# Ghoti

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For other uses, see [Ghoti (disambiguation)](/source/Ghoti_(disambiguation)).

**Ghoti** is a creative English respelling of the word *[fish](/source/Fish)*, used to illustrate irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation.

## Explanation

The word is intended to be pronounced in the same way as *fish* (/fɪʃ/), using these sounds:

- *gh*, pronounced /f/ as in *enough* /ɪˈnʌf/ or *tough* /tʌf/;
- *o*, pronounced /ɪ/ as in *women* /ˈwɪmɪn/;
- *ti*, pronounced /ʃ/ as in *nation* /ˈneɪʃən/ or *motion* /ˈmoʊʃən/.

The key to the phenomenon is that the pronunciations of the constructed word's three parts are inconsistent with how they would ordinarily be pronounced in those placements. To illustrate: *gh* can only resemble *f* when following the letters *ou* or *au* at the end of certain [morphemes](/source/Morpheme) ("tough", "cough", "laugh"), while *ti* would only resemble *sh* when followed by a vowel sound. The expected pronunciation in English would sound like "[goatee](/source/Goatee)" /ˈɡoʊti/, not "fish".[1]

Both of the [digraphs](/source/Digraph_(orthography)) in the spelling – *gh* and *ti* – are examples of consonant shifts, the gradual transformation of a consonant in a particular spoken context while retaining its identity in writing. Specifically, "nation" reflects the softening of *t* before *io* in late Latin and early French,[2] while "enough" reflects the softening of a terminal *g* in [West Germanic languages](/source/West_Germanic_languages).[3] In contrast, [North Germanic languages](/source/North_Germanic_languages) such as Danish and Swedish retain a harder pronunciation in their corresponding words (*nok* and *nog*).

## History

The first confirmed use of *ghoti* is in a letter dated 11 December 1855 from [Charles Ollier](/source/Charles_Ollier) to [Leigh Hunt](/source/Leigh_Hunt). On the third page of the letter, Ollier explains that his son William, who was 31, had "hit upon a new method of spelling Fish." Ollier then demonstrates the rationale, "So that *ghoti* is *fish*."[4][5][6] Ollier's work was contemporaneous with that of spelling reformer [Alexander J. Ellis](/source/Alexander_J._Ellis), whose *Plea for Phonotypy and Phonography* contained several similar examples.[5]

An early known published reference is an October 1874 article by [S. R. Townshend Mayer](/source/Samuel_Ralph_Townshend_Mayer) in *[St. James's Magazine](/source/St._James's_Magazine)*, which cites the letter.[6]

Another relatively early appearance of *ghoti* was in a 1937 newspaper article,[5] and the term is alluded to in the 1939 [James Joyce](/source/James_Joyce) experimental work of fiction *[Finnegans Wake](/source/Finnegans_Wake)*.[7]

*Ghoti* is often cited to support [English spelling reform](/source/English_spelling_reform), and is often attributed to [George Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw),[8] a supporter of this cause. However, the word does not appear in Shaw's writings,[5] and a biography of Shaw attributes it instead to an anonymous spelling reformer.[9] Similar constructed words exist that demonstrate English [idiosyncrasies](/source/Idiosyncrasy#Linguistics), but *ghoti* is one of the most widely recognized.[1]

## Notable usage

- In *[Finnegans Wake](/source/Finnegans_Wake)* (published in 1939), [James Joyce](/source/James_Joyce) alludes to *ghoti*: "Gee each owe tea eye smells fish." ("G-H-O-T-I spells 'fish'.") (p. 299). On p. 51, *that fishabed ghoatstory* may also allude to *ghoti*.
- In the [artistic language](/source/Artistic_language) [Klingon](/source/Klingon_language), **ghotI’** /ɣoˈtʰɪʔ/ is the proper word for "fish".[10]
- In "An Egg Grows in Gotham", a 1966 episode of the television series *[Batman](/source/Batman_(TV_series))*, the villain [Egghead](/source/Egghead_(DC_Comics)) uses "Ghoti Oeufs" as the name for his caviar business, and Batman explains the reference to Robin.[11]
- [Ghoti Hook](/source/Ghoti_Hook) is a 1990s Christian punk band.
- *Ghoti* has been used to test [speech synthesizers](/source/Speech_synthesizer).[12] The *Speech!* [allophone](/source/Allophone)-based speech synthesizer software for the [BBC Micro](/source/BBC_Micro) was tweaked to pronounce *ghoti* as *fish*.[13] Examination of the code reveals the string **GHOTI** used to identify the special case.
- In the [Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game](/source/Yu-Gi-Oh!_Trading_Card_Game), there is a series of Fish-Type cards called "Ghoti".[14]
- The second track of [Lupe Fiasco](/source/Lupe_Fiasco)'s 2022 album *[Drill Music in Zion](/source/Drill_Music_in_Zion)* is titled "Ghoti".[15]
- [Vocaloid](/source/Vocaloid) producer [NILFRUITS](/source/NILFRUITS) uses the line "ghoti, ghoti" in the transcript accompanying the sung lyrics of "fish, fish" in his 2018 song *Hungry Nicole*.[16]

## See also

- [English-language spelling reform](/source/English-language_spelling_reform)
- [English orthography](/source/English_orthography)
- [English phonology](/source/English_phonology)
- "[The Chaos](/source/The_Chaos)", a poem which demonstrates the irregularity of English orthography

## References

1. Zimmer, Ben (25 June 2010). ["Ghoti"](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/magazine/27FOB-onlanguage-t.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved 23 May 2019.

1. Solodow, Joseph B. (2010). *Latin Alive: The Survival of Latin in English and the Romance Languages*

1. Agate, Dendy (1919). *A Guide to the English Language: Its History, Development, and Use*

1. The original letter is housed in the British Library.

1. Zimmer, Ben (23 April 2008). [""Ghoti" before Shaw"](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=81). *[Language Log](/source/Language_Log)*. Retrieved 23 May 2019.

1. Mayer, S. R. Townshend (October 1874). "Leigh Hunt and Charles Ollier". *St. James's Magazine*. p. 406.

1. McHugh, Roland (24 February 2016). [*Annotations to Finnegans Wake*](https://books.google.com/books?id=gkGwCwAAQBAJ&dq=finnegan%27s+wake+ghoti&pg=PA299). JHU Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-1907-7.

1. Holroyd, Michael (1994). *Bernard Shaw: Volume III: 1918–1950: The Lure of Fantasy*. [Random House](/source/Random_House). ISBN 0-517-13035-1.

1. Scobbie, Jim. ["What is "ghoti"?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20010225063805/http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html). Archived from [the original](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html) on 25 February 2001. Retrieved 23 May 2019.

1. ["Klingon Language Institute"](https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-klingon-words/gh/). Retrieved 23 May 2019.

1. Teleplay by Stanley Ralph Ross, Story by Ed Self (19 October 1966). ["An Egg Grows in Gotham"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvI8tBQjZSQ#t=5m25s). No. 13. Batman. Episode 13. [American Broadcasting Company](/source/American_Broadcasting_Company). pp. 5 minutes 25 seconds. – via YouTube.

1. Kevelson, Morton (January 1986). ["Speech Synthesizers for the Commodore Computers / Part II"](https://archive.org/details/ahoy-magazine-25/page/n31/mode/2up). *Ahoy!*. No. 25. p. 32. Retrieved March 2, 2026.

1. ["Re: Spelling Bees"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130120103344/http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons/2006-05/msg01548.html). Archived from [the original](http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons/2006-05/msg01548.html) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2019.

1. "The Power of the Elements Premiere! Event is coming up July 30-31! You can be entered into a drawing to win exclusive prizes, like this Ultra Rare copy of Ghoti of the Deep Beyond (while supplies last)!". No. 1538914710896222208. 20 June 2022.

1. Hoffman, Tim (24 June 2022). ["ALBUM REVIEW: Lupe Fiasco makes a salient statement with 'Drill Music In Zion'"](https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/lupe-fiasco-drill-music-in-zion/). *RIFF Magazine*. Retrieved 8 July 2022.

1. NILFRUITS (10 June 2018). [*∴flower 『 HUNGRY NICOLE 』【Official】*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4MEB95GRe0?t=256/) (4'47" video). NILFRUITS. – via YouTube. See transcript.

## External links

- [How to pronounce "ghoti"](https://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/ling006.html)
- [Hou tu pranownse Inglish](http://www.zompist.com/spell.html), an essay on grapheme-to-phoneme rules that discusses "ghoti"
- ["What is ghoti?" by Jim Scobbie](https://web.archive.org/web/20060226003520/http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ghoti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.