Introduction

Most modern languages have implemented major or minor reforms of their writing systems in the past 150 years.  English spelling alone has not been improved.  Yet orthography requires the same human-engineering research and development as the rest of modern communications technology, since it is an essential  tool (Yule, 1986). The challenge is to retain the advantages of present spelling but take out its difficulties, rather than more sweeping change. This policy has many practical advantages in retaining backwards compatibility and costs of implementation. Present spelling has useful features that suit the English language and its users, and that are overlooked by proposers of new systems or plain phonemics. There is a basic underlying system that can be made consistent by applying principles rather than ad hoc series of rules, which has been another approach. The assumptions against improving English spelling can be turned into ways to improve it.  For example, Noam Chomsky’s work on deep phonology (Chomsky & Halle, 1968, and Carol Chomksy, 1970) is still misinterpreted as a key argument against spelling reform, to his expressed distress.  The way to go is to apply ‘Chomsky’ to improve spelling.

 Do not let your hackles rise against any changes, at least for ten minutes. Any change in a long-learned habit is affected by psychologist Gordon Allport’s insight that we can stand our own spit but other people’s spit is revolting.  Spelling is like spit.  Your own misspellings are OK to you but anyone else’s altered spellings can seem to you - well, spittable. That is, until they are familiar and you become used to them. We no longer spell develop with an e on the end, and Frenzy with a ph - but that took us over a hundred years, and there are still doughty diehards fighting these changes.Yet while dictionary English spelling is static, informal spelling is in flux if not chaos, as is everywhere observed -  from Text Messages on mobile phones, decisions to stop marking down undergraduates’ exam papers for spelling errors, advertising spelling, and linguist Vivian Cook’s revelations in his little book about broccoli in the  graveyard that is spelling (Cook, 2004).
Further documentation of the surprising state of spelling today is set out in The Book of Spells and Misspells (Yule 1005), which I hope everyone will buy for their friends and for a good laugh.    
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Seven principles are presented here for investigation, to clean up the underlying English spelling system to be predictable, yet change as little as 2.6% of letters in everyday text. The principles turn spelling reform assumptions on their heads and cut Gordian knots. They are research-based, to consider the needs and abilities of all users - readers, writers, learners, computers and international communicators.  They use both visual and auditory channels for reading and writing, keep our heritage of print accessible, and improve not lose, visible relationships of words, within the language and with international vocabulary in other languages.

Detail of the seven principls

PRINCIPLE 1.  Retain half of everyday text unchanged.  The rationale for this conceptual breakthrough is simple. Only one hundred common words make up about half of everything you read, and only thirty-one of these ubiquitous words are irregular. If thirty-one words are given to learners to acquire explicitly as ‘tricky sight-words’ for rote-learning, that is not too many even for beginners, who are capable of learning up to forty words from flash-cards without decoding, and who can then be assured that the rest of English spelling will be manageable.  Contrast the present burden. Suggested ‘sight-words’ are:
all almost always among are come some could should would half know of off one only once other pull push put as was what want who why, and international word endings -ion/-tion/-ssion plus -zion - as in question, passion, vizion. 

PRINCIPLE 2  Continue to regard spelling as a standardized convention, as it is now, but systematized and the simpler the better - for example banana for banana, despite its three different ‘a’ sounds. Dog can be read by anyone as saying dog, regardless of how you say dog. That is, spelling representation is like a line sketch of a man that is recognized for such the world over, rather than a photograph, that is, of a specific man. The traditional aim of phonemic reform, spelling as you speak, comes to grief in decisions over choice of dialects, as if spelling were to be like the photograph.  Instead, the standardized representation of words would simply be taken from present standard UK and American dictionaries, but applied in spelling as in formal speech-making, not slurred as in casual talk, for example, indescrìbabl rather than, say, ‘ndscribbl, independant not indpendnt, pictùr not pikcha. When you say words like spesial or qestion quickly, they sound like speshl and kweschn. (For present purposes the definition of a phoneme is a speech sound that discriminates words in a language.)  This clear representation of the full structure of words would help to keep global Englishes similar in pronunciation rather than drifting into further dialects and slurrings. National Englishes would maintain their individuality in their vocabulary development, which can be shared with the world too, as well as in our distinctive accents, which are inevitable, and indeed charming, unless global broadcasting homogenizes us all.  In my own multicultural Australia, the diversity of the pronunciation of English, and our tolerance of this, demonstrates how faint now is the possibility of a global closely phonemic spelling system - broadband is essential.

There are already several thousand words with alternative but similar spellings in dictionaries. This flexibility would be extended, especially during transition, but not to the extent of disturbing automatic visual recognition in reading.

PRINCIPLE 3 The original base of English spelling, the alphabetic principle that letters represent sounds, is the base in its systematic repair.  Beginners start with direct sound-symbol correspondence, it is used dictionary pronunciation keys, and acceptable for informal writing. Vowel letters a e i o u represent both long and short vowels, a massive simplification, but long vowelscan have a grav accent as diacritic when needed, or be given the ‘silent e’ treatment - the latter chiefly to enable recognition reading of present spelling, not required for memorizing or writing. The details here are tentative.a. Consonants.  As in
bad dad fad gag hag jag keg leg meg nag peg quik rag sag tag van wag ax yen zen chin shin this thin  which sink sing plezhur.  Distinctions are unnecessary for th.   For now, c = k and q = kw.     Dubld consonants have 3 uses only: 

 i. Morfemic:  Final /ss/ for single nouns and adjectives, as in
The prinsess and the  prinsses  found the dragons' dens in the denss forest.   ii.  Showing irregular stress  -comitty distinguishd from comity. 

 iii. RR  distinguishes a short vowel when needed as in  carrot corral currant. (Contrast car, coral cur.)

b. Vowels. Vowel spellings are based on existing dominant spelling patterns.

a e i o u as in mat pet bit not cut  A E I O U as in màt  pèt  bìt  nòt  cùt or, in transition, as in mate, pete, bite, note, cutear er air or au as in car perturb (ur is stressed) hair fort taut

ow oy oo oo as in round boil boot  ?buuk

At present there is no distinctiv spelling for the sound as in wolf could put book. What is the solution?  wlf cd pt bk?  wwlf cwd pwt bwk?  wulf cud put buk?

Consistent spelling patterns for final vowels The second step for learners is consistent spelling patterns for final vowels – as in pity, may, be hi-fi, go, emu, spa, her, hair, for, saw, cow, boy, too. This makes consistent present common conventions for vowels in final place, which to the visual distinctiveness of words in reading for meaning.

Sequences of vowels are very simply represented. Accents for lerners are optional.

a - bazaar pàella dàis (paid) càos taute - idèa, (year) (meet) bèing crèol hidèusi - dìal dìet flìing ìota pìus o - òasis, (boat) pòet  gòing(boil) Zoo/zòolojy out

u - dùal sùet flùid dùo inocùus

For reading, seven additional one-way vowel spellings can be recognized in present spelling, but need not to be learned for writing - ai, ea, ee, igh, oa, ew, ir.  Each of these spelling patterns is pronounced only one way, not many ways as now, and nobody has to learn these spelling patterns to use themselves.  Details of three considerations that apply are discussed in appendices below that are  summarized here:1. The English primary vowel system rather than ‘Continental’. i. The English short vowels a e i o u are used in the English language far more often then the Continental sounds as in pasta, ballet, police, depot tabu, so changed spellings would be fairly drastic. ii. In English vocabulary the toggling of short and long vowels in many word families gives great advantages when both long and short vowels are spelled with a e i o u , the long vowels being distinguished when necessary by diacritics, as with à è ì ò ù.  The visual representation of word families is greatly enhanced (the Chomsky line).
Spelling reform thinking to date has overlooked this advantage. iii. In latin-alfabet languages of the world a great deal of shared English and classically-derived vocabulary is visually similar when the English versions keep their present spelling/sound relationship.2.  The effects of commonality of visual representation of long and short vowels for reading for meaning.  3 The concept of an initial learning spelling. The advantages when an initial phonemic learning spelling modifies rapidly and systematically into adult text that also allows reading of present spelling.  Exampl - a passage from Don Quixote in beginners spelling with a fonemic base, consistent spellings for final vowels, plus 31 very common irregular words learnt as ‘sight words’.

In a vilaj in La Mancha in Spàn, of which I cannot remember the nàm, ther livd not long ago an òld-fashond jentlmen, who was never without a lans upon a stand, an òld shèld, a thin hors and a grayhound. He àt bèf mor than muton; and, with minsd mèt on mòst nìts, lentils on Frìdays, and a pijon on Sundays, he consùmd thre-quorters of his income. The rest was spent on a plush còt, velvet briches, with velvet sliprs for holidays; and a sùt of the best hòmspun cloth, which he gàv himself for wurking-days. The master was nearly fifty years òld, with a helthy and strong complexion. His body was long and his fàs was thin. He was an erly rìzer, and a luver of hunting.

I cannot see why a fonemic base for lerners need be any further from present spelling than the exampl above.

4. Morfemic principlesVisual representation of units of meaning promotes fast automatic recognition of meaning, and give clues to vocabulary and grammar.
Three morfemic principles modify the alfabetic base. 1. Consistent spelling  -s/-es and -d/-ed for verb and plural endings, even if the sound is like /z/ or /t/  as in

The cats, dogs and foxes snarld, barkd, and shouted. 

2 . Words are not changed by additions, - as in dàzys, downsìze. 3 . Consistent spellings for classical afixes - as in edùcàtion, passion, vizion, depiction.

5. Words that sound the same.Only a handful of sets of words that are ‘homofones’, may need to be spelled differently to avoid confusion, eg possibly too/to (?tu) /two,  for/fore/four/  know/no.  Most homofones are already spelled the same, and the meaning is automatically directed by context. You can check this up yourself.
In the last few paragrafs, homofonic homografs have included second, present, conventions, just, long, short, can, pronounced, fast, base, even, sound, like, letter, and tense.

6. Indicators of irregular stress. Irregular stress in words can cause confusion and even incomprehension for learners, especially foriners.  It can be indicated by dubld letters as in comitty, umbrella, and lapell contrasted with làbel;  by syllabic consonants when schwa sounds are minimal, as in melncoly ;and with ‘ur’ for the stressed ‘er’ sound, as in perturb.  This is a flexibl matter and adult text may simplify, e.g. predicament rather than prediccament, but both acseptabl.

7. Some transitional features, and personal spellings for names and placesSilent initial letters are temporarily retaind to avoid problems with dictionary serches, as with psìcology and knot.The spelling of names of pepl and places are the owners’ responsibility and right.Spellings for French imported words - Most imported words can be given an English spelling, but some, especialy French, are so problematic to respel they may be best left until the pronunciation has ‘englishd’, as with beef,  porkand mutton.  Lerners can be given a page that lists Continental sounds and untransliterabl forin spelling patterns and pronunciation rules- e.g for bouffant boutique boudoir bouffe bouillon bouquet bourgeois bourgeoisie - rather than attempting, as some have tried, buurzhwaazee or boekai -  until eventually such words become mor anglicised in everyday speech, as in perhaps, depo, amatur, cadett?

ApplicationsThe result is spelling without traps.  As fonts and handwriting can be varied according to purpose, so ‘spelling without traps’ can be adapted to vary according to three purposes – for reading; for reading aloud and showing pronunciation by adding occasional acsents for long vowels, and dubld letters for unexpected stress; and thirdly for writing and initial lerning.

1. Spelling without traps for reading is almost identical to what we now have, is but without traps.  The only training required for present readers is to realize that sounds as in the letter names A E I O U can be represented with grav accents as in à  è  ì  ò  ù.   ii. During this transition, new readers will read some spelling variations, with one-way pronunciation, but new writers will only need one-way spelling.  

2. Spelling without traps for reading with pronunciation clues includes grav accents to show long vowels and dubld letters to  show unexpected stress.

3. Spelling without traps for beginners and for writing. Writers are not bothered with having to recall alternative spellings. See example above.

Investigation and action.  Informal change in English spelling should not add more uncòordinated càos, as has happened with some past changes intended to improve. Spelling improvement needs informal experiments by anyone - test out yourself what you like when you like. We can conduct our own experiments on the Net, and rebel at some of the stupidities that for so long have been enforced as a social strategy to keep the hoi polloi off the ladder of social mobility. Anyone could start with cutting out surplus letters that serve no purpose in representing meaning or pronunciation, as in acomodate, delicat, disiplin,  gardian, forin.  (See Appendix D on surplus letters in words.)

In the experimental pilot stages, publications can decide on their own house-styls, which may mix the three levels, or amend present spellings towards them.  There may be more trends to ‘spelling pronunciation’ – speaking as it is spelled – as well as the dominant trend to streamline our written words.Minor details such as predictabl conventions for schwa in suffixes can also be sorted out, but there must be research  - and official grants for R & D in this neglected branch of comunications tecnology. 

For some reformers, R & D is a word connoting postponement and expense, but no one can claim that it has not produced amazing practical results in all other areas of modern IT.Once spelling change gets on the way, it can move fast – as it has with text messaging, but it must not move into just other forms of caos. English spelling has been a social oppression, and a global oppression. It needs an International English Spelling Commission, because the English language now belongs to the world, and not to a chosen few.

To be passive and not to rise up against these barriers to literacy represents what has been called ‘a failure of the human spirit’.

Appendices

Appendix A.

  Why the five primary vowel letters a e i o u should represent English not ‘Continental’ pronunciation in English spelling

  'Continental' spellings for the five basic vowels sounds a e i o u, as in pasta ballet police depot tabu are used in a significant proportion of spelling systems in the roman alphabet, and romaji transliterations for languages such as Japanese and Chinese.  It would seem an attractive and sensible proposition for English spelling system to join this international usage.  Overseas lerners of spoken English would not then have to change the values of these five vowel letters from their accustomed usage. However, the very fact that English is the major international language turns out to be one of the many reasons why the primary English vowel sounds should continue to be represented as they are now, but consistently, without unpredictable variations.

 The English language has around twenty vowel sounds, more than most other languages. Some, indeed, such a Hawaiian, Japanese, Italian and Spanish, have five or hardly more, so that it is no problem for them that the roman alphabet has only five primary vowel letters, a e i o u.  English, however, does have problems, and the many different solutions over time have only made the spelling worse. There are over 218 different ways to spell those twenty vowels sounds.

 In the future English pronunciation may collapse the 21 vowels of  into say ten, or experience yet another Great Vowel Shift as in medieval times, but current distinctive features of the language require continuity in the present usage for the five primary vowels a e i o u as the short vowel sounds as in man  men  bit  not   but.

   English ‘short ‘and ‘long’ vowel sounds a e i o u and AEIOU (sounds in the letter names)are the predominant vowels in English text, where usually around 60% of words will contain short vowels and 20% long vowels, so that change in their representation is a significant disruption. The five most common vowel sounds in English are the so-called 'short' vowels, and are usually spelled with the five primary vowel letters. These five vowel sounds often present difficulties for foreigners to discriminate and pronounce, and have no clear representation in the ‘Continental’ vowel system, altho they may occur in some other European languages.

    The 'Continental' vowel sounds occur significantly less frequently in English, as shown in Table 1.