At 08:22 PM 10/27/97 -0800, another list wrote: >English Language Improvement > >English spelling may be capricious at times, but...consider this. > >Having chosen English as the preferred language in the EEC (now >officially the European Union, or EU), the European Parliament has >commissioned a feasibility study in ways of improving efficiency in >communication between Government departments. > >European officials have often pointed out that English spelling is >unnecessarily difficult; for example: cough, plough, rough, through and >thorough. What is clearly needed is a phased program of changes to iron >out these anomalies. The program would, of course, be administered by >a committee staff at the top level by participating nations. > >In the first year, for example, the committee would suggest using "s" >instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants in all sities would resieve >this news with joy. Then the hard "c" could be replased by "k" sinse both >letters are pronounsed alike. Not only would that klear up konfusion in >the minds of klerikal workers, but typewriters kould be made with one >less letter. > >There would be growing enthusiasm when in the sekond year, it was >anounsed that the troublesome "ph" would henseforth be written "f". >This would make words like "fotograf" twenty percent shorter in print. > >In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted >to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. >Governments would enkourage the removal of double letters which >have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. > >We would al agre that the horible mes of silent "e"'s in the languag is >disgrasful. Therefor we kould drop thes and kontinu to read and writ as >though nothing had hapend. By this tim it would be four years sins the >skem began and peopl would be reseptiv to steps sutch as replasing "th" >by "z". Perhaps zen ze funktion of "w" kould be taken on by "v", vitsh is, >after all, half a "w". > >Shortly after zis, ze unesesary "o" kould be dropd from vords kontaining >"ou". Similar arguments vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of >leters. Kontinuing zis proses yer after yer, ve vud eventuli hav a reli >sensibl riten styl. After tventi yers zer vud be no more trubls, difikultis >and evrivun vud fin it ezi tu understand ech ozer. Ze drems of ze >Guvermnt vud finali hav kum tru. > Anne Boyes boyes@gardener.com http://www.geocities.com/~hoseahouse/genealogy/