English, or at least British English, spelling is a mess. As part of the nation building exercise at 300 odd years ago Dr. Johnston wrote his dictionary and English spelling has remained more or less fossilized ever since. Because industrial capitalism really got going first in Britain the nation building exercise happened earlier than in most other countries and so (UK) English spelling was standardised here earlier than it was for most other languages. This causes problems because the spelling we use is no longer phonetic and in a lot of cases is nowhere near. Italian spelling is very straightforward, you spell the word as it sounds. In England rates of dyslexia are quite high, but in Italy it is virtually nonexistant. Much as it irritates me to admit it US spelling is more logical and English spelling should be overhauled so that the spelling of words actually matches what they sound like. This will do no end of good to children's educational chances.
And it might even mean that people stop saying things like: "when I loose my queen" rather than "when I lose my queen" in the chess Forum, which is one of those things that causes me no end of irrational irritation.
Originally posted by Bad wolf....ir..... does that mean that reading you your miranda rites is nothing more than a ritualistic bit of meaningless drivel when it comes to ensuring due process and justice be served?
and while you're at it why don't you start spelling 'right' as 'rite'?
Seeing as how you seem to want all words to be spelt phonetically. ðŸ˜
Originally posted by kmax87Ha, yes, well in the UK they changed the caution from: "You have the right to remain silent." to "You do not have to say anything at this time, but if you fail to disclose anything now then you will not be able to use it in your defence later." - or words to that effect. In other words put your cards on the table so that we can bluff and you can't. So I thing we've definitely got rites and not rights over here. May as well start spelling them the same.
....ir..... does that mean that reading you your miranda rites is nothing more than a ritualistic bit of meaningless drivel when it comes to ensuring due process and justice be served?
Originally posted by DeepThoughtNo! That would get rid of all the beauty and intricacy of the English language and make it sterile.
English spelling should be overhauled so that the spelling of words actually matches what they sound like. This will do no end of good to children's educational chances.
And it might even mean that people stop saying things like: "when I loose my queen" rather than "when I lose my queen" in the chess Forum, which is one of those things that causes me no end of irrational irritation.
I love all the quirks and convolution in languages. It engrains a unique sense of history in even the most basic thing (Language).
As to whether this will help children, well I would rather my child actually use their brain and learn the language in its complexity. The easier you make everything for a child, the less smart they become.
Originally posted by EsotericThe beauty of the language is a matter of grammar and usage, not stupid rules for spelling. I'm not suggesting that it be made easy for children, simply that it not be made hard to impossible. Having an arcane spelling system that is 300 years behind where the language actually is makes it harder to express even simple things. Children do best when they feel confident, and that isn't helped by a spelling system that amounts to a series of traps.
No! That would get rid of all the beauty and intricacy of the English language and make it sterile.
I love all the quirks and convolution in languages. It engrains a unique sense of history in even the most basic thing (Language).
As to whether this will help children, well I would rather my child actually use their brain and learn the language in its complexity. The easier you make everything for a child, the less smart they become.
Originally posted by DeepThoughtSorry, but I want to understand what you mean by this. How do differences in spelling make it difficult to express something?
Having an arcane spelling system that is 300 years behind where the language actually is makes it harder to express even simple things.
Originally posted by Amauroteso what happened? did they take effect? ...
America's neurosis over this really began with Teddy Roosevelt, who was a great man and an excellent President but notably appalling at spelling (even he admitted as much, and his wife never ceased ribbing him about it): in 1906 he endorsed en bloc three hundred recommendations of the Simplified Spelling Board just to assert American cultural identity. They ...[text shortened]... ue" to "check" only increased the confusion. If hard cases make bad law, so do hard rules.
china did the same, with pinyin ...
United States residents do many things in a different way to the rest of us. We resent their changes as "an attempt to assert American cultural identity" yet we allow their television programmes into our countries so that our youth may grow up with baseball and baggy pants. Much as I hate this takeover I accept that 300 million people have an awful lot of say. It's nice to be able to look down on them for the fact that they actually need to assert their cultural identity.
Originally posted by MissOleumShouldn't we all be eating rice and talking Chinese, if that logic is to be applied?
Much as I hate this takeover I accept that 300 million people have an awful lot of say.
I think what you really mean is this, "25% of the planets wealth being held by 4.6% of the population means those people have a lot of say".
Going back to the original argument, "centre" and "center" are spelt differently because they are two different words with two different meanings, not the same word spelt differently. Much the same as why "right","write" and "rite" are all spelled differently.
Plus, Esoteric is right that our crazy spelling system allows for a lot of flavour in English writing and poetry etc. How can that be a bad thing?