Re: Push for Simpler Spelling: English as a Global Language

[Sankara R <ss_rajanala -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> What the successful attempts have in common is
> that they preserve the 
> information contained in the original
> orthography. Changes are small and 
> subtle and do not discard etymological clues.
> What the crackpot schemes 
> have in common is precisely that they discard
> all etymological coding in 
> favor of phonological coding.

Another consideration (other than preserving
etymological clues) is ensuring that changes
effected in the American spelling should not be
radically different. Color (and such words) are a
shade different from color and so on, and so it
is easy to cope with the change - for everyone
involved.

English is on the way to becoming a global
language - some say it is already the GL - and
any 'man-made' changes should take into account
the implications to its global presence.

It is a little stressful to mentally convert a
mile into 1.6 km when one travels across the
pond, but it will be very painful indeed if a
similar exercise is required when one puts down J
K Rowling and picks up "Da Vinchi Koed".

I have a suspicion that many of the subtle
changes Noah Webster codified were already in
use: rather than condemn thousands who uniformly
use a different/simpler spelling.

That's another thing most successful language
reforms have in common: they originate in the
society and are valorized; and not in someone's
wild imagination.

Thanks and regards, 
Sankara S Rajanala 
Citec Information 
+358 50 428 0702 
---------------- 
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