Editing Ghoti

{{Short description|Creative re-spelling of the word "fish"}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
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'''Ghoti''' is a creative English respelling of the word ''[[fish]]'', used to illustrate irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation.

==Explanation==
The word is intended to be pronounced in the same way as ''fish'' ({{IPAc-en|f|ɪ|ʃ}}), using these sounds:
* ''gh'', pronounced {{IPAc-en|f}} as in ''enough'' {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|n|ʌ|f}} or ''tough'' {{IPAc-en|t|ʌ|f}};
* ''o'', pronounced {{IPAc-en|ɪ}} as in ''women'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɪ|m|ɪ|n}};
* ''ti'', pronounced {{IPAc-en|ʃ}} as in ''nation'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|eɪ|ʃ|ən}} or ''motion'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|oʊ|ʃ|ən}}.

The key to the phenomenon is that the pronunciations of the constructed word's three parts are inconsistent with how they would ordinarily be pronounced in those placements. To illustrate: ''gh'' can only resemble ''f'' when following the letters ''ou'' or ''au'' at the end of certain [[morpheme]]s ("tough", "cough", "laugh"), while ''ti'' would only resemble ''sh'' when followed by a vowel sound. The expected pronunciation in English would sound like "[[goatee]]" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|oʊ|t|i}}, not "fish".<ref name="nytzimmer">{{cite web |last=Zimmer |first=Ben |author-link=Benjamin Zimmer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/magazine/27FOB-onlanguage-t.html |title=Ghoti |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=25 June 2010 |access-date=23 May 2019}}</ref>

Both of the [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] in the spelling – ''gh'' and ''ti'' – are examples of consonant shifts, the gradual transformation of a consonant in a particular spoken context while retaining its identity in writing. Specifically, "nation" reflects the softening of ''t'' before ''io'' in late Latin and early French,<ref>{{cite book|last=Solodow|first=Joseph B.|title=Latin Alive: The Survival of Latin in English and the Romance Languages|year=2010}}</ref> while "enough" reflects the softening of a terminal ''g'' in [[West Germanic languages]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Agate|first=Dendy|title=A Guide to the English Language: Its History, Development, and Use|year=1919}}</ref> In contrast, [[North Germanic languages]] such as Danish and Swedish retain a harder pronunciation in their corresponding words (''nok'' and ''nog'').

==History==
The first confirmed use of ''ghoti'' is in a letter dated 11 December 1855 from [[Charles Ollier]] to [[Leigh Hunt]]. On the third page of the letter, Ollier explains that his son William, who was 31, had "hit upon a new method of spelling Fish." Ollier then demonstrates the rationale, "So that ''ghoti'' is ''fish''."<ref>The original letter is housed in the British Library.</ref><ref name="llog">{{cite web |first=Ben |last=Zimmer |author-link=Benjamin Zimmer |url=https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=81 |title="Ghoti" before Shaw |work=[[Language Log]] |date=23 April 2008 |access-date=23 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="SJM">{{cite magazine |first=S. R. Townshend |last=Mayer |title=Leigh Hunt and Charles Ollier |magazine=St. James's Magazine |date=October 1874 |page=406}}</ref> Ollier's work was contemporaneous with that of spelling reformer [[Alexander J. Ellis]], whose ''Plea for Phonotypy and Phonography'' contained several similar examples.<ref name="llog" />

An early known published reference is an October 1874 article by [[Samuel Ralph Townshend Mayer|S. R. Townshend Mayer]] in ''[[St. James's Magazine]]'', which cites the letter.<ref name="SJM" />

Another relatively early appearance of ''ghoti'' was in a 1937 newspaper article,<ref name="llog" /> and the term is alluded to in the 1939 [[James Joyce]] experimental work of fiction ''[[Finnegans Wake]]''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkGwCwAAQBAJ&dq=finnegan%27s+wake+ghoti&pg=PA299 | title=Annotations to Finnegans Wake | isbn=9781421419077 | last1=McHugh | first1=Roland | date=24 February 2016 | publisher=JHU Press }}</ref>

''Ghoti'' is often cited to support [[English spelling reform]], and is often attributed to [[George Bernard Shaw]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Holroyd |first=Michael |title=Bernard Shaw: Volume III: 1918–1950: The Lure of Fantasy |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=1994 |isbn=0517130351}}</ref> a supporter of this cause. However, the word does not appear in Shaw's writings,<ref name="llog" /> and a biography of Shaw attributes it instead to an anonymous spelling reformer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html |title=What is "ghoti"? |first=Jim |last=Scobbie |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010225063805/http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html |archive-date=25 February 2001 |access-date=23 May 2019}}</ref> Similar constructed words exist that demonstrate English [[Idiosyncrasy #Linguistics|idiosyncrasies]], but ''ghoti'' is one of the most widely recognized.<ref name="nytzimmer" />

==Notable usage==
*In ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'' (published in 1939), [[James Joyce]] alludes to ''ghoti'': "Gee each owe tea eye smells fish." ("G-H-O-T-I spells 'fish'.") (p.&nbsp;299). On p.&nbsp;51, ''that fishabed ghoatstory'' may also allude to ''ghoti''.
*In the [[artistic language]] [[Klingon language|Klingon]], '''{{mono|ghotI’}}''' {{IPA|/ɣoˈtʰɪʔ/}} is the proper word for "fish".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-klingon-words/gh/ |title=Klingon Language Institute |access-date=23 May 2019}}</ref>
*In "An Egg Grows in Gotham", a 1966 episode of the television series ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'', the villain [[Egghead (DC Comics)|Egghead]] uses "Ghoti Oeufs" as the name for his caviar business, and Batman explains the reference to Robin.<ref>{{cite episode |title=An Egg Grows in Gotham |series=Batman |series-link=Batman (TV series) |credits=Teleplay by Stanley Ralph Ross, Story by Ed Self |network=[[American Broadcasting Company]]|via=YouTube|airdate=19 October 1966 |season=2 |number=13 |time=5 minutes 25 seconds|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvI8tBQjZSQ#t=5m25s}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*[[Ghoti Hook]] is a 1990s Christian punk band.
*''Ghoti'' has been used to test [[speech synthesizer]]s.<ref name="kevelson198601">{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_25_1986-01_Ion_International_US#page/n31/mode/2up |title=Speech Synthesizers for the Commodore Computers / Part II |work=Ahoy! |date=January 1986 |access-date=23 May 2019 |last=Kevelson |first=Morton |pages=32}}</ref> The ''Speech!'' [[allophone]]-based speech synthesizer software for the [[BBC Micro]] was tweaked to pronounce ''ghoti'' as ''fish''.<ref name="speechsynth">{{cite web |url=http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons/2006-05/msg01548.html |title=Re: Spelling Bees |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-date=20 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120103344/http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons/2006-05/msg01548.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Examination of the code reveals the string '''GHOTI''' used to identify the special case.
*In the [[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game]], there is a series of Fish-Type cards called "Ghoti".<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1538914710896222208|user=YuGiOh_TCG|title=The Power of the Elements Premiere! Event is coming up July 30-31! You can be entered into a drawing to win exclusive prizes, like this Ultra Rare copy of Ghoti of the Deep Beyond (while supplies last)!|date=20 June 2022}}</ref>
*The second track of [[Lupe Fiasco]]'s 2022 album ''[[Drill Music in Zion]]'' is titled "Ghoti".<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Hoffman |first1=Tim |title=ALBUM REVIEW: Lupe Fiasco makes a salient statement with 'Drill Music In Zion' |url=https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/lupe-fiasco-drill-music-in-zion/ |website=RIFF Magazine |access-date=8 July 2022 |date=24 June 2022}}</ref>
*[[Vocaloid]] producer [[NILFRUITS]] uses the line "ghoti, ghoti" in the transcript accompanying the sung lyrics of "fish, fish" in his 2018 song ''Hungry Nicole''.<ref>{{cite AV media|last=NILFRUITS |date=10 June 2018 |title=∴flower 『 HUNGRY NICOLE 』【Official】 |medium=4'47" video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4MEB95GRe0?t=256/ |publisher=NILFRUITS|via=YouTube}} See transcript.</ref>

==See also==
* [[English-language spelling reform]]
* [[English orthography]]
* [[English phonology]]
* "[[The Chaos]]", a poem which demonstrates the irregularity of English orthography

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/ling006.html How to pronounce "ghoti"]
* [http://www.zompist.com/spell.html Hou tu pranownse Inglish], an essay on grapheme-to-phoneme rules that discusses "ghoti"
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060226003520/http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html "What is ghoti?" by Jim Scobbie]

[[Category:English words]]
[[Category:English orthography]]