@Alderian
"Sure, there are a lot of funny letter things going on. Why does G sometimes sound like a J? Why have X when we could just use KS. Why does the X make a Z sound when the first letter of a word, why not just use a Z? Inquiring minds want to know."
So, I'm going to be using some technical stuff to answer this question. <> will enclose a letter to indicate that we're talking about the letter itself. [ ] will enclose a letter or letters to indicate a sound represented. So, [g] as in the first letter of gorge, [dZ] as in George, [gz] as in exotic, [k] as in car, [s] as in seal, [z] as in zeal, [t] as in Tom, [S] as in shore, and [tS] as in chore.
The reason <g> represents [g] and [dZ] is because off a certain process of sound change called assimilation. The vowels [i] as in beet and [e] as in day tend to drag [g] and [k] forward in the mouth, a process called palatalization, because the sounds move from the velum/soft palate, front towards the teeth. This is why, for instance, there's English cheese and German Kaese. So, before historical [e] and [i], Proto-Germanic [k] became [tS]. Vulgar Latin [k] became [s] or [S] in similar environments, not so familiar with that shift. But basically, languages like French and English have very conservative orthographies, which is to say that when we first started spelling regularly, we spelled how we talked. The way we talked changed dramatically for various reasons, and here we are with this rather difficult spelling system.
LIVE GAME SUPER SNOWOUT!
, 10 minute phases, normal chat. http://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=17168
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