What do you find hilarious when I read

the story “Ea is the only common English word” in which the word “Ea” is pronounced /e/.?

Break and steak are pretty common, and both have the /e/ sound.

What is the source of the English spelling fluency? The linked Wikipedia article gives plenty of information, but the short version is that while most words with “ea” shifted to the /i/ sound, as in beak, they didn’t, possibly because of the influence of the consonant following “ea”. Great, break, and steak have plosive consonants before the vowel; the “r” in bear and swear pulls the sound of “ea” in those words a different way.

Of course, oh yes- I know, the beak has a plosive consonant, and fear ends with an “i”. I like the fact that words change their pronunciation when they are not related to other words, but it is a fact that some words have changed their pronunciation. I usually have to learn to “talk” with them or use these words outside of the context of context. What is in the words that were not undergone GVS?

If these had participated in the GVS they would have been steek, greet, breek, and this is not something that affects every single word with an -ea-, it is not something which affects lots and lots of names that are spelled that way. And etymologically and historically, the words steak, great, break, should have participated in the GVS, and been pronounced steek, greet, breek. But etymologically and historically, the words steak should have in the GVS, and should have participated in the GVS, and were pronounced greek. Why this is, nobody know? I left you with this provocation that even though linguists may think they can explain everything, there are gaps in our knowledge and exceptions to our rules.

What are the biggest risks of not learning English?