x}}. [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] is pronounced {{IPA|[bax]}}, and [[Kuchen]] is {{IPA|[ˈkuxen]}}, but [[Rorschach test|Rorschach]] is {{IPA|[ˈrorʃaʃ]}}, rather than {{IPA|[ˈrorʃax]}}, [[Mach number|Mach]] is {{IPA|[maʃ]}} or {{IPA|[mat͡ʃ]}}, and [[Cristina Kirchner|Kirchner]] is {{IPA|[ˈkirʃner]}} or {{IPA|[ˈkirt͡ʃner]}}. Other spelling pronunciations are [[club (organization)|club]] pronounced {{IPA|[klub]}}, [[iceberg]] pronounced {{IPA|[iθeˈβer]}} in Spain (in [[Spanish language in the Americas|the Americas]], it is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈajsbɚɡ]}}),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=iceberg |title=DPD 1.Ş edición, 2.Ş tirada |language=es |publisher=Buscon.rae.es |access-date=2012-05-27}}</ref> and ''folclor'' and ''folclore'' as translations of [[folklore]], pronounced {{IPA|[folˈklor]}} and {{IPA|[folˈkloɾe]}}. Also in Spanish, the acute accent in the French word ''élite'' is taken as a Spanish stress mark, and the word is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈelite]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=ASALE |first1=RAE- |last2=RAE |title=élite {{!}} Diccionario de la lengua española |url=https://dle.rae.es/%C3%A9lite?m=form |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=«Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario |language=es}}</ref>

When Slavic languages like [[Polish language|Polish]] or [[Czech language|Czech]] borrow words from English with their spelling preserved, the pronunciation tends to follow the rules of the receiving language. Words such as ''marketing'' are pronounced as spelled, instead of the more phonetically faithful {{IPA|[ˈmarkɨtɨng]}}.

In standard [[Finnish language|Finnish]], the sound [[Voiced dental and alveolar plosives|/d/]] developed as a spelling pronunciation for the letter ''d'', though it originally represented a [[Voiced dental fricative|/ð/]] sound. Similarly, [[Voiceless alveolar affricate|/ts/]] in words like ''metsä'' (forest) is a pronunciation spelling of ''tz'' used in pre-1770s orthography, which originally represented a long [[Voiceless dental fricative|/θ/]] sound. The dental fricatives had become rare by the 1700s, when the standard pronunciations started to develop into their current forms, which became official in the 1800s. The /d/ sound, however, is not present in most dialects and is generally replaced by a [[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar trills|/r/]], [[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants|/l/]] or simply dropped (e.g. ''lähde'' "water spring" may be pronounced as ''lähre'', ''lähle'' or ''lähe''). Standard ''ts'' is often replaced with ''tt'' or ''ht'' (''mettä'', ''mehtä'').<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yleiskielen d:n murrevastineet|url=http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/d-vastin.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022150321/http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/d-vastin.html|archive-date=October 22, 2019|access-date=October 5, 2022|website=sokl.uef.fi|language=fi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Yleiskielen ts:n murrevastineet|url=http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/ts-vasti.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021013524/http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/ts-vasti.html|archive-date=October 21, 2019|access-date=October 5, 2022|website=sokl.uef.fi|language=fi}}</ref>

In [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], initial v is often pronounced like a y ({{IPA|[j]}}) in the central and southern varieties. However, in formal speech, speakers often revert to the spelling pronunciation, which is increasingly being used in casual speech as well.

[[Chinese language|Chinese]] has a similar phenomenon called ''[[youbian dubian]]'' where unfamiliar [[Chinese characters|characters]] may be read with the pronunciation of similar characters that feature the same [[Chinese character classification#Phono-semantic compounds|phonetic component]]. For instance, the character {{lang|zh-Hant|[[Wiktionary:町|町]]}} is rarely used in Chinese but is often used in [[Japanese language|Japanese]] place names (where it is pronounced [[List of towns in Japan|''chō'']]). When read in [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin Chinese]], it came to be pronounced ''dīng'' (such as in [[Ximending]], a district in [[Taipei]] that was named during [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese occupation]]) in analogy with the character {{lang|zh-Hant|[[Wiktionary:丁|丁]]}} (also pronounced ''dīng''), even though its expected [[reflex (linguistics)|etymological reflex]] is ''tǐng''.

In [[Welsh language|Welsh]] the word {{lang|cy|cadair}} is traditionally pronounced with either a {{IPA|/a/}} or {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, depending on dialect, in the final syllable – i.e. {{angle bracket|ai}}. The pronunciation {{IPA|/-air/}} is a spelling pronunciation, the spelling was settled on so as not to give preference to any particular dialect. A similar situation occurred with the word {{lang|cy|eisiau}} which is usually pronounced {{IPA|/ɪʃɛ/}} or {{IPA|/ɪʃa/}} but many younger and second-language learners pronounce it as spelt: {{IPA|/ɛiʃaɨ/}}.

==See also==
{{Portal|Language}}
* [[Acronym]]
* [[Folk etymology]]
* [[Heterography]]
* [[Hypercorrection]]
* [[Hyperforeignism]]
* [[Orthography]]
* [[Spelling reform]]
* [[The Chaos]]
* [[Padonkaffsky jargon]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* See the index entries under "spelling pronunciation" from Leonard Bloomfield, ''Language'' (originally published 1933; current edition 1984, University of Chicago Press, Chicago; {{ISBN|81-208-1195-X}}).
* Most of the etymologies and spelling histories above are taken from the [[Oxford English Dictionary]].
* Neuman, Yishai. [https://www.academia.edu/1435958/Neuman_2009._Linfluence_de_lecriture_sur_la_langue_Ph.D._dissertation_Sorbonne_Nouvelle_ L'influence de l'écriture sur la langue], PhD dissertation, Paris: [[Sorbonne Nouvelle]], 2009.
* --. [https://www.academia.edu/4684386/Neuman_2013._Graphophonemic_assignment_EHLL_ "Graphophonemic Assignment"], G. Khan (ed.), Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, Volume 2, [[Leiden]], [[South Holland]]: [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], pp.&nbsp;135–145.
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spelling Pronunciation}}
[[Category:Phonetics]]
[[Category:Sociolinguistics]]
[[Category:Spelling]]
[[Category:Linguistic purism]]
[[Category:Linguistic error]]