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Summary
1. Orthography, or spelling of words, is irregular in the English
language due to
- a. As science and civilization evolves so does our
language.
- b. When different languages mix.
2. In order to perfect the orthograpy of the English language we need to . . .
- a. Omit silent letters such as the "a" in bread. It
should read "bred."
- b. Use letters that represent the sound and are not vague. For example, the "ea" in mean should be "ee" because there is not an a sound in the word mean.
- c. Change the characters or letters to indicate different sounds. For example, a small stroke across the "th" would indicate its two sounds.
3. The advantages of this orthography are . . .
- a. It would be easy to learn.
- b. Uniform pronunciation.
- c. Reduce the amount of letters in the alphabet.
- d. Would distinguish American English from England's English.
Note: The writer summarizes by linking language to pride in one's country.
Questions
1. Should American English be considered a different language than English spoken in England? Why?
2. What kinds of letters, or sounds, give you the most problem in spelling? Could this sound be simplified by using the phonetic spelling, or spelling it the way it sounds?
3. What other advantages can you think of for orthography?