UK, USA, EU, saundz nd spelingz!  R ther fonetics cmpatubl?

 

UK

Az iz th caas in most cuntriz, we in th UK pronauns th saam wurdz difrntli, acording tu loocl diialects. I woz born in Salford, pronaunsd Solford az in th wurd 'salt', wich iz jeeograficli cloos tu Manchester pronaunsd Menchester in  London. In London, London iz pronaunsd Landun. In Manchester, London iz pronaunsd Lundn, with a ttic 'u' saund as in european 'bus'. 

UK dialects need not intrest th styudnt ov english. Radio,TV english iz th refruns axent nd iz yuzd on oul th spoocn pronunsiaasn xamplz on th Saapel CD.

 

A mor sirius matr iz th iregyulariti ov 'tradishnl' english speling. Not meni peepl rialiiz that eevn in corectli spoocn english, th letr a haz 7 difrnt pronunsiaashnz; xampl: "any orange waste salt water taps father";  r actyuli spoocn "eni orinj waast solt woutr taps fahthr".

 Hau wud sumwon noo hau tu pronauns th ritn wurdz 'wad', 'ocean', 'naive', 'bureau' nd hundrdz ov uthr eeqali iregyulr wurdz, wen ther r 7 olturnativ waaz ov saunding th a?  Oulso th letr o haz 6 difrnt pronunsiaashnz az in: " women, only, on, one, other, tomb"; jenruli spoocn:  "wimn, oonli, on, won, uthr, tuum". 

 

Th cronic iregyularitiz ov english speling r th rizult ov wot won cud coul malpractice on th part ov orttografists (arcitects ov speling) such az th englishman, Samuel Johnson huu priperd nd publishd th furst english dicshnri in 1755. He woz orijinli risponsibl fr th ofishl rejistraashn ov ttauzndz ov unpridictubl spelingz nd consiqentli, th dificultiz awaating oul past nd preznt english speeking jenraashnz. Tudaaz orttografists, aur guvrnmnt nd aurselvz r risponsbl frm nau on!

 

Sins th standard A,B,C, alfabet iz tootali inacyurut, tu help uz fiind th riit pronunsiaashn ov an unfamiliur wurd, we hav th ridicyulus sityuaashn ov a secnd alfabet naamd th 'International Phonetic Alphabet' IPA fr short.  Eevn wurs, th IPA yuzz moostli non standrd siinz wich hav tu b lurnd xtra nd wich r oonli avaalubl on speshl ceebordz!  So biginrz hav tu lurn an xtra alfabet nd ther corisponding saundz, wich itself iz dificult if th saundz r not spoocn. This iz obviusli a maajr incnveeniuns on top ov th iregyulariti ov Tradishnl english speling. A fonetic A,B,C alfabet az a direct pronunsiaashn giid fr english iz th obvius wurttwiil soluushn.

 

USA

Americanz jenrali pronauns vaulz longr than duu th british. Thaa oulso saund th 'r' at th endz ov ar, er, ir, or, nd ur, wich th brits du not. Ther speech iz mor naazl. 'got' saundz liic 'gat', 'priti' saundz liic 'pritee'.  Brits groo up with american filmz, TV nd myuzic nd therfor hav no problm undrstanding ther speech. American riformd speling wil riitli corispond mor cloosli tu american speech than tu european-english.  Th difrnsz wil b fyu nd ov litl consiquns cmperd tu th inyumrubl problmz ov iregyulr tradishnl english speling.  

 

Th folooing propoozlz shoo sampl US prefrnsz in riformd speling cmperd with EU prefrnsz:

US.  waz,  also, klak, auto, fue, bin, vizhun, aksent, uv, dae, enuf, fien, coet, toom.

EU.   woz, olso, cloc, outo, fyu, been, vijhn,  axnt,   ov,  daa,  inuf,  fiin,  coot, tuum.

Neethr parti must sacrifiis wot thaa bileev iz th mor acseptubl riform fr ther naativ langwij.

 

A prifurd EU riform nd a prifurd US riform with ther miinr difrnsz   cud coexist ttruu a flexibl aprooch, cliring th waa tu a funcshning setlmnt.

 

EU

Dyuring th last 2000 yirz, moost ov th European cuntriz hav setld fr spelingz, diriivd frm or cloos tu Latin. Thaa hav benefitd frm a lojicl, fonetic alfabet wich haz been sucsesfuli adaptd tu a wiid raanj ov langwijz. 

 

 

Oovr th saam piriud, th langwijz spoocn in Britain verid frm gaalic tu saxn tu roman tu french nd fiinli tu english. Az th art ov riiting divelopd, greek spelingz wur add tu th unpridictubl mixtyr ov th english langwiz. Hens, english fel bihiind th xpeediunsi ov fonetic lanwijz. 

 

In th 15tt sentyuri nd onwurdz, as Britain setld its coluniz araund th wurld, th english langwij bicaam yunivursl. That wud hav been th tiim fr Shakespeare tu hav ritn hiz prolific wurcs in fonetic english. Nau, 400 yirz aftr hiz dett, it iz stil not tuu laat.

 

In th meentiim, we hav th pruuf needd, ov th xpeediunsi nd dyurabiliti ov latin adoptd intu european langwijz. Th EU shud not mis th chans tu muuv english a step cloosr tu european latin speling.

Dyuring th divelopmnt ov Sayspel, th adapshn ov fonetic latin vaulz tu english spelingz, haz been welcumd bi sitiznz ov verius european cuntriz.

 

Sins ther wil b oovr 500 miliun Europeanz nd 700miliun S. Americanz having th need tu lurn English dyuring th cuming yirz, not oonli wil th aplicaashn ov EU fonetic vaulz b welcmd bii them, but it wil proviid a comn staabliizing factr tu th English orttografi itself. 

 

Peepl born nd bred in English speecing cuntriz wil hav th chois ov engaajing in a streemliind updaat ov ther naativ langwij or, if thaa prifur, cntinyuing with th iregyularitiz ov tradishnl spelingz. An involuntari swich frm won speling sceem tu anuthr wil not b nesuseri. It cud b az gradyuul or az rapid az th individyul prifurz. Tradishnl nd Sayspel text mix eezili sins tradishnl iz oulredi familiur tu english naativz nd Sayspel iz lojicl nd cmpatubl.