MSGID: 1:153/716.0 7108aa71
REPLY: 2:221/6.0 670cb32e
CHRS: IBMPC 2
Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AK>  It remains to me only to wonder about the English language
AK>  evolution. How on earth you put a letter into the word and
AK>  don't pronounce this letter. ;)

AH>  In some cases at least a word has been adopted from a
AH>  Scandinavian or northern European language & we've trimmed
AH>  a few inflections etc. :-))

AK>  In other words, in "Milne" and other similar cases you can
AK>  put a letter for no reason and which has no any sense.

          Hmm.  I think you were on the right track when you commented that
the "e" in this name may have been spoken aloud years ago.

          Pronunciations in English often vary from one time & place to another
... and I don't know where this name originated.  But IMHO it's most likely
the pronunciation changed & we never got around to changing the spelling.  I'm
told that's what happened with e.g. "gnash" and "knife"....  :-)


AK>  Very probably this tricks came from French which is far
AK>  ahead in this area.

          In French the phonics work differently from what we're used to...
but we often say that if your mouth is full of wine or marbles you can cope. 
And I get the impression the upper classes in Russia preferred French (which
may have worked for them when they didn't want the servants to get the drift)
until they became disenchanted with Napoleon, then carefully reconstructed
what's now your native language.  The net result from my POV is that it's a
lot younger than my native language & doesn't include complications like
"silent letters"....  :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)
SEEN-BY: 1/120 4/0 18/0 80/1 88/0 90/0 1 92/1 104/119 105/81 106/201
SEEN-BY: 116/116 123/0 10 25 126 180 200 755 3001 129/305 135/115
SEEN-BY: 138/146 153/757 7715 154/10 30 50 700 218/700 840 220/90
SEEN-BY: 221/1 6 360 222/2 226/18 30 44 50 227/114 229/110 114 206
SEEN-BY: 229/300 317 426 428 470 664 700 240/1120 250/1 261/38 266/512
SEEN-BY: 275/100 1000 282/1038 291/111 301/1 320/219 322/757 335/364
SEEN-BY: 341/66 200 234 342/11 200 396/45 460/58 712/848 1321 880/1
SEEN-BY: 900/0 100 102 106 108 902/0 7 10 19 25 26 27 100 2320/105
SEEN-BY: 3634/0 12 27 56 57 58 59 5019/40 5020/400 1042 5075/35
PATH: 153/7715 3634/12 154/10 221/6 341/66 902/26 90/1 229/426