About Spelling

English is considered by linguists to be an orthographically deep language because the majority of letters in the English alphabet have more than one sound, and the language does not have a one-to-one match between letters and sounds, making spelling rather difficult. A frequently cited example of how the sounds and spelling do not match up in English comes from George Bernard Shaw's alternate spelling of the word "fish." He suggested that g-h-o-t-i should be an acceptable way to spell "fish" based on the "gh" from "cough," the "o" from "women" and the "ti" from "nation."

Identification

When talking about spelling, people often tend to confuse letters with sounds. Think about how many times you have heard a child trying to spell a word and an adult telling that child to "sound it out." To clarify, the identity of letters in the English language is part of the orthographical system, whereas the identity of sounds is part of the phonetic system. There are 26 letters in the alphabet that are used for spelling, while there are 43 phonemes that describe the sounds, including 25 consonant sounds and 18 vowel sounds.

Function

The function of spelling is the same as that of talking--communication. Because the inventory of letters in the English alphabet does not match the inventory of phonemes in the English language there must be an agreed upon system of spelling otherwise written communications between people would not be very successful. Amazingly, there are people that do not see the value of proper spelling; however, the example of g-h-o-t-i as a spelling for the word "fish" should amply demonstrate the importance of a common spelling system to communication.

Features

If the discrepancy between letters and sounds in English isn't enough to make spelling challenging, there are other features of English that can also pose problems. These features include, but are not limited to, the following:
Homophones: words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings: "bare" and "bear"; "to," "too," and "two"; and "feat" and "feet."
Suffix variations: "-ible" and "-able" and "-ance" and "-ence."
Irregular spelling rules with exceptions: "I" before "e" except after "c"--example: "believe," "conceive." Exception: "beige."

Considerations

With all of the potential for spelling errors in the English language, there are some very important considerations that should be taken. Most importantly, always proofread your writing. Also, if writing on a computer, you should keep in mind that it is not wise to rely on a spell check program alone. Here is just a sampling of word sets that are commonly spelled incorrectly and that most spell check programs will not catch: affect and effect; except and accept; you're and your; they're, their and there; moot and mute; assure, insure and ensure; lessen and lesson; loose and lose.

Prevention/Solution

A good way to prevent spelling mistakes from occurring in the first place is to keep a list of problem words handy that you can refer to when you are writing. Your list of problem words can include known problem words like some of those discussed in this article, and it can also include specific words that you have been challenged by in the past. Another way to prevent spelling errors is to look up words that you are unsure of in a dictionary. It should be noted that there are often variations of the spelling of words in different dictionaries; however, if they are in the dictionary, the spelling variation will be a known and accepted variation and should not affect your ability to communicate.