But the orthographic phonology is not the only thing that governs grapheme choice; pronunciation alone is way overrated when it comes to orthography.
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I have been studying these patterns closely for the better part of a decade. I kind of can't believe that I haven't written in depth about this before. I've certainly written some, and talked some, hither and yon, but here is the story I really want to tell.
This, then, below, is the first in my Dissertation Station posts. It's not new writing; it's excerpted from my dissertation proposal. But I haven't published this anywhere before now.
The real question here is actually, "Why are these words spelled the way they are?"
What I have learned from these historians is that witnessing matters. Getting the facts right matters, and getting names right matters. But you know what doesn't always matter? Spelling.