[Muke Tever (Re: [Wiktionary-l] Re: English orthographies) writes:]
>
> Yes, and sometimes the etymology is ignored in the reckoning of correct spelling,
> thus "island" and not "iland" and "thumb" rather than
"thum". Etymology is never a
> proof of spelling, though it is one of the factors that influences it.
In some cases, e.g. modern Japanese, the spelling, i.e. the kana
representation, has been aligned entirely with pronunciation, thus
blowing away many etymological influences. This was fought over for 50
years, but finally the radicals triumphed over the conservatives. The
old kana system was even more dysfunctional than English spelling.
Jim
--
Jim Breen
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/
Clayton School of Information Technology, Tel: +61 3 9905 9554
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia Fax: +61 3 9905 5146
(Monash Provider No. 00008C) ジム・ブリーン@モナシュ大学