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http://victorian.fortunecity.com/vangogh/555/Spell/writing-systems.htm
 Alphabets,
Codes &
Writing
Systems
Can any world
language be written in any orthographic code?
Can English
be written in Japanese, Korean, or in a knot language?
by Steve
T. Bett, David Kelley, and Valerie Yule
Akkadian Cuneiform
similar
pages - on writing systems and writing samples
Do we share the same alphabet
with other countries?
Valery Yules Pages on Writing
Systems
CLICK
ON THESE BUTTONS TO MOVE DOWN THE PAGE
FOREWORD
For some years now I've been amusing myself by imagining
how English might look if written in an ancient code other than the origianl
Latin alphabetic code. The purpose of sharing this exploration is
to get across the idea that language and the code used to make it permanent
are independent. To a larage extent, any language can be written
in any graphic code. Some of the codes to be exlpored such as the
knot language are not marks or a page or inscriptions.
Chapter #1
Afrikaans 1925
Albanian 1909,
Belgium 1946
Brazilian Portuguese
1912, 1943
Chinese 1956,
1958,1973
Czech early 1950s,
Danish, 1948, 1997/1,
Dutch Netherland 1815, 1883, 1934, 1946,
1954,
Filipino,
Finnish 16-18th century,
French 1740, 1835, 1878,
German, 1901, 1996,
Greek,
Greenland ic 1973,
Hebrew 1860, 1900, 1930s, 1948,
Indonesia 1872,
Irish,
Italian 1612
Japanese 1946,
Korean 1443, 1945,
Malaysia 1972,
Niuguini Wantok pijin,
Norwegian 1885,
Portuguese 1915,,
Romanian,
Russian 1928,
Serbo-Croatian,
Spanish 1915, 1959,
Swedish,
Taiwanese Mandarin,
Turkey 1928,
Vietnamese.
Chapter #2
THE FONETICS PHREAK
Chapter: #3.
Chapter: #4.
Chapter: #5.
THE CULTURE VULTURE
"This revised spelling
system looks completely alien to English orthographic traditions.
If schoolchildren are taught only the new version, we'll lose touch with
our literature; our cultural heritage will be lost unless kids can read
Shakespeare in the original!"
Normal reformers' reply: "Aren't you overreacting a bit? We'll
phase it in slowly, so there's plenty
Chapter: #6.
THE SPEED-READER
"Adult readers recognise
whole words by their overall silhouettes, not by decomposing them into
the sounds. What's the point of improving the correspondence of sounds
and symbols? It'll only mean we have to relearn the silhouettes!
(And then of course we'll have to go through the whole thing all over again
the next time the language changes...)"
Reply: Actually, there are three skills involved in fluent reading...
Chapter: #7
THE CROSSWORD-PUZZLER
"What about a spelling
reform's incidental effects on word-games, abbreviations and so on?
If the dictionary contains more «K»s and «Z»s than
«D»s and «H»s, the scrabble-players are going to
riot!"
Reply: Ah, yes, a much more intelligent point.
OPPONENTS OF REFORM: #8
THE FRENCH TEACHER
"The orthodox system,
which spells <qualifications, joints> and <changes>
exactly as French does, is very useful for those who know French and want
to learn English, or vice-versa. Changing the spellings to, say,
«kwolifikeysyonz, joyntz, ceynjiz» will make polyglottism even
rarer!"
Reply: True, our Norman-influenced orth
OPPONENTS OF REFORM: #9
THE BON-MOT AFICIONADO
"English is full of
vocabulary items borrowed from other languages - some fully naturalised,
some just temporary visitors. This is largely because its anything-goes
attitude to spelling places no restrictions on words like <cinquecento>,
<Fraulein> or <connoisseur>. If we reform these their sources
will become unrecognisable! Besides, what are we going to do with
names like <Einstein>, <Munich>, or <Caesar> (and come to that,
<Rye>)?"
Reply: English is hospitable to immigrant words
OPPONENTS OF REFORM: #10
THE ETYMOLOGICAL DETERMINIST
"Spelling <wrestling>
as we do is a useful guide to the word's provenance. In its Old English
form the word was indeed pronounced with an audible "W", "T" and "G".
If we change our spelling we'll lose all these clues!"
Reply: If etymology is a sufficiently important subjec
OPPONENTS OF REFORM: #11
THE COCKNEY PATRIOT
"The trouble with a
more phonologically representative spelling system is that it would reveal
the nonstandard ways dialect speakers interpret the graphemes of written
English. <Tutor> for instance is "TOODUR" to a Nebraskan, "TEWTRR"
to an Aberdonian and "CHOO'AH" to a Cockney; woe betide any speaker of
BBC English who tries to impose some lah-di-dah "standard spelling dialect"
on the inhabitants of the East End!"
Reply: At last we're
OPPONENTS OF REFORM: #12
THE MORPHOPHONOLOGOSTER
"A purely phonemic
system (obeying the principle of One Spelling Per Phoneme) would often
mean giving divergent spellings to different forms of a single morpheme,
concealing relationships between words in contexts such as...
-
<Cats> and <dogs>,
which would have to become «katS» and «dogZ», with
two different plural markers.
-
Stress-shifting <PHOtograph
- phoTOGrapher - photoGRAPHic> (or less dramatically, <REal - reALity>).
-
"Softening" <critic/critiCism,
analogue/analoGy, fuse/fuSion> etc.
-
Vowel-shifted <sanity/sAne,
obscenity/obscEne, divinity/divIne, conical/cOne, punish/pUnitive> etc.
One of the few merits
of the old system is that it makes obvious the connection between <nation>
and <national>, which will be disguised if they're respelt «neyshn»
and «nashønal»."
Reply: Absolutely - the m
OPPONENTS OF REFORM: #13
THE POLITICIAN
"All this talk is pointless.
T
Reply: Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't say that...
<Imagine the heartaches / Of diplomatic attaches / When the wind
detaches / Their false moustaches>
AFTERWORD
In case you're wondering, no, I don't believe
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Spelling Reform Links -
American Literacy Council |
Simplified
Spelling Society | Spanglish
Visit these related pages on applied linguistics and rationalized spelling
nU @lfabets for EGliS |
x simplifYd speliG sOsYeti
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american litRasi kWnsL  |
simplifYd speliG E-group
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