If we are going to allow incorrect spellings like w i e r d, t h i e r, and s i e z e because they are "too hard" to spell, why not just go hog wild and allow only phonetic spellings for all words. W e e r d, there and s e e z e would probably be easier to remember. While we are at it, ditch the q, x, and the c (except in the case of ch) because they are totally useless letters. Sure, it might take a while for the old fogies to get used to the new spellings, but at least English would start to make some more sense again.
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Re: hooked on phonics
Sat Aug 09, 2008 at 09:13:43 AM EST
5.00 (astute, interesting)
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I don't agree that phonetic spelling would be needed in order for English to "make some more sense" as you put it; for those who really know the English language, bizarre though it is (no other language on Earth has such complicated spelling) the language does make sense. The reason why English spelling is not already phonetic is because the spelling of a word in English doesn't just tell us how the word is supposed to be pronounced, it also reflects the history of that word, or as a linguist would say, its etymology (not to be confused with entomology, the study of insects). And by understanding the history and derivation of the words that we use, we gain a fuller sense of their meaning.
English, aside from its weird spelling, also has an enormously large vocabulary and innumerable synonyms which can be used to make very fine distinctions, and if we do not understand the history of the words we use, those fine distinctions would be lost upon us. Poetry would not be as poetic, fiction wouldn't be as subtle, rhetoric wouldn't be as incisive; everything would be that much more simplistic. This degradation of speech was even a factor in George Orwell's carefully crafted dystopia of 1984. Corrupt or insane governments find it useful to govern a population that doesn't speak or think very clearly. They are easier to deceive.
One could also argue that most people do not care about such things and would prefer to have a simpler language that is easier to use, although in practice, they do have a simpler language that is easier to use, which is the illiterate version of English. But for those who aspire to intellectual accomplishments of a higher level, English in its correct form is very useful.
That is not to say that English in its present form is sacred and untouchable. English is an ever-evolving language which changes every year (which is why Shakespeare sounds so odd). But the changes have a certain logic to them. They build on the language as it exists. If we just don't like the complexity of English, there is always Esperanto.
On the one hand, when I see misspellings in magazines or newspapers, it really irks me. The editors of paid publications ought to have the skillz to spot both misspellings and homonyms, but it seems that in today's world, if it passes your computer's spellchecker, it's good to go.
On the other hand, out in the world, I don't see anything wrong with an occasional spelling error, and any college teacher who gets an anal cramp about spelling should move over to elementary school, the appropriate venue for teaching it.
I think that the use of search engines ought to have a corrective effect on spelling, since 1) if you spell it wrong you're not likely to find what you want, and 2) Google, at least, offers a gentle corrective in the way of "did you mean" with the questionable word underlined.
Search engines are a good argument in favor of correct spelling, since if your spelling is too quirky, no one is going to find your page except through an outside link. If you don't care about being read, that's no problem...but why do the HTML if you don't care about being read?
Accepting variant spellings means that if you're looking for a keyword, either your search engine will have to be smart enough to look for the variants, or you'll have to try them. Either way, you'll end up with a lot more garbage.
Then you're not worth reading, IMHO. We all can and most do forgive the odd spelling error. But if I'm taking the time to read your shit, then you'd best have taken the the time to spell correctly, or your shit goes unread by me. There's too much good stuff out there - spelled correctly - for me to be bothered that you couldn't be bothered.
I think we should abandon writing and just use video.
I blame some of it on "texting". There's even an online dictionary dedicated to it. R U KUL, OR R U JST A CRB?
I hate the shit myself, but I don't think it's going away anytime soon.
I spent four years of my life working as a writer for one of the largest magazine at the time (1.4M issues/mo). I worked my way up to Contributing Editor, because the senior editors knew they didn't have do anything with my copy. The pay was quite good ($1/word), and there were other perks. Flights from CLE to LGA were on the publisher's nickle and always upgraded to first-class, along with a limousine waiting for me. That stint only lasted for four years, but I made enough to buy a house and my mid-life crisis sports car.
Ignorance of the lingua franca is a sure way to keep yourself in poverty.
I've got a fairly good grasp of English, but I'm currently trying to re-educate my self on Czech and Slovak, the languages of my ancestors. I learn a few new words every day.
I had an English teacher in high school, Lynne ("Sarge") Saunders, and she was one tough old gal. She did, however, teach me a great deal about writing. I owe her a debt of grattitude.
there's only one way to find out...
Payed for paid and loose for lose. Everytime I see those two goofs it gives me an industrial strength headache -- morans!
Illegitimi non carborundum.
I don't understand. All students writing papers are doing so on computers and all computers have spell checkers.
If it were me, I would ask students to submit all papers electronically. If you submit a paper where there are tons of spell checker defined mistakes, then I would automatically grade you zero as you obviously can't even be bothered to right click on a word to fix the mistake. Given that, why should I even care what you wrote?
Chris.
