The sounds of language
Imagine the manager of a small restaurant, a man who has always had trouble with the spelling of unusual words, writing out a sign which he puts in the front window, advertising that they have a new SEAGH. You see the sign and you decide to ask what kind of new thing this is. When you hear the pronunciation, you recognize the word usually written as chef. How did he arrive at that other spelling? Well, it’s very simple, he says. Take the first sound of the word sure, the middle sound of the word dead, and the final sound of the word laugh. Isn’t that a seagh?