694
TIL When you hover over a piece of the phonetic notation on (English) Wikipedia, it shows you an example for its pronunciation
(sh.itjust.works)
this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2025
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Did John Iland (legland?) see the first island and name it, then go around telling everyone how it was spelled and pronounced only to have it changed by some scholar? Or was it "Leopold the namer" who was like, "that is called an i-land, everyone! I invented it".
Sarcastic, but also a genuine question. Who named the first island an island? How did he or she popularize it and distribute their intended pronunciation and original spelling? Did people ask him, get a definitive answer, and say, "no that's wrong" to his face, like with GIF? Was the inventor upset by the change in spelling or did it happen hundreds of years after their death? Were they alive, do you think it would have bothered them that they were misspelling the word they invented?
This form of spelling began to change as English mixed with French during the Norman conquest. Among other things capitalism had an influence on the way words were written as typesetters were paid by the line, which incentivized them to make words longer.
Language changes over time (like looong periods of time) as cultures grow and merge and I recognize and respect that. What I don't respect when someone says, "I've made a really cool thing, and it's spelled 'like this' and called 'pronounced name'", only to have other people basically reply to them, "no that's stupid and you're stupid for suggesting it".
How much time is required before something is allowed to change?
When "Iegland" was first spelled as "Island" that was wrong. It was incorrect and stupid. It wasn't okay because "Iegland has been around long enough so we can change it now." It became correct because that is how people started using it.
It's not the amount of time, it's how language is used and understood.
However long it takes for something to be more or less universally accepted. GIF's pronunciation, despite being defined and sounded out for people, is not currently widely accepted in either pronunciation, or we wouldn't be having this conversation.
How is this different from the argument that GIF being pronounced with a hard G is incorrect and stupid? It was wrong then and over much time became right.
It takes time for linguistic changes to propagate and it doesn't happen because one person decides it should change. If you walked around back when island was first invented and said "nice island" to a bunch of leglanders, they'd think you were an idiot because there hadn't been enough time for people to start using it.
It is widely accepted in both pronciations. "Aluminum" has a different pronouciation in the UK then it does in the Americas. Both are correct depending on where you are. If you hear someone use the pronouciation you're not used to it might take your half a second to mentally adjust, but you'll understand just fine and can continue the conversation.
Correct. Over time the hard G became right because that's how it was used. Notice how I am not arguing the people should actually be using "Iegland".
Which is exactly what you are arguing for.