Making sense of spelling - Gina Cooke

Traductor: Sebastian Betti Revisor: Amaranta Heredia Jaén

You've probably seen an email or an internet post

Seguro que han visto algún comentario en la Web

about how weird and random English spelling seems to be.

sobre lo extraña y aleatoria que es la ortografía del inglés.

But what if I told you that it actually makes perfect sense?

Pero ¿y si les dijera que tiene mucho sentido?

In fact, that's spelling's job:

De hecho, esa es la función de la ortografía:

Making sense. Think of spelling a word

Dar sentido. Imaginen la ortografía de una palabra

as peeling back the layers of an onion.

como si de pelar una cebolla se tratara.

The first layer is a word's sense and meaning.

La primera capa es el sentido y el significado de la palabra.

Often there are multiple layers of meaning.

A menudo hay múltiples capas de significado.

Another layer is the word's structure.

La estructura de la palabra es otra capa.

Think of the center of the onion as a word's base element,

Imaginen que el centro de la cebolla es la base de la palabra,

its essential kernel of meaning.

su núcleo semántico esencial.

A free-base element, like O-N-E,

Un lexema independiente, como O-N-E,

or T-W-O,

o T-W-O,

can stand on its own as a word,

es una palabra por derecho propio,

like one, or two.

como "one" [uno] o "two" [dos].

A bound base, like the R-U-P-T of "erupt" or "rupture"

Un lexema dependiente, como R-U-P-T en "erupt" [estallar] o "rupture" [ruptura]

needs another element in order to surface in a word.

requiere otro elemento para aparecer en una palabra.

Two or more bases

Dos o más lexemas

give us compounds, like "twofold" or "someone" or "bankrupt."

dan compuestos como "twofold" [doble] o "someone" [alguien] o "bankrupt" [insolvente].

Once we figure out a word's meaningful elements,

Una vez identificados los elementos significativos de la palabra,

We can peel back its history to shed a little more light

podemos analizar sus capas de historia para aclarar las cosas

on why it's spelled as it is.

o ver la lógica de su ortografía.

The word "two," for example,

La palabra "two" [dos], por ejemplo,

needs its "W" in order to mark its connection

necesita la "W" para marcar su conexión

to words like "twice," "twelve," "twenty,"

con palabras como "twice" [dos veces], "twelve" [doce], "twenty" [veinte],

"twin" and "between."

"twin" [gemelo] y "between" [entre].

A word's history is another layer of the onion.

La historia de una palabra es otra capa de la cebolla.

With that understanding, let's investigate the word "one."

Entendiendo esto, investiguemos la palabra "one" [uno].

First we need to check in with what it means.

Primero tenemos que analizar su significado.

Unique, single, solitary.

Único, solo, soltero, solitario.

"One's" historical layers include its relatives

Las capas históricas de "one" abarcan a sus familiares

"only," "once," "eleven," and even "a,"

"only" [sólo], "once" [una vez], "eleven" [once] e incluso "a" [un],

"an" and "any."

"an" [un] y "any" [ningún o cualquier].

But it's the morphological relatives -

Pero son los familiares morfológicos

the ones that share the base O-N-E -

(los que comparten la base O-N-E)

That are really astonishing.

los que resultan más sorprendentes.

There are the familiar ones, like "anyone,"

Están los conocidos, como "anyone" [cualquiera],

and "one-track" and "oneself" - those are obvious.

"one-track" [de una vía] y "oneself" [uno mismo]; esos son obvios.

But let's take a look at some unexpected derivations

Pero veamos algunas derivaciones inesperadas

of the word "one."

de la palabra "one" [uno].

The word "alone" is built from the prefix A-L plus the base O-N-E.

La palabra "alone" [solo] está formada por el prefijo A-L y el lexema O-N-E.

It's the same A-L prefix that we see

Es el mismo prefijo A-L que vemos

in "always," "already," "almighty" and "almost."

en "always" [siempre], "already" [ya], "almighty" [omnipotente] y "almost" [casi].

It means "all."

Significa "all" [todo].

the word "alone" means "all one."

La palabra "alone" [solo] significa "all one" [todo uno].

It was misanalysed in the middle ages

En la Edad Media se analizó erróneamente

as having the prefix "a," like in "asleep" and "awake" and "around,"

con el prefijo "a", como en "asleep" [dormido], "awake" [despierto] y "around" [alrededor],

and a new base was born: L-O-N-E,

y nació un nuevo lexema: L-O-N-E,

which then developed into its own family.

que luego dio lugar a su propia familia.

In the word "atone," we find the familiar preposition "at"

En la palabra "atone", está la familiar preposición "at" [en]

compounded with the base O-N-E.

unida al lexema O-N-E.

See, when we atone for something we've done wrong,

Cuando "expiamos" [atone for] algo que hemos hecho mal,

we attempt to make things whole again,

tratamos de hacer las cosas de nuevo,

to fix what's broken, to be at one again with whomever we hurt.

para arreglar lo roto, para estar "en unión" [at one] con quienquiera que hayamos lastimado.

But here's perhaps the best one of all:

Pero esta quizá es la mejor de todas:

the word "onion," which is also frequently derided as irregular

la palabra "onion" [cebolla] a menudo ridiculizada como irregular

or crazy, for its spelling of "uh" with an O.

o loca, por deletrear con "/uh/" la "O".

But again, if we look into the word's structure,

Pero si miramos la estructura de la palabra

and its history, it's a mystery no more.

y su historia, se acaba el misterio.

When we look at the roots of an onion,

Si indagamos en las raíces de la cebolla [onion],

we learn that it is written as O-N-E plus I-O-N,

aprendemos que se escribe con O-N-E más I-O-N,

the same suffix we find in "tension," "action," "union"

el mismo sufijo que en [tensión], [acción], [unión]

and thousands of other words in English.

y otras miles de palabras del inglés.

Unlike the many cloves in a head of garlic,

A diferencia de los muchos dientes de una cabeza de ajo,

an onion has a single bulb.

la cebolla tiene un único bulbo.

It is marked by the state or condition of oneness.

Está marcada por el estado o condición de unicidad.

Like an onion, English is one -

Al igual que la cebolla, el inglés es uno;

one single writing system shared across time and space.

un sistema de escritura simple compartido a través del tiempo y el espacio.

Its structure and its history have many layers,

Su estructura e historia tienen muchas capas,

and peeling them apart can really add flavor to our language

y quitar las capas puede darle sabor al idioma

and spice up our understanding. See, spelling is never just about spelling,

y sazonar nuestra comprensión. La ortografía nunca es sólo ortografía,

but about how written words make sense.

sino que da sentido a la palabra escrita.

It's almost enough to make you want to cry.

Ya eso es suficiente para hacernos llorar.