{"id":3141,"date":"2020-01-31T15:43:27","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T15:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/?p=3141"},"modified":"2024-04-20T21:19:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T21:19:45","slug":"fun-facts-42-ough-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2020\/01\/31\/fun-facts-42-ough-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun Facts About English #42 &#8211; Words Spelled With -ough"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherspayteachers.com\/Store\/Donalds-English-Classroom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"702\" width=\"702\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/041_2.jpg?resize=702%2C702&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Fun Facts About English 42 Kinney Brothers Publishing\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If there&#8217;s one thing you learn early in school, it&#8217;s that English spelling does not display a one-to-one correspondence with pronunciation.  Any expectation that it should will drive you crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Words spelled with the same letter combination but pronounced with different sounds are due to a combination of different etymologies and evolving sound changes. Many like words started out with the same or similar pronunciations and diverged over  time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Middle English, where the &#8211;<em>ough<\/em> spelling arose, it was pronounced with a  velar fricative or x sound (e.g., [o\u02d0x], [o\u02d0\u0263], [u\u02d0x], or [u\u02d0\u0263]).  Currently, the spelling has at least eight pronunciations in North American English and nine in British English; with the most common being: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/o\u028a\/<\/a> as in <em>though<\/em> (cf. <em>t<\/em><strong>ow<\/strong>)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/u\u02d0\/<\/a> as in <em>through<\/em> (cf. <em>tr<strong>ue<\/strong><\/em>)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/\u028cf\/<\/a> as in <em>rough<\/em> (cf. <em>gr<strong>uff<\/strong><\/em>)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/\u0252f\/<\/a> as in <em>cough<\/em> (cf. <em>c<strong>off<\/strong>in<\/em>)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/\u0254\u02d0\/<\/a> as in <em>thought<\/em> (cf. <em>t<strong>au<\/strong>t<\/em>)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/a\u028a\/<\/a> as in <em>bough<\/em> (cf. <em>to b<strong>ow<\/strong><\/em> [the gesture])<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Slough&#8221; alone has three pronunciations depending on its context and meaning: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/slu\u02d0\/<\/a> (cf. fl<strong>u<\/strong>) as in, &#8220;slogging through a slough of mud&#8221;<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/sl\u028cf\/<\/a> (cf. <strong>off<\/strong>) as in &#8220;to slough off&#8221;, meaning to shed off<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/sla\u028a\/<\/a> (cf. h<strong>ow<\/strong>) as in the town of Slough in England<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There have been attempts to rein in the confusion.  Formal and informal spelling reforms are generally more accepted in the United States than in other English-speaking countries. Dialects with traditional pronunciation or old-world spellings keep the debate on &#8216;correctness&#8217; alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>North-East Scottish dialects still pronounce <em>trough<\/em> as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/tr\u0254\u02d0x\/<\/a> (traux)  <\/li><li>In the UK, the word <em>dough<\/em> can be pronounced <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/d\u028cf\/<\/a> (duff), as in <em>duffpudding<\/em><\/li><li>The word <em>enough<\/em> can be pronounced <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/\u026a\u02c8na\u028a\/<\/a> (ow) or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Help:IPA\/English\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\/\u026a\u02c8no\u028a\/<\/a> (oh) and the spelling <em>enow<\/em> is an acceptable dialect or poetic spelling (e.g. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rubaiyat_of_Omar_Khayyam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">And Wilderness is Paradise Enow.<\/a>&#8220;) <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, some formal spelling reforms have caught on:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>hiccup<\/em> instead of <em>hiccough<\/em><\/li><li><em>hock<\/em> instead of <em>hough<\/em> (rare in the U.S.)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Some spellings considered unacceptable in other areas, are standard in the United States: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>naught<\/em> or <em>not<\/em> instead of <em>nought<\/em><\/li><li><em>plow<\/em> instead of <em>plough<\/em><\/li><li><em>donut<\/em> instead of <em>doughnut<\/em><\/li><li><em>slew<\/em> instead of slough<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Informal spellings are generally considered unacceptable anywhere except in signage or the most casual and texting conversations: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>thru<\/em> instead of <em>through<\/em>:  as in &#8220;drive thru&#8221; or &#8220;thru traffic&#8221; <\/li><li><em>tho<\/em> and <em>altho<\/em> instead of <em>though<\/em> and <em>although<\/em><\/li><li><em>&#8217;nuff<\/em> instead of <em>enough<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what is the best way to help our young learners navigate this unpredictable spelling map?  Reading.  Instilling a love of reading is one of the best ways to focus the attention on the differences and create a memory of written words.  Teach students to take pleasure in the differences and develop an appreciation of the rich history of the English language.  And remember, it will <em>never<\/em> stop evolving!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Editor&#8217;s Note: David Olsen, a contributor to <a href=\"http:\/\/jeff560.tripod.com\/words.html\">A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia<\/a>, states that <em>slough<\/em> does not provide a unique pronunciation for -ough, but that <em>hough<\/em> (pronounced hock) is a Scottish word, meaning the ankle joint of a horse, cow, or foul, or to hamstring, or it is an obsolete British word meaning to clear the throat.  Olsen says that in order for the sentence to have 9 different ways of pronouncing -ough, it could be rewritten as: A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed, houghed, and hiccoughed.  On the same website, R. E. Davies writes, &#8220;<em>Hock<\/em> [is] well known in Ontario, Canada, where the phrase &#8216;hock a loogie&#8217; is alive and well.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you enjoyed this post, you might also be interested in the <a href=\"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2019\/09\/06\/fun-facts-21-plurals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conundrum with spelling irregular plurals<\/a>, all the <a href=\"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2019\/07\/10\/fun-facts-13-english-spelling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ways to spell <em>long &#8216;e&#8217;<\/em><\/a>, or why <a href=\"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2020\/10\/16\/fun-facts-75-chicago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chicago was originally spelled <em>Stktschagko<\/em><\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-background\">See the <a href=\"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2020\/01\/24\/fun-facts-about-english-41\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">previous<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2020\/02\/07\/fun-facts-about-english-43\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">next<\/a> <strong>Fun Facts About English<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherspayteachers.com\/Store\/Donalds-English-Classroom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/HEADER_GIF.gif?w=702&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Donald's English Classroom\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kinney Brothers Publishing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherspayteachers.com\/Store\/Donalds-English-Classroom\/Search:stories+for+young+readers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Communication Series<\/a> includes downloadable color and black and white textbooks, teacher&#8217;s answer keys, and audio files!  Presented in clear, grammatically simple, and direct language, the series is designed to extend students&#8217; skills and interest in communicating in English.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If there&#8217;s one thing you learn early in school, it&#8217;s that English spelling does not display a one-to-one correspondence with pronunciation. Any expectation that it should will drive you crazy. Words spelled with the same letter combination but pronounced with different sounds are due to a combination of different etymologies and evolving sound changes. Many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[94],"tags":[514,20,584,242,11,1320,529,159,1318,1319,1317,1321],"class_list":{"0":"post-3141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fun-facts-about-english","8":"tag-dialect-variations","9":"tag-donalds-english-classroom","10":"tag-english-language-history","11":"tag-english-spelling","12":"tag-kinney-brothers-publishing","13":"tag-learning-english","14":"tag-linguistic-evolution","15":"tag-middle-english","16":"tag-phonetic-spelling","17":"tag-pronunciation-differences","18":"tag-reading-benefits","19":"tag-spelling-reforms","20":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/041_2.jpg?fit=1252%2C1252&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8GlQB-OF","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3141"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11052,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3141\/revisions\/11052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}