I don't see any benefit to re-adding split() to the language. Why create more keywords for the sake of a function name with fewer characters? Code golfing isn't a goal of the language.
Rather, we should be going the other way and removing aliases that are not needed such as chop(), sizeof(), join(), etc. Adding new function names should be done with a particular benefit in mind. For example, create the preg_escape() function and allow its first parameter to be scalar or a flat array (like multiple other preg_ functions) so that you don't have to call preg_quote() while looping an array of terms before imploding with pipes to create a dynamic pattern. Then the semantically misleading preg_quote() function (which doesn't actually add quotes) can be removed and the language is left with a more usable, more indictively named function. My 2 cents, mickmackusa
