Intro E: Mini-FAQ on Spelling
Donna Richoux
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Mini-FAQ on Spelling
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There are longer answers, with more examples, for most of these items in
the full AUE FAQ (see end). Many of these topics cause much argument,
and we earnestly request that you do some research before deciding to
post on these.
CONTENTS OF THIS MINI FAQ ON SPELLING:
- Isn't spelling reform a good idea?
- Joke about step-by-step spelling reform
- Humorous poems about spelling
- What is "ghoti"?
- I before E except after C
- U.S. -v- REST-OF-WORLD ENGLISH
"-er" -v- "-re"
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Isn't spelling reform a good idea?
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Only a tiny number of a.u.e participants favour spelling reform. One
chief reason is that there are so many ways to pronounce common English
words that any simplified standard spelling would still be irregular for
many people.
We do not appreciate long attempts at trying to convert us to spelling
reform. You may find a better audience at
alt.language.english.spelling.reform, and there is The Simplified
Spelling Society at:
http://www.spellingsociety.org/
A history of English spelling reform attempts since 1870:
http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/spell/histsp.html
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Joke about step-by-step spelling reform
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Three versions of this joke, in which spelling reforms are proposed
and then made in the course of the article itself, are in circulation.
They can be found on the Web, so please don't post any to a.u.e.
(1) A plan for the improvement of spelling, by M. J. Shields
http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/spelling.html
[M. J. Shields was a critic of G. B. Shaw's spelling reform ideas,
according to the book "Another Almanac of Words at Play" (William Espy,
1980, p. 80). Many web sites attribute this piece to Mark Twain, but
Twain scholars at the University of California could find no supporting
evidence for that.]
(2) MEIHEM IN CE KLASRUM by Dolton Edwards (in _Astounding SF_ 1946)
http://www.ecphorizer.com/Articles1/meiheminceklasru.html
(3) The European Commission has just announced...
http://www.speedybar.ch/witze/jokes2000/spelling.html
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Humorous poems about spelling
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One well-known poem that is posted occasionally and can be found on
the Web is sometimes called "English is Tough Stuff," but its original
title was "The Chaos." It was written by Dutch writer and teacher G.
Nolst Trenité, and first appeared in his textbook, _Drop Your Foreign
Accent_ (Haarlem, 1920). In later editions he added more verses. It
begins:
Dearest creature in creation,
Studying English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j17/caos.html
Another poem is sometimes called "Ode to a Spelling Checker" or "Owed to
a Spieling Chequer." What appears to be the original version is at:
CANDIDATE FOR A PULLET SURPRISE
by Jerrold H. Zar
http://www.tenderbytes.net/rhymeworld/feeder/teacher/pullet.htm
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What is "ghoti"?
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It's an alternative spelling of "chestnut". :-) O.K., it's "fish",
re-spelled to demonstrate the inconsistency of English spelling: "gh"
as in "cough", "o" as in "women", "ti" as in "nation".
This idea is used as a humorous educational tool to make us think about
the irregularity of English spelling, which lacks perfect one-to-one
correspondence between sounds and symbols. Yet in fact, it argues that
English spelling is kind, considerate, and easy. Why? Because fish
isn't really spelled "ghoti"! Made-up examples like this may be fun, but
they overstate the case for spelling reform and strike some of us as
self-defeating.
"Ghoti" is said to have been suggested to G. B. Shaw by a
spelling-reform enthusiast (see FAQ for reference).
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I before E except after C
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This rule is presented in different ways in America and Britain. The
British version specifies:
"I" before "E"
Except after "C",
When the sound is "ee". [/i:/ in ASCII phonetic]
This old rule is supposed to help students remember the
spelling of vowels pronounced /i:/ (the long "e" sound of "feed"). It
has no value for words where the vowel is pronounced in any other way,
the key fact which people bemused by many "exceptions" to the rule
usually do not realise.
Apart from some personal names (Keith, Sheila), there are very few
common exceptions to the British rule. The apparent change in
pronunciation of words like "fancies" from the traditional "fanciz" to
the modern "fanceez" may lead to a new common exception being added to
the rule.
A common U.S. version is:
"I" before "E"
Except after "C",
or when pronounced "ay" [/eI/]
as in "neighbor" and "weigh".
It has been pointed out (by at least one American) that this version has
far more exceptions because "ei" has many other pronunciations, e.g. in
"height" and "heifer". There are more examples in the AUE FAQ
Supplement.
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U.S. -v- REST-OF-WORLD ENGLISH
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"-er" -v- "-re"
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Many words which in American English are spelled with "er" at the end
are spelled with "re" in the U.K. and in most other dialects around the
world. A typical example is
(U.S.) "center"
(U.K.) "centre"
This difference does not exist where "-er" is the agent suffix (as in
"revolver") or the comparative suffix (as in "longer"). In this case
U.K. and U.S. spellings both use "er".
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This series of seven "Intro Documents" is intended to aid newcomers to
the newsgroup. The articles are posted frequently here, and are also on
the Web for your convenience, at:
http://www.alt-usage-english.org/
Parts of this document are taken from the big AUE FAQ, which was edited
by Mark Israel and is also accessible at the same website. Remaining
parts were written by Albert Marshall and others. Suggestions for
improvements in clarity, fairness, accuracy, and brevity should be
emailed to me -- Donna Richoux