What is the difference between PH and F?

[summer]

My 6 yr old wants to know. All I could think of is that there is no difference, just some words have ph and some have f. But maybe someone here knows a difference.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

My 6 yr old wants to know. All I could think of is that there is no difference, just some words have ph and some have f. But maybe someone here knows a difference.

They both sound the same. Tell him one is spelled "ph" and one is spelled "f." :D

Like to, too, and two. They all "say" the same thing, they just are spelled differently.

[Mamagistra]

The ph spelling comes from the Greek letter called phi and pronounced /f/. That's all I know. :001_smile:

[Cinder]

I think ph words have a Greek root with the letter "phi" making the "f" sound.

Cinder

[dalynnrmc]

"The ABCs and All Their Tricks" says, on p213:

PH is a letter team for the sound of F. This is a Greek spelling. Notice the examples of Y within the word. Once in a while, P and H belong to different root words, and retain their normal sounds, as in loophole.

239 words have the team PH.

Which is, after all, not much help. LOL It does help to know that of all the words with an /f/ sound, only 239 of them are spelled with a PH. ;) Right? LOL

By comparison, pg129 states that 1907 words have an F as in fan, p130 says that 143 words have the blend FR- and 171 words have the blend FL-, and on p131 it says that 33 words contain FF at the end of a word. So, there ya go. ;)

ETA: And, after all, this book was published in 1986. I'm certain a few more f-words :shock: have been added to the general American vocabulary in the meantime! LOL I don't know if there are newer versions of this book; that just happens to be the edition I have.