paul vandenbrink
Sun, 26 Sep 2004 11:50:28 -0700
Hi Scott Mark Twain believed that the people who espoused a new Alphabet would be considered less disfunctional than those espoused piecemeal spelling reform. In an article, written during the autumn of 1899, Samuel Clemens commented on Simplified Spelling. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) wrote that he was dissatisfied with the efforts of the simplified spellers. He believed that those who used simplified spelling based on the Roman Alphabet, publicly were in danger of being viewed as illiterate, uneducated, or nuts. Yet as Mark Twain observed: "A written character with which we are not familiar does not offend." In this sense, he seems to argue that a new Alphabet, would be considered with less prejudice, and would be a more practical solution to the English Spelling problem. I am also including another quote from Mark Twain where he has some fun with the whole idea. It's quite humourous, if a little off topic. "Mind, I myself am a Simplified Speller; I belong to that unhappy guild that is patiently and hopefully trying to reform our drunken old alphabet by reducing his whiskey. Well, it will improve him. When they get through and have reformed him all they can by their system he will be only HALF drunk. Above that condition their system can never lift him. There is no competent, and lasting, and real reform for him but to take away his whiskey entirely, and fill up his jug with Pitman's wholesome and undiseased alphabet. One great drawback to Simplified Spelling is, that in print a simplified word looks so like our very nation! and when you bunch up a whole squadron of the Simplified together the spectacle is very nearly unendurable." Regards, Paul V. --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "paul vandenbrink" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Scott > Anyway back to Shavian. > An interest in providing people with a useful Mental tool, such as > the Shavian alphabet can not be considered to be a sign of being > Dysfunctional > or eccentric. > To give this knowledge about Shavian, free of charge is both > philantrophic, beneficial and interesting. > > A simplified alphabet, that allows people illiterate in standard > written English to read and write English with much less effort has many practical benefits. > > There is also a long term benefit that without some standardization > or rationalization of English Spelling ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/mx3olB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shavian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/