What is it called? VS What is it spelled?

I am writing a post about the difference between what vs how, but then got stuck with how to explain this.

We say 'what is it called?', not 'how is it called?' when we are asking the way to call something.

But, we say 'how is it spelled?', not 'what is it spelled?' when we are asking the way to spell something.

Is there a good way to explain this? Is it because, in 'what is it called?', we are asking about the name of the object, and not necessarily the way to call it? I think if I write this, that will confuse my readers even more because they can also think that the name of the object is also the way we call it.

How can always be replaced by "In what manner..." or "By what means...", "What must I do to..." It asks for the method by which the verb is done.

Thus we can say "How is it spelled?" because the meaning is "What is the method to spell this?" and (possibly idiomatically) the answer is the letters needed.*

"How is it called?" meaning "What is the name of this thing?" doesn't make sense: if you want to know the name of something, then "In what manner..." "What must I do to..." "What is the method for..." are inappropriate. As Greybeard comments, call in such a question means call forth, or summon. "What is the method to call it?" does make sense and "How is it called" is valid. You would get the answer "You speak its name."

So, if you want to know what its name is, the correct question is "What is it called?"




*An exceptionally obtuse answer would be "You write the correct letters in the right order," but even "How do I spell that?" (rather than "How is that spelled?") doesn't really warrant that answer. Using the verb spell asks for information about the spelling rather than how to write.

Here are some questions together with the answers you might get from a native English speaker

Q: What is that animal called?

A: It is called a dog. English people call it a dog.

Q: How is that animal called?

A: It is called by blowing a whistle. We call the animal to us by making a high-pitched sound.

Q: How is that word spelled? The word you just said?

A: I said the word "family". It is spelled F-A-M-I-L-Y

Q: What is that word spelled?

A: I'm sorry, I don't understand the question.

Note

The verb "to call" has many meanings. You may be confusing these meanings although originally they came from the same root. Examples:

Wife: I call my husband John by shouting "John!" very loudly because he is slightly deaf. In this case "to call" means to request someone to answer you or to come to you.

Mother: I call my son John, "Jack" because he prefers that name. In this case to call means to address someone or to mention their name to a third party.