"orthographic depth"的定义和意义

What is "orthographic depth"?

Orthographic depth refers to the complexity of the relationship between the sounds of a language and its written form. In languages with shallow orthography, such as Spanish, there is a direct and consistent correspondence between letters and sounds, making it easier to predict how words are spelled based on their pronunciation. In contrast, languages with deep orthography, like English, have a more complicated relationship, where the same letter combinations can produce different sounds, and various spellings can represent the same sound. For example, the sounds "f" and "s" can be spelled differently in words like "fence" and "symbol." Understanding orthographic depth is significant in linguistics and education, as it impacts literacy development and reading proficiency.