8.3 Spellingpronunciation differences
8.3.1 Contraction
Contraction in general is not allowed in highly formal writing. The spellings in square brackets below reflect what is said. Some formal speech such as news
broadcasts tend to use an extremely careful style of speech that is as faithful as possible to the written form of the language. These spellings may or may not be
permitted in writing, depending on the degree of formality. The more formal the writing, the less contraction is allowed. The following groups of examples are
presented in approximate descending order of tolerability in writing with a being the most tolerable and c being the least. A small glossary containing
some of the less familiar items is provided at the end of the section.
a ⁎⩂Ⳋ [⁎⩒]
㞚┞㡺 [㞚]
㠒Ⱎ㰖㣪 [㠒Ⱎ㬶]
♮㠞㔋┞┺ [♦㔋┞┺]
⽊㞮㠊㣪 [⽺㠊㣪]
⋮㦮㩖㦮 [⌊㩲]
ⶊ㠝 [ⶦ]
ⶊ㠝㧊 [ⶦṖ]
ⶊ㠝㦚 [ⶮ]
䞲 䕢⓪ ㌂㧊 […㌞] b -ộ
[-Ệ] 㧊ộ
[㧊Ệ] 㧊ộ㧊
[㧊Ợ] 㧊ộ㦖
[㧊Ị] 㧊ộ㦚
[㧊Ỏ] 㠊ⓦ ộ㧎Ṗ
[㠊ⓦ ỊṖ] 㧊㟒₆
[㟮₆] 㧊 㞚㧊
[㟮] ⁎ 㞚㧊
[Ẫ] 㩖 㞚㧊
[㨺] ⁎⩆◆
[⁒◆] ☚Ⰲ㠊
[♮⩞] ⏩㞚 ⚦㠊
[⏪ ⛂] ⁎Ⱒ⚦㎎㣪
[ὖ⚦㎎㣪] ⋮⓪
[⋲] ⍞⯒
[⍦] ῂ⯒
[Ὴ] 㠊❪㧎㰖
[㠊❮㰖] 㫡㦒⌦ἶ
[㫡⌦ἶ] 㧧㦒┞?
[㧧┞?] c ㌂ὒ⓪
[㌂ὖ] 䞯ᾦ⯒
[䞯ᾮ] 㢪┺⓪ ㏢Ⰲ
[㢪┾ ㏢Ⰲ] Ṗ㑮㧎 ộ ṯ┺ [Ṗ㑲 Ệ ṯ┺]
㧧Ṗ㧛┞┺ [㧧ṧ┞┺]
㨂⹎㧞┺ [㨂┺]
㠊❪ 㧞㠊 [㠊❾㠊]
Ⱎ㦢 [Ⱞ]
㻮㦢 [㻾]
┺㦢 [╊]
䂲ῂ➢ⶎ㠦 [䂲ῂ➲㠦]
㞚ⶊ Ⱖ 䞮㰖Ⱎ [㞪Ⱖ 䞮㰖Ⱎ] 㞚ⶊⰂ 㕁㠊☚ [㞪Ⱒ 㕁㠊⚦]
㞚┞Ⳋ Ⱖἶ [㞚┮ Ⱖῂ]
㕁㦒Ⳋ ⁎Ⱒ⛂ [㕁㦢 ὖ⛂] ┺ 䟞㦒Ⳋ ⋮Ṗ [┺ 䟞㦢 ⋮Ṗ]
䋆㧒 ⌂┺ [䋊 ⌂┺]
⁎⩂┞₦ [⁎₦]
⁎⩝㰖 [⁎䂮⁎㰖]
⁎⩝㰖㣪 [⁎㿎]
⏩㞚 ⛂ [⌊゚ ⛂ or ⌛ ⛂]
㠊❪㠦┺ ⏩㞚? [㠊➆ ⏪?] ⍹㦚₢
[⓮₢] ⁎Ỏ 㢲 ㌂┞? [Ỏ 㢲 ㌂┞?]
⁎Ệ ⽦ [Ệ ⽦]
㧊Ⰲ ⌊ [㧎 ⌊]
㧊Ⰲ 㭮 [㧎 㭮]
8.3.2 Gaps between spelling and pronunciation
The current standard spelling conventions for the following words do not actually represent how they are often pronounced.
• Spelled with ස but often pronounced ⁎Ⰲἶ
[⁎Ⰲῂ] 㧦ἶ ⋮㍲
[㧦ῂ ⋮㍲] ⲏἶ 㕌┺
[ⲏῂ 㕌┺] ⲏ㠊☚ ⺆ἶ䕢 [ⲏ㠊⚦ ⺆ἶ䕢]
ニ☚ ㌂㧦 [ニ⚦ ㌂㧦]
㞚ⶊⰂ 䟊☚ [㞚ⶊⰂ 䟊⚦]
⪲ 㢖 [⬾ 㢖]
㞴㦒⪲ [㞴㦒⬾]
㥚⪲ 㢂⧒Ṗ [㥚⬾ 㢂⧒Ṗ]
• Spelled with but often pronounced ℒ⌊
[⊚⌊] ㎇㰞
[㔏㰞] ▲ ▻┺
[✺ ▻┺] 䞮▮ 㧒
[䞮✶ 㧒] 㡺▪⧒
[㡺✲⧒] 㞚⻚㰖
[㞚ぢ㰖] • Spelled with ර but often pronounced sometimes even spelled with
㞟㞚 [㞟㠊]
ザ㣪 [ㄦ㣪]
㞢㞚 [㞢㠊]
㞚䕢㍲ [㞚䗒㍲]
• Spelled with ර but often pronounced ṯ㞚㣪
[ṯ㞶㣪] 㞚₆
[㞶₆] ⽊㧦₆
[⽊㨂₆] 㺓䞒䟊
[㺯䞒䟊] • Spelled with or ව but often pronounced ා
㩖䧂✺ [㰖✺]
⍞䧂✺ [┞✺]
⍺ Ệ [┞ ℒ]
㩲 Ệ [㰖 ℒ]
• Miscellaneous vowel sound changes ✺⩂㣪
[✺⩺㣪] ✺⯊㎎㣪
[✺Ⰲ㎎㣪] 㡞㊮┺
[㧊㊮┺]
• Spelled with a plain consonant but often pronounced with a tense consonant ⻚㓺
[ㄦ㝆] ⺆㰖
[ヒ㹢] 㨒
[㱞] ┼㞚㣪
[➈㞚㣪] 㧮⪎㠊
[㰺⪎㠊] 㑯ⰻ
[㚻ⰻ] • Loan words spelled one way but often pronounced differently
㓺㤾䎆 [㎎䌖]
䖂䕆 [ズ㝆]
⩆┳㎪䁶 [⋲┳ῂ]
ぢ⧮㰖㠊 [ぢ⧒㧦]
• Usually spelled without an extra ඥ, but often pronounced with one 㞚䝚┺₆㠦
[㞚䝚┺₎⧮] 㫡㞚 ⽊㧊₆㠦 [㫡㞚 ⽊㧊₎⧮]
㧊Ệ⪲ [㧊 Ỏ⪲]
Ṗ⩺┺Ṗ [Ṟ⩺┺Ṗ or Ṟ⧮┺Ṗ]
Ṗ⩺Ⳋ [Ṟ⩺Ⳋ or Ṟ⧮Ⳋ]
⽊⩺⓪◆ [⽒⩺⓪◆ or ⽒⧮⓪◆]
ⲏ㦒⩺ἶ [ⲏ㦚⩺ἶ or ⲏ㦚⧒ἶ]
㧦⯊⩺ἶ [㰺⯒⩺ἶ or 㰺⯒⧒ἶ]
䞮⩺ἶ 䟊☚ [䞶⩺ἶ 䟊☚ or 䞶⧒ἶ 䟊☚]
‘Phonetic spelling’ is sometimes employed for expressions that are used exclu- sively in speaking. One such form is -▪⧒ῂ㣪, which is usually written with a
ῂ to reflect its pronunciation even though it is really the suffix -ἶ. Another form that is rarely used in writing is ⾯┺. In fact, the correct spelling for its -㣪
form is not clear even to many native speakers is it ⾞㠊㣪, ⾞㣪, or ⾞㤢㣪?. The official spelling is supposedly ⾞㠊㣪, which is what we use in this book.
Why can’t we just write words the way we say them – ✲⩓┺ instead of ▪⩓┺ ‘be dirty,’ ↂⰺ┺ instead of ≆ⰺ┺ ‘sew,’ and so on? You can if there
is no danger of anyone judging you by how you spell things. In fact, ‘phonetic spelling’ is very common these days in personal notes and e-mail. However, it
would be a mistake to write things in this way in important documents such as your résumé Spelling is often considered to be an important indicator of whether
someone is well educated or not.
Selected glossary
㑯ⰻ foolish person 㨒 jam
⺆㰖 badge ⽊㧦₆ wrapping cloth
㺓䞒䞮┺ be embarrassed ✺⯊┺ stop by
㧧Ṗ author ℒ⌊┺ take something out ☚Ⰲ㠊 on the contrary
㎇㰞 disposition; temper 䞲 䕢⓪ ㌂㧊 while distracted