Decided to avoid political conversation today.
So I was thinking yesterday about how the letters in the English language are pronounced, and how there's a lot of inconsistency throughout. So I decided to come up with my own ideas for how some letters should sound:
No comment means I'm fine with the current pronunciation. Spellings of letters from wiki.
A : Ay
B : Bee
C : Cee
I'd argue the need for 'c' as a letter overall, since we've already got other letters that make its sound (and plenty of sounds that have no letters of their own). But it's pronunciation is solid.
D : Dee
E : Ee
F : Eff
The first consonant starting with a vowel. Ideally, All the consonants would start with their letter and not end with it('Fee' instead of 'Eff', 'Nee' instead of 'En', etc), but I'll accept some variation.
G : Gee
Spelled OK, but should be pronounced differently. G's primary sound is the 'hard g': Gopher, Gap, Gojira; The letter should be pronounced with that sort of G.
H : Aitch
Here's my first big problem letter. The 'H' sound itself isn't even in the letter pronunciation. It's too weak of a sound to be an ending-letter pronunciation ('eh'), so I suggest 'He'.
I : Aye
J : Jay
K : Kay
'Jay' and 'Kay' would be inconsistent on their own, but since there's two of them I'll let it slide. Plus 'Jee' is already the pronunciation of another letter, at least until I get my way.
L : Ell
M : Em
N : En
O : Oh
P : Pee
Unfortunate that it's a euphemism for urination, but valid.
Q : Cue
Not only is the Q sound not in the letter, it's a pretty obnoxious letter overall. It takes the place of two other consonants, in a sound combination that's actually pretty rare, if you compare it to other consonant combinations like 'Tr-' or 'St-'. Add to that the fact that you need a second letter in almost every english word using a 'q', and there's really no need one can't just use "Kw" in it's place. But as far as pronunciation goes, if we must keep it, go with "Kwee", which is a fun word to say.
R : Ar
Inconsistent; it's the only consonant starting with a 'a-' sound. I'd suggest 'Er' or 'Ree', preferable the latter.
S : Ess
T : Tee
U : You
V : Vee
W : DoubleYou
OK. First off, it's the only letter with more than one syllable. Secondly, none of those syllables include the sound the letter makes. Thirdly, these days it's really a 'double vee'. Fourth, naming letters on their shape is just a bad idea.
X : Ex
Another two-letter combination.
Y : Wye
I'd suggest going with the consonant form of the letter. "Yee".
Z : Zee / Zed
I think us Americans made the right choice by going with 'Zee' here. No need to confuse the letter by adding a second consonant to it's pronunciation.
I should quit caring and just look for a consistent language. Esperanto, Traduku mi fino!
EDIT: I've seen that Mark Twain thing that's been going around the net for years. No need to post it here.
No comment means I'm fine with the current pronunciation. Spellings of letters from wiki.
A : Ay
B : Bee
C : Cee
I'd argue the need for 'c' as a letter overall, since we've already got other letters that make its sound (and plenty of sounds that have no letters of their own). But it's pronunciation is solid.
D : Dee
E : Ee
F : Eff
The first consonant starting with a vowel. Ideally, All the consonants would start with their letter and not end with it('Fee' instead of 'Eff', 'Nee' instead of 'En', etc), but I'll accept some variation.
G : Gee
Spelled OK, but should be pronounced differently. G's primary sound is the 'hard g': Gopher, Gap, Gojira; The letter should be pronounced with that sort of G.
H : Aitch
Here's my first big problem letter. The 'H' sound itself isn't even in the letter pronunciation. It's too weak of a sound to be an ending-letter pronunciation ('eh'), so I suggest 'He'.
I : Aye
J : Jay
K : Kay
'Jay' and 'Kay' would be inconsistent on their own, but since there's two of them I'll let it slide. Plus 'Jee' is already the pronunciation of another letter, at least until I get my way.
L : Ell
M : Em
N : En
O : Oh
P : Pee
Unfortunate that it's a euphemism for urination, but valid.
Q : Cue
Not only is the Q sound not in the letter, it's a pretty obnoxious letter overall. It takes the place of two other consonants, in a sound combination that's actually pretty rare, if you compare it to other consonant combinations like 'Tr-' or 'St-'. Add to that the fact that you need a second letter in almost every english word using a 'q', and there's really no need one can't just use "Kw" in it's place. But as far as pronunciation goes, if we must keep it, go with "Kwee", which is a fun word to say.
R : Ar
Inconsistent; it's the only consonant starting with a 'a-' sound. I'd suggest 'Er' or 'Ree', preferable the latter.
S : Ess
T : Tee
U : You
V : Vee
W : DoubleYou
OK. First off, it's the only letter with more than one syllable. Secondly, none of those syllables include the sound the letter makes. Thirdly, these days it's really a 'double vee'. Fourth, naming letters on their shape is just a bad idea.
X : Ex
Another two-letter combination.
Y : Wye
I'd suggest going with the consonant form of the letter. "Yee".
Z : Zee / Zed
I think us Americans made the right choice by going with 'Zee' here. No need to confuse the letter by adding a second consonant to it's pronunciation.
I should quit caring and just look for a consistent language. Esperanto, Traduku mi fino!
EDIT: I've seen that Mark Twain thing that's been going around the net for years. No need to post it here.