Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Irregular English spelling should be scrapped, says leading academic .
Irregular English spellings hold back schoolchildren and should be abandoned, a leading academic has said. Spelling should be "freed up" and the apostrophe scrapped, according to John Wells, Emeritus Professor of Phonetics at University College London.
He proposes turning "give" into "giv", "river" into "rivver" and embracing Americanisms such as "organize" with a "z". Prof Wells will also claim the apostrophe causes unnecessary linguistic barriers. "Instead of an apostrophe," he will say, "we could just leave it out (it's could become its) or leave a space (so we'll would become we ll). Have we really nothing better to do with our lives than fret about the apostrophe?"
...Well, I agree with Christopher Howse on this subject. Spelling is important, it is part of communication. You use correct spelling so that people understand you fully in the same was as you speak clearly rather than in grunts and groans. Language is living and words are formed over time. The true spelling of words should be respected so that we all can understand what the author is writing about. Writing should explain thinks simply, part of this involves using the proper spelling of words. A piece of text should not be a brain puzzle to understand what someone is getting at. I have no time at all for this abbreviated text message style of writing where you have to guess at the intended message.
The apostrophe is important so that we can all understand what the writer is referring to. The rules of the use of apostrophes are simple and like swimming, once learned, you have them for life. If you do not like apostrophes then simply write the phrase out in full, eg; we will as opposed to we'll. John Wells' suggestions will not scan right for the reader and the meaning is lost and becomes an annoying puzzle.
Irregular English spellings hold back schoolchildren and should be abandoned, a leading academic has said. Spelling should be "freed up" and the apostrophe scrapped, according to John Wells, Emeritus Professor of Phonetics at University College London.
He proposes turning "give" into "giv", "river" into "rivver" and embracing Americanisms such as "organize" with a "z". Prof Wells will also claim the apostrophe causes unnecessary linguistic barriers. "Instead of an apostrophe," he will say, "we could just leave it out (it's could become its) or leave a space (so we'll would become we ll). Have we really nothing better to do with our lives than fret about the apostrophe?"
...Well, I agree with Christopher Howse on this subject. Spelling is important, it is part of communication. You use correct spelling so that people understand you fully in the same was as you speak clearly rather than in grunts and groans. Language is living and words are formed over time. The true spelling of words should be respected so that we all can understand what the author is writing about. Writing should explain thinks simply, part of this involves using the proper spelling of words. A piece of text should not be a brain puzzle to understand what someone is getting at. I have no time at all for this abbreviated text message style of writing where you have to guess at the intended message.
The apostrophe is important so that we can all understand what the writer is referring to. The rules of the use of apostrophes are simple and like swimming, once learned, you have them for life. If you do not like apostrophes then simply write the phrase out in full, eg; we will as opposed to we'll. John Wells' suggestions will not scan right for the reader and the meaning is lost and becomes an annoying puzzle.
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