hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2026-03-13

■ #6164. -ought と -aught の発音 [gh][spelling][pronunciation][vowel][orthography][onomastics][spelling_pronunciation_gap]

　昨日の記事「#6163. 中学生が発見した「teach の法則」 --- 原形に a が含まれる動詞の不規則過去形は -ought ではなく -aught となる」 ([2026-03-12-1]) について，今後，英語綴字史の観点から深掘りしていきたいと考えているが，手始めに，動詞の過去形に限らず，<ough(t)> と <augh(t)> の綴字について，発音の対応を語例とともに見ておこう．
　まず，<ought> について Carney (345--46) より．

O.15 <ought>≡/ɔː/ | ＿ <t>
Examples: bought, brought, fought, nought, ought, sought, thought, wrought.
  Exceptions with /aʊ/ --- doughty, drought. Names such as Boughton, Broughton, Houghton, Oughton, Oughtred, Stoughton have /ɔː/ --- /aʊ/ variation and occasionally /u;ː/ or /əʊ/. Some are only given with one variant by EPD --- Loughton /aʊ/, Moughton /əʊ/, but with the pronunciation of a name one can never be fully certain.

　続いて Carney (285) より，<augh(t)> について読んでみよう．

A.9 <augh>≡/ɔː/
Examples: aught, caught, daughter, distraught, fraught, haughty, naught, naughty, slaught, slaughter, taught; Baugh, Bradlaugh, Connaught, Haughtn, Laughton, McNaught, Shaughnessy, Waugh. The names Baughan, Maugham, Vaughan are single syllables (/bɔːn/, etc.). This correspondence is one straightforward part of the name Featherstonehaugh, pronounced /ˈfænʃɔː/.
  Exceptions: with /ɑːf/ (AmE /æf/) in draught, laugh and derived forms.
  Efficiency: in words 89 per cent; in names 77 per cent; a marginal rule with very strong bias toward high TF words and strong bias towards shorter words.

　単語間で明らかに類推作用が働いていると疑われ，綴字と発音の関係の記述は一筋縄ではいかなそうだ．一般語のみならず名前にもよく現われていることにも注意したい．

　・ Carney, Edward. A Survey of English Spelling. Abingdon: Routledge, 1994.

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