A more consistent spelling system for English would certainly be good - IF it were universally adopted. If not, it will simply add another layer of confusion.
Another significant issue lies in English's refusal to correctly pronounce foreign words and names it uses. The effect is to undermine not only the understanding of the English usage, but also that of the correct original pronunciation. Francophones and Alemanophones (?) when using French and German words and proper names in English are constantly conflicted as to whether to pronounce them correctly (and be misunderstood) or a l'anglaise, and contribute to the continuing confusion. It seems to me that, if one is to embark on such an ambitions project as persuading billions of people to change the way they read and write English, it would be foolish not to go the extra step and promote a unified phonetic language that is uniform across all of the major languages of the world - English, Mandarin, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Russian,Portuguese, Polish, Urdu/Hindi, or at the very least, all of the major European languages (say - those with 60 million plus literate users). On Jul 25, 8:05 am, Tim63 wrote: > I've been following a couple of internet projects aimed at > implementing a phonetic version of English. The goals and benefits > are somewhat obvious - non-native speakers would be able to learn the > language much faster, and English is a universal language on the web. > Efforts to improve English spelling have gone back to the 1600's with > little success (see Wiki English Spelling Reform) > > Young people are fast adopting non-standard phonetic spellings in > their instant-messaging and texting. I believe the internet is ready > for implementing a new *standard* English spelling system. My > thinking is that google translator is the place to make it happen. > Google has a prominent position on the internet, and in fact has > engaged in projects that are both benevolent and fun (and this is > both). Non-natives (at first) would be able to learn and interact > with written English faster. Young people may find it fun and > interesting to use a phonetic system. (maybe someday, English > speakers wouldn't need to spend 6+ years in spelling classes). > > This is not really a new language, but rather an ability to translate > pages to/from an alternate spelling system. I believe such a system > could be implemented *much* easier than a "real" language translator. > The possible stumbling blocks might be the few words that have a > pronunciation that is context-driven, or a reverse translation of > homonyms, but for now, let's say that's a non-issue :) > > Which phonetic English spelling system? Personally, I'd leave it to > the google team to pick one, with input from the internet community. > saaspel is one. Also see the Spelling Society which is active, but > not endorsing any one particular system. The goals have always been > to a) create no new characters and b) preserve the general look and > feel of most English words (least disruption). > > Any thoughts? Does this have enough merit for Google to take it > further? I'd like to help... > > Tim > > (I had posted the above in translator toolkit area earlier, but I > think it should have been here...) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "General" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-translate-general?hl=en.
