Pronunciation

Question

why is outh pronounced differently in couth than mouth?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

hgreenberg
Why is outh pronounced differently in couth than mouth?

Nobody knows. Why do birds sing?

"ou", like many other vowel-letter combinations in English, has more than one pronunciation. That's just the way that English has developed historically, and it's too late to change it now.

"ea" is pronounced differently in "heath" and "death".
"ow" is pronounced differently in "now" and "low".
"au" is pronounced differently in "taught" and "gauge".

These phenomena are not at all uncommon in English.

CJ

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