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Cut spelling is important because it is the
first step in most reform proposals.
Short Intro - For printing, download this document as a Word File |
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[purchase a copy of the 340 page book and dictionary from the spelling society] free on the Internet or download a stand alone program
Contact: Jean Hutchins
or Christopher Upward
English spelling is notoriously difficult.
It is an antiquated, unpredictable system not designed for universal literacy.
We all suffer from its irregularity: it takes much longer to learn than
more regular systems; it inhibits free statement; it causes mispronunciation;
it is handled erratically by most people, with even skilled writers prone
to uncertainty and error; and it
Old and new to be recognizably similar An ideal spelling system matches letters to speech-sounds. The sounds of words then tell us how to spell them, and the spelling tells us how they sound. English is so far from that ideal that we would need a totally new spelling system to make a perfect match. Even if such a drastic change were agreed, it would so disrupt the continuity of literacy, and the necessary worldwide re-education would be so costly, that it would be impracticable. As other languages show, new spellings must be close enough to the old for people educated in the one to read the other easily. Redundant letters the key Isolated reforms (eg, abolishing GH) may therefore
seem the only feasible approach, but their effect on the all-pervading
irregularity of English spelling would be marginal. So does that mean it
is impossible to improve the spelling of English significantly, without
excessive disruption? An answer came in the 1970s, when Australian psychologist
Valerie Yule noted the many redundant letters in English. In the next decade
those letters were classified, and the effect of removing them studied.
The result was the Cut Spelling (CS) system which regularizes swathes of
inconsistencies in written English that
riten in CS Efect of CS on readrs Th foloing paragrafs sho CS in action. We
first notice it is not hard to read, even without noing its rules, and
with practis we read it as esily as traditionl spelng. Most words ar unchanjed
(over 3/4 in th previus sentnce), and we hav th impression not of a totaly
new riting systm, but of norml script with letrs misng here and ther. Th
basic shape of most words, by wich we recognize them, is not fundmently
altrd, and nearly al those that ar mor substantialy chanjed ar quikly decoded;
very few ar truly puzlng. This means that, if al printd matr sudnly apeard
in CS tomoro, peples readng ability wud not be seriusly afectd. Foren lernrs
in particulr ar helpd by th clearr indication of pronunciation, as wen
pairs like lo/cow, danjer/angr,
Lernng CS How CS is lernt depends on th lernr. Those
first aquiring litracy skils can lern by norml fonic methods, wich ar mor
efectiv in CS thanks to its improved regularity (eg, hav, wer, litl, nyt,
scool, frend). Litrat lernrs, by contrast, mastr CS by practisng deletion
of redundnt letrs from traditionl spelng. They may first try riting CS
by foloing th Beginrs Gide overleaf, wich outlines
Econmy of efrt, time, space, mony CS not only asists readng and riting skils, but also speeds up th production of text. Th loss of redundnt letrs shortns riting by around 10%, and so saves time and efrt for evryone engajed in creating ritn text, wethr scoolchildren, novlists, printrs, jurnlists, secretris, advrtisers, grafic desynrs, editrs, or anyone else. Th gretr regularity of CS means less time spent lernng to read and rite, and less need for chekng and corectng. In education th time saved can be spent on mor useful lernng, wile in th workplace it increses productivity. Th reduced space ocupyd by CS has typograficl advantajs: public syns and notices can be smalr, or ritn larjr; mor words can be fitd on video or computer screens; fewr abreviations ar necesry; and fewr words hav to be hyfnated at line-ends. Ther ar also material econmis: with 10% space-saving, books and newspapers use less paper (or else th same pajes can carry mor text), and less storaj and transport ar required. Not least, th environmnt benefits from loer consumtion of raw materials and enrjy, and from reduced waste. Al these gains also save mony. CS a flexbl concept Som peple fear spelng reform wud mean spelng caos (as if english spelng wer not alredy caotic). Th flexbility of th CS concept minmizes that danjer. CS is not a rijid systm, but a synpost pointng to th omission of redundnt letrs as th most practicl and advntajus way of modrnizing english spelng. Th CS Handbook ofrs a coherent systm, as seen here, but difrnt users (ranjing from individul riters and orgnizations to entire cuntris) cud adopt CS to varying degrees. Probbly only a few of todays litrat adlts wud chanje ther riting, tho in ther readng they wud becom acustmd to many simplr forms. Of those that do chanje, som may rite commitee (many alredy do, tho it now counts as rong), wile othrs prefer ful CS comitee: th two forms can co-exist, just as judgement/judgment and othr alternativ 'cut' spelngs co-exist today. In th long run th lojic and econmy of ful CS cud be expectd to prevail. Those responsbl for deciding standrd spelngs in education, publishng, dictionris, etc, can decide th balance between cutng and keepng redundnt letrs that best suits ther needs. Worldwide co-ordnation wud be desirebl, but a comn urj for simplification by shedng redundnt letrs wud work against any fragmntation of ritn english as a medium of world comunication. Autmatic spelng convertr Ful mastry of CS may take mor time, concentration
and practis than many peple can giv to th task, yet they may stil wish
to produce text in CS (eg, to print a weekly CS colum in newspapers). They
can now do so, thanks to enjneer Alan Mole (Colorado, USA), aidd by Bernard
Sypniewski (New Jersey, USA), Steve Bett (Texas, USA), and John Bryant
(Cambridge, UK), ho hav created th BTRSPL program. In conjunction with
th 40,000-word CUTSPL dictionry, this rapidly (at about 100 pajes per minut)
converts text from traditionl orthografy to CS. Availbl fre of charj from
th Intrnet: The standalone BTRSPL/CUTSPL curently suits PCs (incl.
WINDOWS). A Macintosh
version is available on line. Th program is stil in its infncy, and furthr
developmnts ar pland, for instnce to enable users to adapt th dictionry
to ther own needs, adng new words or altrng those alredy listd, and
so bild up a persnlized CS riting tool. To check out the program, go to
http://morph.ldc.upenn.edu/cgi-bin/sb/orthography/convert.cgi
CUT LETTERS AS FOLLOWS: Rule 1: Cut letters irrelevant to the sound: A
in head>hed, B in doubt>dout, C
in except>exept, D in adjust>ajust, E
in are>ar, GH in caught>caut, H
in when>wen, I in friend>frend, K
in knife>nife, O-L inwould>wud,
N in condemn>condem, O
in people>peple, P in receipt>receit,
S in island>iland, T
in fetch>fech, U in build>bild,
and in many other spelling patterns. [ghost letters, polyvalence, color-code]
Rule 2a: Cut unstressed vowels before L,M,N,R A as in pedal>pedl, and likewise madm, womn, vicr. E as in camel>caml, and likewise systm, gardn, singr. I as in lentil>lentl, and likewise victm, raisn, Cheshr. O as in pistol>pistl, and likewise fathm, reasn, sailr. U as in consul>consl, and likewise albm, murmr. AI as in mountain>mountn. OU as in glamour>glamr. Rule 2b: Cut vowels in regular endings as -ED> -D in washed>washd. -ES> -S in washes>washs. -ING> -NG in washing>washng. -ABLE>-BL in washable>washbl. Rule 3: Write most double consonants single as in ebb>eb, lock>lok, well>wel, bottle>botl, hopped>hopd, hopping>hopng, accommodate>acomodate. Rule 3 issue: When is the double consonant irrelevant to sound? In RITE and Spanglish, double consonants are used to mark short stressed vowels. Hence only one doublet is removed from accommodation> acommodation. In Spanglish the letter a is a schwa sound unless followed by a double consonant. Thus, [apathy] has to be written [appathy]. Rule 4:
Optional substitutions
1 F for GH & PH: rough>ruf, photograph>fotografSubstitutions are always controversial. J for G or GE is part of many attempts to regularize the spelling of consonants. [see Logicon]. This anachronism persists from the time when there was no letter J and the letter G had to do double duty. [ge-hard gu-soft] as in gentle/guilty In his regularized English, Wijk did not change all the GH words -- only those with code overlaps. Wijk found IGH to be quite regular and retained this spelling for the /ai/ sound. Spanglish uses [ai] for all cases of the /ai/ sound. sait, sain, haily. Unifon uses cap I: sIt, sIn, hIly. Rule 5:
Simplified Punctuation
France but french,
Paris but parisian,
"CUT SPELLING: a Handbook to the simplification of written English by omission of redundant letters" 2nd (revised and expanded) edition, 1996, by
Christopher Upward
Price £10/US$20 + airmail outside Europe
£3/US$6.
THE BTRSPL / CUTSPL CONVERTER
"Working for planned change to English spelling for the benefit of learners and users throughout the world" Details of the Society may be obtained from: Membership secretary
The Simplified Spelling Society www.spellingsociety.com
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