MSGID: 1:153/716.0 7108aa71   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 670cb32e   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AK>  It remains to me only to wonder about the English language   
   AK>  evolution. How on earth you put a letter into the word and   
   AK>  don't pronounce this letter. ;)   
      
   AH>  In some cases at least a word has been adopted from a   
   AH>  Scandinavian or northern European language & we've trimmed   
   AH>  a few inflections etc. :-))   
      
   AK>  In other words, in "Milne" and other similar cases you can   
   AK>  put a letter for no reason and which has no any sense.   
      
             Hmm.  I think you were on the right track when you commented that   
   the "e" in this name may have been spoken aloud years ago.   
      
             Pronunciations in English often vary from one time & place to another   
   ... and I don't know where this name originated.  But IMHO it's most likely   
   the pronunciation changed & we never got around to changing the spelling.  I'm   
   told that's what happened with e.g. "gnash" and "knife"....  :-)   
      
      
   AK>  Very probably this tricks came from French which is far   
   AK>  ahead in this area.   
      
             In French the phonics work differently from what we're used to...   
   but we often say that if your mouth is full of wine or marbles you can cope.    
   And I get the impression the upper classes in Russia preferred French (which   
   may have worked for them when they didn't want the servants to get the drift)   
   until they became disenchanted with Napoleon, then carefully reconstructed   
   what's now your native language.  The net result from my POV is that it's a   
   lot younger than my native language & doesn't include complications like   
   "silent letters"....  :-))   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)   
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