ABSTRACT
But though writing is an artificial contraption connecting vision and language, it must tap into the language system at well-demarcated points, and that gives it a modicum of logic.
Pinker (1994)
There is a common myth that English spelling is hard to learn. Many of our words don’t have a 1:1 sound to symbol match, that is true, but the vast majority do conform to predictable rules. Chomsky and Halle (1968) and C. Chomsky (1970) refer to English spelling as ‘optimal’, in terms of conveying both sound and meaning. That’s a good sign. The problem is that it is tempting to be frightened of words which aren’t predictable by the better-known rules.
