[delta_p_delta_x]

> In some ways, the schwa sound in English the worst as there is no symbol which is committed even partially towards it.

> English imports spellings from other cultures and adds its own layer of pronunciations. Other languages probably don't do it as often.

English is almost unique in how inconsistent its orthography is especially with respect to vowel sounds, and loanwords are only the latest manifestation of this problem. Even consonants aren't spared. Consider the digraph 'th'. This can be a voiced or voiceless dental fricatives. English used to have letters for each: ð and þ. 'ough' has nine pronunciations—plough, though, through, thorough, cough, rough, bought, lough, hiccough.

English has experienced contact with such a wide variety of unrelated foreign languages to an extent few others ever have.