Evolving English Spelling

Did you know that the English language continues to evolve? It is an odd language, and the contributions of many linguistic traditions make our spelling so difficult. For example, why is salmon pronounced "sammin"? Why is philosophical pronounced "filosofikal?"

Maybe it's my appreciation of Spanish, with its clear pronounciation and spelling, that has me thinking such things. And yet, I see people misspelling and simplifying English all the time. Think about how often you see "easy" spelled "EZ". Words like "drought" and "draft" used to be spelled "drouth" and "draught", respectively, but have evolved into a simplified American spelling. Since so many experts are moaning about the lack of literacy in our country, doesn't it stand to reason that people will begin to spell phonetically and without all those silly silent letters cluttering up a word? In fact, the instant messaging and phone texting tools will probably hasten that change. Someday, even highly-educated professionals will be writing "u r" for "you are" and "ur" for "your".

This reminds me of a short-lived teaching experiment in my daughters' elementary school. They felt that children would learn to spell better if they weren't hampered by the rules of spelling as they began to write. This little program was called Invented Spelling, and thankfully, only my older daughter was subjected to the experiment. My younger daughter learned phonetics, like I did, although she was not subjected to the repetition of reading aloud the Phonetic Cards I suffered through in first grade (The vowel A: ay, ah, uh...the vowel O: oh, oo...). The result of these teaching philosophies? My older daughter has absolutely no ability to sound out an unfamiliar word. But she can make up spelling like you wouldn't believe. My younger daughter can do both.

But I digress. Why can't we get rid of all the crazy English spelling and spell things like they sound. And while we're at it, why can't we convert to the metric system? Oops, another digression. Still, I think I've made my point.