> Sure. But the Romans didn't have printing presses. And, as I say, back 
> then words didn't have a set spelling; that only came in after printing. 
> So that doesn't explain how a long-dead language can influence the 
> spelling of a modern one.

Of course it does!  When you invade a country you pick up some of the local 
lingo too (and maybe pronounce it slightly differently), which leads to 
English being a mix of various languages.  I don't see what the printing 
press has to do with anything, people still spoke and wrote before that!

I'm sure you can research where various words came from, but I suspect "kn-" 
type words (eg knot) came from the Saxons as there are similar words in 
German where the "k" is voiced.  "Psy-" type words are Greek, if you 
investigated the Greek language you'd probably find out why they are 
spelt/pronounced like that.

Post a reply to this message