In English, since when has "ph" been sounded as "f"?

Question

...and how did this pronunciation and spelling anomaly come about?

Answer 1

because its phonetically correct!. and we english like to constantly explore and develop english so it continues to be the finest expressive language in the world......... by the way if your french ...(buckle down and learn english!).

Answer 2

Probably when the Native Americans were settled here.

Answer 3

its to do with phonological processes.

However over time the "ph" over time came to be pronounced more as a "f" due to historical contact and loanwords etc so ever since its retained the "f" sound, but the orthography of "ph" has remained the same. Its very interested to study.  

Answer 4

thats not the only confusion?...Cough and bough...cow and bow...what about  to...too and two?...bass(fish)...bass(guitar)...the farm was to produce produce?...the dustcart was so full he had to refuse picking up the refuse?...have you tried to wax polish... Polish furniture?...theres no time like the present...to present youre present?...I do not object to the object?...want any more...before i go for a walk on the moore?...stupid isnt it?...

Answer 5

  when the english language

   evolved thousands of years ago

Answer 6

phucking years ago.

Answer 7

Since before the first dictionary was produced.

Answer 8

The English language includes many words from different cultures ie, Latin from the Romans, some French from the Normans and other countries as people travelled around the world.  I think the Ph sound comes from the Greek language for example, my daughter is Phoebe (Feebee) which means shining light.  

Answer 9

Well they are not pronounced exactly the same, just close enough to be confusing. ""ph" (an aspirated p) should be produced with the lips closer together than with the f sound.

It's not a black and white difference. There is a spectrum of pronounciations between p and f. In English, the ph sound lands closer to f than it does in other languages. In some cultures it is too close to P and causes confusion in the other direction.

It is very difficult to say for how long "ph" has been pronounced the way it is in English today because we do not have many sound recordings over 100 years old.