Recently, a question came up in my private English Spelling Facebook group about the graphemes in the word view; a discussion ensued about the <ew> digraph that can spell both [ju] as in few and [uː] as in brew. Is the <i> silent in view? Or is it spelling [j] like it does in onion?
I'm really proud of the conversation that took place there. I mean, I'm really proud of all the conversations, even though I am not always proud of my own responses. Collectively, my clientele has a hell of a lot of orthographic and syntactic understanding, and putting all of our heads together is pretty powerful.
I re-shared this photo on my public LEX Facebook page, in response to the view conversation; I had originally posted it in 2019.
Note that I represented the <or>~[ɔ˞] relationship in fjord unitarily rather than as the separate vocalic and consonantal patterns <o>~[ɔ] and <r>~[ɹ]. That's a choice I made in representing the orthographic phonology, but it doesn't mean that it's the only choice, and it isn't a broad claim about the phonology of rhotic vowels.
The conversation about view and seeing fjord's representation from 2019 have inspired all three of this (northern) fall's Pop-Up classes. For starters, this conversation also got me thinking again about vowels and consonants on a conceptual and articulatory continuum, with liquids and glides both approaching the middle of that space. So that will be the first offering, in October, the Phonology of Liquids and Glides Pop-Up class.
Second, I think the question of the vowel in fjord means that it's time to do a repeat of my 2022 Rhotic Vowels Pop-Up class, so that will be the season's second Pop-Up, in November.
Finally, while few has an Old English root, neither view nor fjord is a native English word. Only fjord would be considered a loanword, though, but not view. Why not? What constitutes a loanword, and can they be analyzed morphologically in English? Our final Pop-Up class of the year will be in December, the new Why Buy the Fjord when the View is Free? A Loanword Pop-Up class.
All three Pop-Up classes will include a "(How) Do I Teach This?" component and the usual PDF of the class notes. Specific dates and times are below, as well as information on how to join the English Spelling Facebook group if you're not already a member. Pop-Up class pace is available on a first-come, first-served basis. You're welcome to request more than one, but please rank your selections.