THERE was a lot of talk in the national press a couple of months ago about calls to reduce the complexities of the English language.
Being a traditionalist at heart, I dismissed all suggestions about simplifying spelling out of hand.
However, although I haven’t changed my mind, I am beginning to think the callers for reform have a point.
Why? Because my daughter has begun to learn to read and write.
Have you ever had to explain why n-e-w spells new, f-e-w spells few yet s-e-w has a totally different sound?
Ditto why l-o-w is low, but n-o-w is now?
And if bone and tone have the same sound, why is one pronounced differently?
It gets worse. Words of the same sound have different spellings – thus to, too and two, or four, fore and for.
Why do head, bed and said all rhyme?
Then there are the words which are spelt the same but have different meanings, such as live (to exist) and live (not dead).
I first started learning the language 36 years ago, and even I’m confused sometimes, so what hope has a five-year-old in understanding its complications?
What do you think? Should we really make a start on simplifying the written language? Any suggestions or examples?
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