[ELI5] Why have some languages like Spanish kept the pronunciation of the written language so that it can still be read phonetically, while spoken English deviated so much from the original spelling?

Question

[ELI5] Why have some languages like Spanish kept the pronunciation of the written language so that it can still be read phonetically, while spoken English deviated so much from the original spelling?

In: Culture

Answer 1

English actually did enunciate phonemes that are no longer enunciated. For instance, in night the gh was pronounced, and the e at the end of “silent e” words was said as an “ee” or “e” sound. Many of these much more Germanic enunciation were spoken all the way through to at least Early Modern English, and sometimes even into late modern English. It began as a much more phonetic language, but the incorporation of Latin language aspects into its every day language, along with dialectical phonemic changes over time made it deviate from original pronunciation.