ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Pronunciation respelling for English

Okay kiddo, have you ever had trouble reading a word because it doesn't sound like it looks? That's because the English language is a bit tricky when it comes to spelling and pronunciation. So, to make things easier for people who are learning English or have trouble with certain words, they came up with something called pronunciation respelling.

Basically, it's a way of writing a word so that it sounds more like how it's pronounced. They do this by using special symbols called phonetic symbols that show how each sound in a word is pronounced.

For example, let's take the word "knight". It looks like it should be pronounced like "k-n-i-g-h-t" but it's actually pronounced like "nite". So, to respell it using phonetic symbols, it would look like this: /naɪt/.

This might look a little confusing at first, but once you learn the symbols and how they match up with the sounds in words, it becomes easier to understand. It's kind of like learning a secret code!

In summary, pronunciation respelling is a way of making words easier to read and pronounce by using special symbols that show how each sound in a word is pronounced. It helps people who are learning English or have trouble with certain words.