'We shall distinguish between "lexical representations" and
"phonological representations". We shall use the term "lexical
representation" in reference to formatives which are provided
directly by the lexicon, i.e. the lexical formatives as well
as certain grammatival formatives which happen to appear in
lexical entries.' (p9)
'There is, incidentally, nothing particularly surprising about
the fact that conventional orthography is, as these examples
suggest, a near optimal system for the lexical representation
of English words. >>The fundamental principle of orthography
is that phonetic variation is not indicated where it is
predictable by general rule.<< ... Orthography is a system
designed for readers who know the language ... A system of
this sort is of little use for one who wishes to produce
tolerable speech without knowing the language ... For such
purposes a phonetic [or phonemic] alphabet ... would be
superior. This, however, is not the function of conventional
orthographic systems. They are designed for the use of
speakers of the language. It is therefore noteworthy, but
not too surprising, that English [they mean American, which
is less regular] orthography, despite its often cited
inconsistencies, comes remarkable close to being an optimal
orthographic system for English.' (p49)
-- Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle: The Sound Pattern of English
[
MIT Press 1968.
(the 1991 paperback reprint has ISBN 0-262-53097-X)
Thanks to Richard A. O'Keefe for typing this in
]