English Speakers in millions Languages with  the Most Speakers US UK Can Aus Ir NZ Jam Trin Guy 225   57   18   15     3.3     3.2     2.3     1.2     1 Chinese English Hindu Spanish Russian Arabic Portuguese 931 463 400 371 300 215 180 Total  463 Total

The spread of world English largely depends on how easy it is to learn, speak and write.     Many people want to learn business English but there is no easy and inexpensive path to mastering English as a second language.    The most difficult feature of English is its orthography which language teachers have called "the world's worst".

Changes in International English spelling

By Valerie Rule
Layout and graphics by Steve Bett

The future of English as the international language of the world depends in part upon whether its written form becomes more user-friendly.

What is required of English spelling to be most efficient for international use? How do we go about designing a user-friendly spelling system.? Where are the clues to what people find natural and intuitive?

     Changes in spelling that have been made in vocabulary that has been exported or imported between English and other languages indicate what sort of spelling may be friendly for overseas users of English. 

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Proposals:    Map IPA      Saunds    Lmatrix     Relative Importance      Spanglish    Checkt Speling
Nu Folick    2     3    4    Anglo-Saxon Spelling    Japlish   Eng. as spelled in other lang.  Franglais

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English spelling as an international mixture

The English language is one of the most cosmopolitan in its enormous imports of exotic vocabulary.1 And unlike most languages, it usually retains the foreign spellings of its borrowed words for long periods, but there is gradual change. For example, back in 1569 Hart complained of the French spellings ORDRE, NUMBRE, TRIFLE and TABLE , and four hundred years later, only two of these spellings remain.
     Such a ready welcome and slow assimilation of foreign vocabulary into English means that anyone from almost any country in the world with the roman alphabet can recognise some of the words in the English language as their own. These foreign words are still readily identified by their spelling, even after the italics or quotation marks heralding their introduction have been dropped and their pronunciation may be anglicised - unlike the situation in a language like Spanish, where the pronunciation may still be recognisable but the spelling in Spanish may not. Some foreign words seem more attractive and exotic in their alien spelling amid the Anglo-Saxon and Latin forms but once they join everyday English parlance, this je ne sais quoi may be a nuisance as well. However, as a result, English has a problem in relating words from many spelling systems to one English pronunciation style and to the basic English spelling system. The orthography is chiefly a difficult mix of three spelling systems - Anglo-Saxon, Norman-French, and Latin, accommodated in a Latin alphabet, but the many other imports have been taken in in varying degrees of assimilation. As well, while the spoken language has changed, the representation of the old Anglo-Saxon has not adapted accordingly - as in LIGHT, COUGH and DAUGHTER. Latin-origin words are no problem - they have an orderly, regular sound-symbol correspondence with the Latin alphabet. 
 

Mix of 3 spelling Systems
Anglo Saxon	Representations of old AS have not changed LIGHT, COUGH, DAUGHTER
Norman-French	TABLE, ORDRE, BOUQUET
Latin	Accomodated well within Latin alphabet

The mix of spelling systems in English complicates reform attempts. More consistent respellings of most English words may look merely novel but the greater degree of change required for French-origin spellings is liable to make the new spellings look clumsy, ludicrous and even unidentifiable. Such words may arouse irritation or even revulsion when respelled in American Spelling or World English Spelling. A BOUQUET spelled BOKAY or BOEKAE does not smell the same at all. On one page of Rondthaler's Dictionary of American Spelling (1986) there are the following re-spellings which are consistent, regular and easily pronounced but seem to fall short of the elegance of their French equivalents:

However, novices beginning to learn to read are not really hindered by French spellings, since they meet few of them. ONCE, derived from Middle English ONES/ANES is the only French-origin spelling among the first hundred words (Dolch listing) which make up half or more of most text up to a nine-year level. However, French has contributed the alternative spellings of <c> for /s/, <g> for /d_/, <ch> for /_/, vowel digraphs such as <oir>, and various other conventions which pose dilemmas as to how to amend these inconsistencies.
     The most conspicuous French contribution has been silent letters. Some of these no longer exist in French itself - e.g. for English GUARANTEE and GUARD, the French is now GARANTIE and GARD. Some silent letters in final positions are slowly dropping off, but a reform like Surplus-Cut Spelling would change the appearance and assist the pronunciation of possibly some hundreds of French words in English - and few would lose their French flavour through dropping letters to the extent that would result from a fully phonemic change of letters.

The spelling problem of foreign loanwords is most problematic when it involves a very different spelling system such as French, it still seriously affects less than 14% of English vocabulary, and much of this could be resolved by deletion of letters that serve no purpose to show meaning or pronunciation.

English as spelled in other languages

They spell it Vinci and pronounce it Vinchy;
foreigners always spell better than they    pronounce..‘                                Mark Twain (An Innocent Abroad)

While imported words can be a problem for the design of English spelling, exports can provide helpful models, because they show how foreigners would like to spell English words. English words are adopted into foreign languages in their thousands today. English and classical roots are the source of most of the the new vocabulary entering other languages, and so the proportion held in common is increasing. While local patriots often object loudly and may even, as in France, ² Nazi Germany and Israel, use fiat to try to substitute local neologisms that foreigners will not share, there are greater advantages in having an internationally recognisable cross-language vocabulary. It simplifies international communication, particularly in fields such as the sciences, commerce, and communications itself, and it assists the learning of other languages when a proportion of vocabulary is already recognisable. 

     The influence of English on other languages is documented in Vierck and Bald (1986), and journals such as English Today monitor examples of Franglais,³ Russlish, Spanglish, Punglish (Punjabi), Japlish⁴ or Janglish, and so on,5 including general mixes that Paul Jennings has labelled Minglish. Many words taken from or shared with English are now almost universal, with respellings that are usually simplifications, particularly of vowels, and that often recur in several languages. Examples are TAKSI, COFI, SOKA, BIFSTEK, FUTBOL, ISCREM, MASHIN, KOMPUTA, WEEKEND, NIUSPAPA, PASPORT and KOLEJ.

The respellings made by developing countries are of interest, since so much more of their modern vocabulary comes from English. In Indonglish (Yule, 1991), for example, Indonesians pragmatically turn most of the spelling into Bahasa Indonesia spelling, with no ill effects for English readers even when the phonemes have also changed to fit the spoken language. This is because the changes are consistent and they simplify. (Nor do the Indonesian spellings of French words take account of French spelling - e.g. CROISSANT becomes KROISAN.)

An Indonesian child's story-picture book adapted from the French by Grée and Camp,1984, illustrates the world-wide influence of English vocabulary. The short text of the story in the book is almost 100% Indonesian, because the standard grammar and the vocabulary for behaviour and relationships does not really change, and 25% of the names of animals are held in common in Indonesian and English. However, the labels on the pictures show how the world and the vocabulary for it has changed for the modern Indonesian. Medical terms are 80% Western-derived, e.g.

ALKOHOL, DOKTER, ETER (ETHER), KOMPRES, PIL, PLESTER, STETOSKOP and TERMOMETER. Media vocabulary is 76% from English, e.g. BIOLA (VIOLIN), BUKU (BOOK), DEKOR, DOLI (MOVABLE DOLLY), FOTO, GITAR (GUITAR), KABEL LISTRIK (ELECTRIC CABLE), KAMERA, KAMERA TELEVISI, KOBOI (COWBOY), LAMPU KONTROL, LENSA, MESIN (MACHINE), MIKROFON, MONITOR, MUSIK, ROL FILM, SEKRETARIS, STUDIO, TEKS (TEXT) and TROMPET.

Over half the words for food and transport , and over a third of the terms for building and sports, are also of English origin. The degree of commonalty with English as well as modern infiltration in some fields even in Europe is illustrated by the following extract from a Dutch newspaper (Gerritsen,1986). An English-speaker could understand the sense of the passage from the words held in common.

‘Kijk, de missiles zitten in roterende magazines, zij zijn daar in geladen via de strike down hatches. Zij liggen op een ready-service ring in ready-service trays, worden hydraulic mhoog gebracht, nadat de magazinedoors zijn open geklapt, worden danop de tilting rail gezet. De tilting rail kan ze naar achteren brengen naar de check-out room, waar de electronics worden negekeken, maar hij kan ook omhoog klappen en dan gaan de blastdoors open en komen ze op de launcher.’

Characteristically, Finnish takes up words such as ELECTRONIMIKROSKOOPPI.
 

Languages that import English vocabulary are particularly likely to respell them by:  Dropping double letters  Dropping surplus letters Turning digraph vowels into single letters, eg, <ee, ea>--> <i> Representing /ae/ in at as et or pronouncing as /aht/. Using a final <i> rather than <y>  Resorting to final <a> rather than try to guess between <ar> <er> <ir> <or> <ur>  Consonants are rationalised to correspond with the spoken language  Surplus letters are usually dropped.

These rationalisations show the feasibility and probable value of omitting surplus letters and amending inconsistent sound/symbol relationships in the design of English spelling. (see cut spelling)

Cut spelling is a non-phonemic spelling reform based on the simple removal of surplus and redundant letters. Cut spelling reduces the number of different spelling for a single sound category (phoneme) from 14 to around 4 or 5. Such a reform would eliminate about 80% of the problems that people have with the spelling and pronunciation of English words.

There are also proposals for phonemic reforms. Phonemic reforms reduce polyvalence from an average of 14 spellings per sound to something very close to 1. This iz an egsampl uv wun such ri:form speling co:ld Nu: Folik.

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Return to Simple Spelling   Bibliography 1     Pidjins   Rule's Rules    Social Invention     Brown on Shavian

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Notes on the spelling of English words in other languages
 

Japlish	English	Japlish	English	Japlish	English
fairu erebeta fai bafainda foku uru ragubi	file elevator fibreglass viewfinder fork wool rugby	konpyuta takushi nansensu haikurasu puru rabureta renkoto	computer taxi nonsense high-class pool love-letter rain-coat	tishatsu rakkisebun uikuend orenkoto supa jyusu tosuto	T-shirt lucky-seven weekend raincoat supermarket juice toast

1. For instance, a consecutive sample of words with the initial letter B taken from the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1935), contained words that originated from 23 different languages. In the supplement of around 3500 new words added to the 1929 edition in 1935, 495 new words retained recognisably foreign spellings (about 14%). The remainder of the new English vocabulary came from old words given new meanings, or were built up from classical derivations.

2. Franglais. Even the Paris Opera has been fined for using words such as FILTER CIGARETTES instead of CIGARETTES FILTREES, and other places have been fined over HAMBURGER, BIG CHEESE, IRISH COFFEE. Le Francais dans le Monde, Jan.1987, reported a competition for French children to purge their language of English words - but all the suggestions were longer than the English and may not get far - e.g. 'SAUCIPAIN' for HOT-DOG. But 'it is the French fashion to be theoretically against Anglicisms but to keep the practical consequences within limits.' In 1975 French daily papers were estimated to average 0.88% Anglicisms - nearly one word per hundred. Dictionaries of Anglicisms were being published as early as 1920. Over 1,300 English words are still used in French advertising and are a considerable percentage of the total vocabulary of primary school children.

3. The spelling of Franglais may be completely English, usually of a simple variety, but even if it is simplified in a Francograph direction, it is never regarded as Frenchified enough. Examples are:

No change: CAMPINGS, CLUB (an 18th century borrowing), LAD, LE BABY, LUNCH, MUSIC HALL, PADDOCK, SANDWICH, WEEKEND, BADMINTON, DATA BANK, BARBECUE, BATCH PROCESSING, CAMPING CAR, CHEWING GUM, FAST-FOOD, FILTER CIGARETTES, HAMBURGER , BIG CHEESE, HARDWARE, HOT-DOG, IRISH COFFEE , JUKE-BOX , MILK-SHAKE, POPCORN, ROCKING CHAIR, SOFTWARE, TOAST,WALKMAN. French simplifications: BIFSTEK, BOULINGRIN (BOWLING GREEN), PIPELE FOOTING (WALKING), LE FUTBOL, NITKLUB, LE KARTINGLE, PAQUEBOT (PACKET BOAT), REDINGOTE (RIDING COAT), STOQUE (STOCK). The influence of the English language upon others is not simply in vocabulary. For example, René Etiemble (1964) described how in some ways French is coming to be spoken as if it were English, with English grammar for French phrases. And, as often happens with linguistic imports in any language, there can be changes in word usage, such as: TENNISMAN SMASHER (to smash in tennis), UN DANCING (dance hall), UN PEELING, UN SMOKING, FONDASHON (foundation cream).

4. Japlish (GAIRAIGO = language from abroad) is written in romaji or in katakana. If it is written in katakana, the sound may have to change so that it can be written in the mora characters. The problem may be compounded by the difficulty that Japanese speakers can have pronouncing English / l/r/ phonemes and consonant clusters. KURASHIKKU as the metamorphosis of CLASSIC is a clear illustration. Some further examples:

To which may be added FANDESHON = FOUNDATION CREAM , UISUKI ON ZA ROKKU = WHISKY ON THE ROCKS , WAPURO = WORD PROCESSOR , HITTO ENDO RAN = HIT AND RUN, HAI TEINZU = OLDER TEENAGERS. Many Japlish words illustrate the lengthening that may be required by Japanese language structure but the phonetic economy when the English words do fit that structure (Kay, 1986).

Deutschlish often uses English words in slightly different senses, especially when advertisers take them over, for example children's lavatory seats called HAPPY END or BABY SITTER.

English in Danish. Danes may unsystematically keep English spellings COMPUTER, JUICE, QUIZ, SWEATER ,YACHT or simplify them as in BOYKOT, KRICKET, FOTO , BULDOG . They also make many hybrids, e.g. BOOKING-KONTOR. Finnish English Although 90% of Finnish children study English in school, not all the anglicanisms in advertisements and other texts are understood, and there are some negative attitudes to the apparent fact that construction as well as vocabulary of the language is being affected.

Portuguese tends to respell its loan words, and usually, but not always, in a simpler direction e.g. LEADER = LIDER, COWBOY = CAUBOI, ROASTBEEF = ROSBIFE, DRAWBACK = DRAUBAQUES. Similar examples of Spanglish and Texmex include: ANTIFRIS, CRISMAS, CAUBOI (COWBOY), DETUR (DETOUR), FRISER (FREEZER), AISCRIM (ICECREAM), PICOP (PICKUP TRUCK), TICHER (TEACHER), ROQUIROL (ROCKNROLL) (preference of qu to k)

Spanglish
lider, cauboy, rosbif, drobak, antifriz, crism'as, aiscrim, pik'ap, ticher, roknrol.

Indian English. Mixed English-Hindi is common in newspapers and journals as well as everyday speech, and much English vocabulary is held in common across the many Indian languages - although it is not recognisable as such written in their diversity of scripts. See the example of English words in twelve Indian languages on p...

Most relevant of all is how pidgin languages represent spelling of English-origin words, because they have no tradition to hold them back from what best suits their needs.

Next to English, the French writing system is the most opaque and confusing. However, even the French have reformed old French words that English continues to use such as GUARD / gard and GUARANTEE/garantie. [ENGLISH/French equivalent].

To pronounce European alphabets one has to remember two shifts: a is usually /ah/ and o is usually /awe/. The unstressed a is usually /uh/ even in those writing systems that claim not to have a schwa sound.

Link to VY's Interspel (this does not explain Valerie's system)

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