"easy to learn" spelling

[Tom Zurinskas]

Granted our own voicings of phonemes can change without us knowing it.  But is it a bad thing to point out to people that they are mispronouncing things?  For instance saying "My name's not Don Hockins it's Dawn Hawkins."  And if changing one's mind because of someone else's opinion is a bad thing, why should anyone listen to your opinion or anyone else's?

Interesting abut Chines logographics.  Could it be that language varies so much there BECAUSE it has not letter-sound correspondence to lock it in.

[from Ben Franklin's letter to Polly]
People would long learn to read the old writing though they practiced the new. And the inconvenience is not greater than what has actually happened in a similar case, in Italy. Formerly its inhabitants all spoke and wrote Latin; as the language changed the spelling followed it. It is true that at present a mere unlearned Italian cannot read the Latin books, though they are still read and understood by many. But if the spelling had never been changed he would now have found it much more difficult to read and write his own language; for written words would have had no relation to sounds, they would only have stood for things; so that if he would express in writing the idea he has when he sounds the word vescovo he must use the letters episco. In short, whatever the difficulties and inconveniences now are, they will be more easily surmounted now than hereafter;

I'm not big into changing tradspel.  Franklin was a spelling reformer.  Theodore Roosevelt tried as president accompanied by Andrew Carnegie and together they failed.  But phonetic spelling needs to be changed to something easily usable for English readers.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at authorhouse.com.

> Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:40:26 -0400
> From: RonButters at AOL.COM
> Subject: "easy to learn" spelling
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: RonButters at AOL.COM
> Subject: "easy to learn" spelling
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In a message dated 4/11/08 9:07:54 PM, truespel at HOTMAIL.COM writes:
>
>
>> It would be a terrific thing if the letter/sound correspondence in English=
> =20
>> were regular.=A0 The easiest thing to change is pronunciation to meet spel=
> ling.
>>=20
> How would this be EASY? Pronunciation changes constantly, and the changers=20
> are usually not even aware of what they are doing (and powerless to do anyth=
> ing=20
> about it). Occasionally some spelling pronunciations happen with individual=20
> words (e.g., "often"), but there is no way in the world (let alone any "easy=
> "=20
> way) to control phonological change short of killing very large numbers of=20
> teenagers in every generation. Of course, spelling isn't easy to change, eit=
> her,=20
> but people do a lot less writing than they do speaking, and they are a lot m=
> ore=20
> conscious of what they are doing when they write, and they can go back and=20
> edit, so it is far, far easier to teach children how to use a somewhat=20
> idiosyncratic spelling system than it is to change their phonological system=
> s to meet=20
> somebody's idea of what is "right."
>
> It is perhaps worth pointing out that not all cultures use a phonemic or eve=
> n=20
> syllabic system of writing. There are great advantages to being "Chinese":=20
> you can read what each other writes, even if you cannot understand the spoke=
> n=20
> form of the language at all. To some extent this is more or less true of the=
> =20
> virtually frozen system of English spelling. There is an advantage for Engli=
> sh as=20
> a World Language to pretty much leaving the spelling alone.=20
>
> Mr. Truespel, you are tiliting at windmills that do not exist, and you don't=
> =20
> even have a tilter.
>
>
> **************
> It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on=20
> AOL Money & Finance.
> (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=3Daolcmp00300000002850)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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