Defective Orthographies
A defective orthography is one that is not capable of representing all the phonemes or phonemic distinctions in a language. An example of such a deficiency in English orthography is the lack of distinction between the voiced and voiceless "th" phonemes, occurring in words like then and thin respectively (both have to be written th). More systematic deficiency is found in orthographies based on abjadic writing systems like the Arabic and Hebrew scripts, which do not normally represent the short vowels (although methods are available for doing so in special situations).
Read more about this topic: Phonemic Orthography
Famous quotes containing the word defective:
“A defective voice will always preclude an artist from achieving the complete development of his art, however intelligent he may be.... The voice is an instrument which the artist must learn to use with suppleness and sureness, as if it were a limb.”
—Sarah Bernhardt (1845–1923)