English-language spelling reform: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Proposed reforms to English spelling to be more phonetic}}

[[File:Portrait_of_Noah_Webster.jpg|thumb|[[Noah Webster|Noah Webster's]] reforms to [[American and British English spelling differences|American spelling]] are the most successful to date.]]

ForMany centuries, thereproposals have been movementsmade to [[spellingchange reform|reformto the spelling]]system of the [[English languageorthography]]. Suchwith spellingthe reformaim seeksof to change [[English orthography]] so thatmaking it is more consistent, matches pronunciation better, and followscloser theto [[alphabeticEnglish principlelanguage|the spoken language]].<ref>{{cite book |author=David Wolman |title=Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling|publisher=HarperCollins |date=2009 |publisher=HarperCollins}}</ref> Common motives for spelling reform include making learning quicker, making learningand cheaper, andthereby making [[English language|English]] more useful as an [[internationalInternational auxiliaryEnglish|international language]].

[[List of language reforms of English#Spelling reforms|Reform proposals]] vary widely in termsthe ofscope theand depth of the linguistictheir changes. andWhile bysome theiraim implementations.to Inuniformly termsfollow ofthe writing[[alphabetic systems,principle]] most(occasionally by creating new [[#SpellingAlphabet|alphabets]]), reformothers proposals|spellingmerely reformsuggest changing a few common words. Conservative proposals]] aretry moderate;to theyimprove the existing system by useusing the traditional [[English alphabet]], try to maintainmaintaining the familiar shapes of words, and tryapplying toexisting maintainconventions commonmore conventionsregularly (such as [[silent e]]). More radical proposals involvemight addingcompletely orrestructure removingthe letterslook orand symbolsfeel orof eventhe creating new alphabetssystem. Some reformers prefer a gradual change implemented in stages, while others favor an immediate and total reform for all.

Some spelling reform proposals have been adopted partially or temporarily. Many of the spellings preferred by [[Noah Webster]] have become standard in the United States, but have not been adopted elsewhere (see [[American and British English spelling differences]]).

==History==

Modern English spelling developed from about 1350 onwards, when—after three centuries of [[Norman conquest of England|Norman French rule]]—English gradually became the official language of England again, although very different from before 1066, having incorporated many words of French origin (battlechannel, beeftenor, buttonroyal, etc.). Early writers of this new English, such as [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], gave it a fairly consistent spelling system, but this was soon diluted by [[Court of Chancery#Chancery's role in development of Standard English|Chancery clerks]] who re-spelledrespelled words based on French orthography.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Upward | first1=C. | last2=Davidson | first2=G. | title=The History of English Spelling | publisher=Wiley | series=The Language Library | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-4443-4297-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNfebt79zdwC&pg=PT103 | access-date=2019-09-29}}</ref> English spelling consistency was dealt a further blowreduced when [[William Caxton]] brought the [[printing press]] to London in 1476. Having lived in mainland Europe for the preceding 30 years, his grasp of the English spelling system had become uncertain. The Belgian assistants whom he brought to help him set up his business had an even poorer command of it.<ref>{{cite book | last=Brown | first=A. | title=Understanding and Teaching English Spelling: A Strategic Guide | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-351-62186-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEBvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT80 | access-date=2019-09-29}}</ref>

As printing developed, printers began to develop individual preferences or "[[Style guide|house style]]s".<ref name=handbook>{{cite book|author=Henry Gallup Paine|url=https://archive.org/details/handbooksimplif00boargoog|title=Handbook of Simplified Spelling|publisher=[[Simplified Spelling Board]]|___location=New York|date=1920}}</ref>{{rp|3}} Furthermore, typesetters were paid by the line and were fond of making words longer.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Williams|first=Eran|title=The Challenge of Spelling in English|journal=English Teaching Forum|volume=46|number=3|pages=2–11, 21|year=2008}}</ref> However, the biggest change in English spelling consistency occurred between 1525, when William Tyndale first translated the New Testament, and 1539, when [[King Henry VIII]] legalized the printing of [[English Bibles]] in England. The many editions of these Bibles were all printed outside England by people who spoke little or no English. They often changed spellings to match their [[Dutch language|Dutch]] orthography. Examples include the silent ''h'' in ''ghost'' (to match Dutch {{lang|nl|gheest}}, which later became {{lang|nl|geest}}), ''aghast'', ''ghastly'' and ''gherkin''. The silent ''h'' in other words—such as {{lang|enm|ghospel}}, {{lang|enm|ghossip}} and {{lang|enm|ghizzard}}—was later removed.<ref name=handbook/>{{rp|4}}

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In 1837, [[Isaac Pitman]] published his system of [[Pitman shorthand|phonetic shorthand]], while in 1848 [[Alexander John Ellis]] published ''A Plea for Phonetic Spelling''. These were proposals for a new phonetic alphabet. Although unsuccessful, they drew widespread interest.

By the 1870s, the philological societies of Great Britain and Americathe United States chose to consider the matter. After the "International Convention for the Amendment of English Orthography" that was held in [[Philadelphia]] in August 1876, societies were founded such as the English Spelling Reform Association and American Spelling Reform Association.<ref name="wijk">{{cite book |last=Wijk |first=Axel |author-link=Axel Wijk |title=Regularized Inglish |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell |year=1959 |___location=Stockholm}}</ref>{{rp|20}} That year, the American Philological Society adopted a list of eleven reformed spellings for immediate use. These were ''are→ar, give→giv, have→hav, live→liv, though→tho, through→thru, guard→gard, catalogue→catalog, (in)definite→(in)definit, wished→wisht''.<ref name=handbook/>{{rp|13}}<ref name="barnsdle.demon.co.uk">{{cite web |author=Cornell Kimball |url=http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/spell/histsp.html |title=History of Spelling Reform |website=Barnsdle.demon.co.uk |access-date=2010-06-19 |archive-date=2010-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626091721/http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/spell/histsp.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> One major American newspaper that began using reformed spellings was the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', whose editor and owner, Joseph Medill, sat on the Council of the Spelling Reform Association.<ref name="barnsdle.demon.co.uk"/> In 1883, the American Philological Society and [[American Philological Association]] worked together to produce 24 spelling reform rules, which were published that year. In 1898, the American [[National Education Association]] adopted its own list of 12 words to be used in all writings: ''tho, altho, thoro, thorofare, thru, thruout, catalog, decalog, demagog, pedagog, prolog, program''.<ref name=handbook/>{{rp|14}}

===20th century onward===

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Between 1934 and 1975, the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', then [[Chicago]]'s biggest newspaper, used a number of reformed spellings. Over a two-month spell in 1934, it introduced 80 respelled words, including ''tho, thru, thoro, agast, burocrat, frate, harth, herse, iland, rime, staf'' and ''telegraf''. A March 1934 editorial reported that two-thirds of readers preferred the reformed spellings. Another claimed that "prejudice and competition" was preventing dictionary makers from listing such spellings. Over the next 40 years, however, the newspaper gradually phased out the respelled words. Until the 1950s, [[Funk & Wagnalls]] dictionaries listed many reformed spellings, including the SSB's 300, alongside the conventional spellings.<ref name="barnsdle.demon.co.uk"/>

In 1949, a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour MP]], Dr [[Mont Follick]], introduced a [[private member's bill]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], which failed at the second reading. In 1953, he again had the opportunity, and this time it passed the second reading by 65 votes to 53.<ref>

{{cite web|title=The 50th anniversary of the Simplified Spelling Bill|author=Alan Campbell|url=http://www.englishspellingsociety.org/news/media/bill.php|access-date=2011-05-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418092327/http://www.englishspellingsociety.org/news/media/bill.php|archive-date=2011-04-18|url-status=dead}}

</ref> Because of anticipated opposition from the [[House of Lords]], the bill was withdrawn after assurances from the minister of education that research would be undertaken into improving spelling education. In 1961, this led to [[James Pitman]]'s [[Initial Teaching Alphabet]], introduced into many British schools in an attempt to improve child literacy.<ref>

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== Arguments for reform ==

Proponents of spelling reform such as the [[English Spelling Society]] argue that it would make English easier to learn to read (decode), to spell (encode), and to pronounce, as well as making it more useful for international communication and reducing educational costs (by reducing remediation costs and literacy teachers &and programs), therefore enabling teachers and learners to spend more time on more important subjects or expanding subjects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Position |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/position |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.spellingsociety.org}}</ref>

Another argument is the sheer amount of resources that are wasted using the current spelling. For example, the [[Cut Spelling]] system of spelling reform uses up to 15% fewer letters than current spelling.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Al-Othman |first=Nawal |date=2003-09-03 |title=Meeting the Challenges to Teaching the Spelling System of English: Voices from the Field in Kuwait |journal=Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences |volume=04 |issue=3 |pages=4–33 |doi=10.12785/jeps/040308 |issn=1726-5231|doi-access=free }}</ref> Books written with cut spelling could be printed on fewer pages, conserving resources such as paper and ink, a principle which extends to all forms and mediums of writing.

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A closer relationship between phonemes and spellings would eliminate many exceptions and ambiguities, making the language easier and faster to master.<ref>[[Orthographies and dyslexia#cite note-:4-20]]</ref>

===UndoingPrevious the changesalterations===

[[File:Shakespeare grave -Stratford-upon-Avon -3June2007.jpg|thumb|right|The [[epitaph]] on the grave of [[William Shakespeare]] spells ''friend'' as ''frend''.]]

Some proposed simplified spellings already exist as standard or variant spellings in old literature. As noted earlier, in the 16th century, some scholars of [[Ancient Greek literature|Greek]] and [[Latin literature]] tried to make English words look more like their Graeco-Latin counterparts, at times even erroneously. They did this by adding silent letters, so ''det'' became ''debt'', ''dout'' became ''doubt'', ''sithe'' became ''scythe'', ''iland'' became ''island'', ''ake'' became ''ache'', and so on.<ref name=handbook/>{{rp|5}}<ref name="etymonline"/> Some spelling reformers propose undoing these changes.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

Other examples of older spellings that are more phonetic include ''frend'' for ''friend'' (as on Shakespeare's grave), ''[[wikt:agenst|agenst]]'' for ''against'', ''[[wikt:yeeld|yeeld]]'' for ''yield'', ''bild'' for ''build'', ''[[wikt:cort|cort]]'' for ''court'', ''[[wikt:sted|sted]]'' for ''stead'', ''[[wikt:delight|delite]]'' for ''delight'', ''[[wikt:entise|entise]]'' for ''entice'', ''[[wikt:gost|gost]]'' for ''ghost'', ''[[wikt:harth|harth]]'' for ''hearth'', ''[[wikt:rime|rime]]'' for ''rhyme'', ''[[wikt:sum#Old English|sum]]'' for ''some'', and ''[[wikt:tung|tung]]'' for ''tongue'', and many others. It was also once common to use ''-t'' for the ending ''-ed'' in every case where it is pronounced as such (for example ''[[wikt:dropt|dropt]]'' for ''dropped''), and this is still common in some British English spellings.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

Some of the English language's most celebrated writers and poets have used these spellings and others proposed by today's spelling reformers. [[Edmund Spenser]], for example, used spellings such as [[wikt:rize|''rize'']], ''wize'', and ''advize'']] in his famous poem ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'', published in the 1590s.<ref>[[Edmund Spenser|Spenser, Edmund]]. [[s:The Faerie Queene/Book I/Canto III|''The Faerie Queen'' (Book I, Canto III)]]. [[Wikisource]].</ref>

===Redundant letters===

{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2025}}

The [[English alphabet]] has several letters whose characteristic sounds are already represented elsewhere in the alphabet. These include [[X]], which can be realised as "ks", "gz", or [[X#English|z]]; [[F]], which can be realised as "ph" or [[V]]; soft [[G]] ({{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}), which can be realised as [[J]]; hard [[C]] ({{IPA|/k/}}), which can be realised as [[K]]; soft [[C]] ({{IPA|/s/}}), which can be realised as [[S]]; and [[Q]] ("qu", {{IPA|/kw/}} or {{IPA|/k/}}), which can be realised as "kw" (or simply [[K]] in some cases). However, these spellings are usually retained to reflect their often-Latin roots.

Because of its long history of loaning spellings from other languages, the [[English alphabet]] has several letters whose characteristic sounds can be represented by other letters or [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]]. These include:

* "[[x]]" ({{IPA|/ks/}}, {{IPA|/gz/}}, or {{IPA|/z/}}), which can be realised as "ks", "gz", or "[[X#English|z]]".

* "[[f]]" ({{IPA|/f/}}), which can be spelled "ph".

* "soft [[g]]" ({{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}), which can be spelled "[[j]]".

* "[[c]]" ({{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/s/}}), which can be spelled "[[k]]" or "[[s]]".

* "[[q]]" ({{IPA|/k/}}), which can be spelled "[[k]]" or "[[c]]", though since it is nearly always followed by "[[u]]" ({{IPA|/w/}}), it is often suggested that the "u" be respelled to "w" too.

==Arguments against reform==

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==Spelling reform proposals==

{{See also|List of language reforms of English}}

Most [[spelling reform]]sreforms attempt to improve phonemic representation, but some attempt genuine [[phonetics|phonetic]] spelling,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hodges |first1=Richard E. |title=A Short History of Spelling Reform in the United States |journal=The Phi Delta Kappan |date=1964 |volume=45 |issue=7 |pages=330–332 |jstor=20343148 }}</ref> usually by changing the [[ISO basic Latin alphabet|basic English alphabet]] or making a new one. All spelling reforms aim for greater regularity in spelling.

===Using the basic English alphabet===

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==Historical and contemporary advocates of reform==

{{more citations needed|section|date=August 2022}}

Many respected and influential people have been active supporters of spelling reform. This list of English-language spelling reform advocates who are [[Wikipedia:Notability (people)|notable]] for other reasons islists splitthem upby into those who advocated for specific reforms and were successful, those who were not (yet), and those who instead supported the principledate of reformbirth morewhere generallypossible.

=== Successful reform proposersadvocates ===

* [[Samuel Johnson]], poet, wit, essayist, biographer, critic and eccentric, broadly credited with the standardization of English spelling in his [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901063613/http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/preface.html ''Dictionary of the English Language'' (1755)].

* [[Noah Webster]], author of the first important American dictionary, believed that Americans should adopt simpler spellings where available and recommended it in his [[s:A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language|''A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language'']] [[s:A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language|(1806)]].

=== UnsuccessfulOther reform proposersadvocates ===

==== Pre-19th century ====

* [[Orrm]], 12th century Augustine canon monk and eponymous author of the ''[[Ormulum]]'', in which he stated that, since he dislikes that people are mispronouncing English, he will spell words exactly as they are pronounced, and describes a system whereby vowel length and value are indicated unambiguously. He distinguished short vowels from long by doubling the following consonants, or, where this is not feasible, by marking the short vowels with a superimposed [[breve]] accent.

* [[Thomas Smith (diplomat)|Thomas Smith]], a secretary of state to [[Queen Elizabeth I]], who published his proposal ''De recta et emendata linguæ angliæ scriptione'' in, 1568, which advocates for spelling reform while not detailing its own system.<ref name="wijk" />{{rp|17}}

* [[Charles Butler (beekeeper)|Charles Butler]], British naturalist and author of the first natural history of bees: ''Đe Feminin' Monarķi'', 1634. He proposed that "men should write altogeđer according to đe sound now generally received", and espoused a system in which the h in digraphs was replaced with [[Bar (diacritic)|bars]].

* [[John Wilkins]], English Anglican bishop and natural philosopher, published ''An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language'', 1668, in which he proposed that {{Angle brackets|father}} should be spelled {{Angle brackets|fadher}}, among other things.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Failed Attempts to Reform English Spelling |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/spelling-suggestions-that-didnt-stick |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref>

* [[Benjamin Franklin]], American innovator and revolutionary, added letters to the Roman alphabet for [[Benjamin Franklin's phonetic alphabet|his own personal solution]] to the problem of English spelling in 1768.

* [[Mont Follick]], [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament]], [[Linguistics|linguist]] (multi-lingual) and author who preceded [[James Pitman|Pitman]] in drawing the English spelling reform issue to the attention of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]. Favored replacing w and y with u and i.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

* [[Robert R. McCormick]] (1880–1955), publisher of the [[Chicago Tribune|''Chicago Tribune'']], employed reformed spelling in his newspaper. The ''Tribune'' used simplified versions of some words, such as "altho" for "although".

==== 19th century onwards ====

* [[John C. Wells]], former professor of [[phonetics]] at [[University College London]], is a former president of The [[English Spelling Society]] and advocated for [[SoundSpel|New Spelling]].

* [[Robert Bridges]], British [[Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom|Poet Laureate]] from 1913 to 1930, devised a phonetic alphabet for English, as well as removing useless [[Silent e|silent 'e's]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Some of the Main Efforts to Reform English Spelling from 1875 to 2000 |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_misc/efforts-misc.pdf |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=16 October 1913 |title=Robert Bridges' literary alphabet |url=https://archive.org/details/independent76newy/page/131/mode/1up |journal=The Independent |volume=76 |pages=131}}</ref>

* [[Valerie Yule]], clinical child psychologist and fellow of the [[Galton Institute]], was vice-president of The English Spelling Society and created [[Interspel]].

* [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[playwright]], willed part of his estate to fund the creation of what would become the [[Shavian alphabet]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

* [[Upton Sinclair]], author, wrote a letter to Theodore Roosevelt advocating for spelling reform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Upton |date=1976 |title=Upton Sinclair Cites Need For Spelling Reform In Letter To President Kennedy |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_books/a2arguments.pdf}}</ref>

* [[Mont Follick]], [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[(UK) Member of Parliament]], [[LinguisticsMultilingualism|linguistpolyglot]] (multi-lingual) and author who preceded [[James Pitman|Pitman]] in drawing the English spelling reform issue to the attention of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in 1949 and 1952. Favored replacing w and y with u and i.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

* [[James Pitman]], grandson of [[Isaac Pitman]], publisher and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament]], invented the [[Initial Teaching Alphabet]], which is not technically a spelling reform.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

* [[Ronald Reagan]], U.S. president, supported reform in his youth, and retained some simplified spellings even when in office, such as "bellys", "mysterys", "nite", "burocrat", "burocracy".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Edmund |title=Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan |date=1999 |publisher=[[Modern Library]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-375-75645-0}}</ref>

* [[Richard Feynman]], physicist, gave a talk entitled ''This Unscientific Age'' in which he advocated for spelling reform, among other things.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last=Reilly |first=John J. |date=1999 |title=Richard Feynman & Isaac Asimov on Spelling Reform. |url=http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j25/feynman.php |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society |pages=31–32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050923213512/http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j25/feynman.php |archive-date=2005-09-23}}</ref>

* [[Isaac Asimov]], author, wrote several essays on spellinglanguage reform in which he proposed respelling all word-final [[Lexical set|{{Sc2|GOOSE}}]] as {{Angle brackets|oo}}, {{Angle brackets|night}} as {{Angle brackets|nite}} andas reforming grammarwell as wellreforming grammar.<ref name=":2" />

* [[Doug Everingham]], former Australian Labor politician and health minister in the [[Whitlam]] government, was a proponent of [[SR1]], which he used in ministerial correspondence.

* [[Valerie Yule]], clinical child psychologist and fellow of the [[Galton Institute]], was vice-president of The English Spelling Society and created [[Interspel]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

* [[Isaac Asimov]], author, wrote several essays on spelling reform in which he proposed respelling all word-final [[Lexical set|{{Sc2|GOOSE}}]] as {{Angle brackets|oo}}, {{Angle brackets|night}} as {{Angle brackets|nite}} and reforming grammar as well.<ref name=":2" />

* [[Robert Bridges]], British [[Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom|Poet Laureate]] from 1913 to 1930, devised a phonetic alphabet for English, as well as removing useless [[Silent e|silent 'e's]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=16 October 1913 |title=Robert Bridges' literary alphabet |url=https://archive.org/details/independent76newy/page/131/mode/1up |journal=The Independent |volume=76 |pages=131}}</ref>

==== English Spelling Reform advocatesAssociation ====

The English Spelling Reform Association (also known as the British Spelling Reform Association), the precursor to the [[English Spelling Society]], was founded in 1879 with the following people on its list of vice-presidents bar [[Archibald Sayce]], who was the president.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Simplified Spelling Board |url=http://archive.org/details/handbookofsimpli00simprich |title=Handbook of simplified spelling |last2=Paine |first2=Henry Gallup 1859- |date=1920 |publisher=New York [Simplified Spelling Board] |others=University of California Libraries}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mencken |first=H. L. |url=https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/the-american-language-2nd-ed/page-243-2/ |title=The American Language |date=1921 |pages=243}}</ref>

* [[Charles Darwin]], wasfamous also a vice-president{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} and founding member of the English Spelling Reform Associationbiologist,<ref name=":3" /> and hiswhose involvement in the subject was continued by [[Charles Galton Darwin|his physicist grandson of the same name]].

* [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], poet laureate.

* [[Isaac Pitman]], creator of [[Pitman shorthand]].

* [[Alexander John Ellis]], philologist.

* [[Alexander Bain (philosopher)|Alexander Bain]], philosopher.

* [[Max Müller]], philologist, who published works advocating for spelling reform.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Müller |first=Friedrich Max |url=https://wwwbooks.google.co.ukcom/books/edition/Max_M%C3%BCller_on_Spelling/?id=0vD9AL5jePQC |title=Max Müller on Spelling ... |date=1894 |publisher=I. Pitman & sons |language=en}}</ref>

* [[John Hall Gladstone]], chemist.

* [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury]], close friend of Charles Darwin.

* [[Walter William Skeat]], philologist, who would go on to found the [[English Spelling Society]] and was also a member of the [[Simplified Spelling Board]].

* [[James Murray (lexicographer)|James Murray]], editor of the OED, who was also a founding member of the English[[Simplified Spelling Reform AssociationBoard]].<ref name=":3" />

* [[Henry Sweet]], linguist.

* [[Archibald Sayce]], [[Assyriology|Assyriologist]] and philologist.

==== Simplified Spelling Board ====

* [[Thomas Smith (diplomat)|Thomas Smith]], a secretary of state to [[Queen Elizabeth I]], who published his proposal ''De recta et emendata linguæ angliæ scriptione'' in 1568, which advocates for spelling reform while not detailing its own system.<ref name="wijk" />{{rp|17}}

[[Simplified Spelling Board]] was founded in 1906 with the following people on its list of members.<ref name=":0" />

* [[Theodore Roosevelt]] commissioned a committee, the [[Columbia Spelling Board]], to research and recommend simpler spellings and tried to require the U.S. government to adopt them;<ref name="NYT1906">{{cite news |date=1906-12-13 |title=House Bars Spelling in President's Style |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/12/13/101853127.pdf |access-date=2007-12-17 |work=New York Times}}</ref> however, his approach, to assume popular support by [[Executive order (United States)|executive order]],<ref name="NYT1906" /> rather than to garner it, was a likely factor in the limited change of the time.<ref>{{cite web |author=John J. Reilly |title=Theodore Roosevelt and Spelling Reform |url=http://www.johnreilly.info/alt20.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707171609/http://www.johnreilly.info/alt20.htm |archive-date=2007-07-07 |access-date=2007-07-07}} Based on H.W. Brand's, T.R.: The Last Romantic, pp. 555-558</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Daniel R. MacGilvray |year=1986 |title=A Short History of GPO |url=http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/history/macgilvray.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608191329/http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/history/macgilvray.html |archive-date=2007-06-08 |access-date=2007-07-07}}</ref>

* [[Andrew Carnegie]], philanthropist, who donated to spelling reform societies on the U.S. and Britain,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Simplified Spelling Society Minutes |url=https://spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newsletters/earlyminutes-newsletter.pdf |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref> and funded the [[Simplified Spelling Board]].<ref name="NYT190603062">[https://www.nytimes.com/1906/03/12/archives/carnegie-assaults-the-spelling-book-to-pay-the-cost-of-reforming.html "Carnegie Assaults the Spelling Book; To Pay the Cost of Reforming English Orthography. Campaign About to Begin Board Named, with Headquarters Here – Local Societies Throughout the Country."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404030227/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F02E5D6103EE733A25751C1A9659C946797D6CF&scp=1|date=April 4, 2016}}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 12, 1906. Retrieved August 28, 2008.</ref>

* [[Ronald Reagan]] supported reform in his youth, and retained some simplified spellings even when in office, such as "bellys", "mysterys", "nite", "burocrat", "burocracy".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Edmund |title=Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan |date=1999 |publisher=[[Modern Library]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-375-75645-0}}</ref>

* [[Theodore Roosevelt]], commissionedU.S. a committeepresident, commissioned the [[ColumbiaSimplified Spelling Board]], to research and recommend simpler spellings and tried to require the U.S. government to adopt them;,<ref name="NYT1906">{{cite news |date=1906-12-13 |title=House Bars Spelling in President's Style |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/12/13/101853127.pdf |access-date=2007-12-17 |work=New York Times}}</ref> however,though his approach, to assume popular support by [[Executiveexecutive order]] (Unitedrather States)|executivethan to order]]garner it,<ref name="NYT1906" /> rather than to garner it, was a likely factor in the limited change of the time.<ref>{{cite web |author=John J. Reilly |title=Theodore Roosevelt and Spelling Reform |url=http://www.johnreilly.info/alt20.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707171609/http://www.johnreilly.info/alt20.htm |archive-date=2007-07-07 |access-date=2007-07-07}} Based on H.W. Brand's, T.R.: The Last Romantic, pp. 555-558</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Daniel R. MacGilvray |year=1986 |title=A Short History of GPO |url=http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/history/macgilvray.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608191329/http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/history/macgilvray.html |archive-date=2007-06-08 |access-date=2007-07-07}}</ref>

* [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] was a vice-president{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} and founding member of the [[English Spelling Reform Association]], the precursor to the [[Spelling Society|(Simplified) Spelling Society]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Some of the Main Efforts to Reform English Spelling from 1875 to 2000 |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_misc/efforts-misc.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

* [[Mark Twain]], author and humorist, was a founding member of the [[Simplified Spelling Board]].<ref name="NYT19060306">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F02E5D6103EE733A25751C1A9659C946797D6CF&scp=1 "Carnegie Assaults The Spelling Book; To Pay the Cost of Reforming English Orthography. Campaign About To Begin Board Named, with Headquarters Here – Local Societies Throughout the Country."], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 12, 1906. Accessed August 28, 2008.</ref>

* [[Charles Darwin]] was also a vice-president{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} and founding member of the English Spelling Reform Association,<ref name=":3" /> and his involvement in the subject was continued by [[Charles Galton Darwin|his physicist grandson of the same name]].

* [[Melvil Dewey]], inventor of the [[Dewey Decimal Classification|Dewey Decimal System]], wrote published works in simplified spellings and even simplified his own name from ''Melville'' to ''Melvil''.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1876 |title=The Spelling Reform Association |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44765879 |journal=New England Journal of Education |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=115–115115 |issn=2578-4145 |jstor=44765879}}</ref>

* [[James Murray (lexicographer)|James Murray]], editor of the OED, was also a founding member of the English Spelling Reform Association.<ref name=":3" />

* [[Isaac Pitman]], creator of [[Pitman shorthand]], was also a founding member of the English Spelling Reform Association.<ref name=":3" />

==== English Spelling Society ====

* [[Alexander John Ellis]], philologist, was also a founding member of the English Spelling Reform Association.<ref name=":3" />

The [[English Spelling Society]], (formerly the ''Simplified Spelling Society'') was founded in 1908 and is still in operation. A full list of their presidents can be found on that page.

* [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury]], close friend of Charles Darwin, also involved in the Spelling Reform Association.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mencken |first=H. L. |url=https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/the-american-language-2nd-ed/page-243-2/ |title=The American Language |date=1921 |pages=243}}</ref>

* [[Andrew Carnegie]], celebrated philanthropist, donated to spelling reform societies on the US and Britain, and funded the [[Simplified Spelling Board]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Simplified Spelling Society Minutes |url=https://spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newsletters/earlyminutes-newsletter.pdf |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

* [[DanielRobert Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]]Baden-Powell, phonetician1st andBaron professor of [[phoneticsBaden-Powell]] at [[University College London]], was a vice-president of the Simplified Spelling Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TheTHE SimplifiedPIONEER SpellingOF SocietySIMPLIFIED Presidents, and Officers and Committee Members, between 1908 and 1987SPELLING |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newsletters/officers1918pioneer-newsletter-1420047469.pdf |access-date= |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

* [[AndrewIsrael CarnegieGollancz]], celebrated philanthropistphilologist, donatedwas toa spellingfounding reform societies on the US and Britain, and funded the [[Simplified Spelling Board]]member.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Simplified Spelling Society. Newsletter MinutesJuly 1983 |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newsletters/earlyminutesnews3-newsletter.pdf |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

* [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[playwright]], willed part of his estate to fund the creation of what would become the [[Shavian alphabet]].

* [[H. G. Wells]], science fiction writer, became a one-time vice-president after granting permission to publish one of his short stories in reformed spelling, presumably ''[[The Star (Wells short story)|The Star]]'', given its continued use by the society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Notes on the Pamphlets of The Spelling Society |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_pamphlets/pnotes-pamphlet.pdf |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

* [[Mark Twain]], author and humorist, was a founding member of the [[Simplified Spelling Board]].<ref name="NYT19060306">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F02E5D6103EE733A25751C1A9659C946797D6CF&scp=1 "Carnegie Assaults The Spelling Book; To Pay the Cost of Reforming English Orthography. Campaign About To Begin Board Named, with Headquarters Here – Local Societies Throughout the Country."], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 12, 1906. Accessed August 28, 2008.</ref>

* [[H.Daniel G.Jones Wells(phonetician)|Daniel Jones]], sciencephonetician fictionand writer, became a one-time vice presidentprofessor of the[[phonetics]] Simplifiedat Spelling[[University SocietyCollege afterLondon]], grantingwas permissiona to publish one of his short stories in reformed spellingpresident.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NotesThe onSimplified theSpelling PamphletsSociety ofPresidents, Theand SpellingOfficers Societyand Committee Members, between 1908 and 1987 |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_pamphletsuploaded_newsletters/pnotesofficers-pamphletnewsletter.pdf |access-date= |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

* [[RobertCharles Baden-PowellGalton Darwin]], 1stphysicist Barongrandson Baden-Powellof [[Charles Darwin]], was a wartime vice-president of the Simplified Spelling Society.<ref>{{Citecite web |title=THEThe Simplified Spelling Society PIONEEROfficers OFand SIMPLIFIEDCommittee SPELLINGMembers |url=httpshttp://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newslettersjournals/1918pioneerpamflets/officers.php |url-newsletterstatus=dead |archive-1420047469url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720143726/http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/pamflets/officers.pdfphp |websitearchive-date=The20 EnglishJuly 2008 |access-date=27 May 2009 |publisher=The Spelling Society |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

* [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], was a one-time patron of the [[Simplified Spelling Society]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Simplified Spelling Society News Sheet 5 |url=https://spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newsletters/ns5-newsletter.pdf |website=English Spelling Society}}</ref> and stated that spelling reform should start outside of the UK, and that the lack of progress originates in the discord amongst reformers. However, his abandonment of the cause was coincident with literacy being no longer an issue for his own children, and his less than lukewarm involvement may have ended as a result of the society's rejection of attempts to 'pull strings' behind the scenes.{{Dubious discuss|date=March 2025}}{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

* [[Upton Sinclair]], author, wrote a letter to Theodore Roosevelt advocating for spelling reform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Upton |date=1976 |title=Upton Sinclair Cites Need For Spelling Reform In Letter To President Kennedy |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_books/a2arguments.pdf}}</ref>

* [[Anatoly Liberman]], professor in the Department of [[German language|German]], [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] at the [[University of Minnesota]], is the current president,<ref>{{cite web |title=Officers |url=http://spellingsociety.org/officers |access-date=16 October 2015 |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref> and has advocated for spelling reforms in his weekly column on word origins at the [[Oxford University Press]] blog.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 May 2014 |title=Casting a last spell: After Skeat and Bradley |url=http://blog.oup.com/2014/05/spelling-reform-after-skeat-and-bradley/ |access-date=9 August 2014 |website=The Oxford Etymologist |publisher=OUP}}</ref> CurrentHe presidenthas ofexpressed a desire to remove the [[Englishletters Spelling'c', Society]]'q', and 'x', where possible.<ref>{{citeCite web |last=Liberman |first=Anatoly |date=2022-07-06 |title=OfficersSpelling Reform and after |url=httphttps://spellingsocietyblog.orgoup.com/2022/07/spelling-reform-and-after/officers |access-date=16 October 20152025-04-02 |website=TheOUPblog English Spelling Society|language=en}}</ref>

* [[Melvil Dewey]], inventor of the [[Dewey Decimal Classification|Dewey Decimal System]], wrote published works in simplified spellings and even simplified his own name from ''Melville'' to ''Melvil''.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1876 |title=The Spelling Reform Association |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44765879 |journal=New England Journal of Education |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=115–115 |issn=2578-4145}}</ref>

* [[John C. Wells]], former professor of [[phonetics]] at [[University College London]], is a former president of The [[English Spelling Society]] andwho advocated for [[SoundSpel|New Spelling]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

* [[Israel Gollancz]], philologist, was a founding member of the Simplified Spelling Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Simplified Spelling Society. Newsletter July 1983 |url=https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newsletters/news3-newsletter.pdf |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

* [[James Pitman]], grandson of [[Isaac Pitman]], publisher and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament]], invented the [[Initial Teaching Alphabet]], which is not technically a spelling reform.

* [[Charles Galton Darwin]], grandson of [[Charles Darwin]], physicist and director of Britain's [[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)|National Physical Laboratory]] ([[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)|NPL]]) in [[Second World War|World War II]], was a wartime vice-president of the [[Simplified Spelling Society]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Simplified Spelling Society Officers and Committee Members |url=http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/pamflets/officers.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720143726/http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/pamflets/officers.php |archive-date=20 July 2008 |access-date=27 May 2009 |publisher=The Spelling Society |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

* [[Richard Feynman]], physicist, gave a talk entitled 'This Unscientific Age' in which he advocated for spelling reform, among other things.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last=Reilly |first=John J. |date=1999 |title=Richard Feynman & Isaac Asimov on Spelling Reform. |url=http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j25/feynman.php |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society |pages=31–32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050923213512/http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j25/feynman.php |archive-date=2005-09-23}}</ref>

* [[Max Müller]], philologist, published works advocating for spelling reform.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Müller |first=Friedrich Max |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Max_M%C3%BCller_on_Spelling/0vD9AL5jePQC |title=Max Müller on Spelling ... |date=1894 |publisher=I. Pitman & sons |language=en}}</ref>

* [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], one-time patron of the [[Simplified Spelling Society]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Simplified Spelling Society News Sheet 5 |url=https://spellingsociety.org/uploaded_newsletters/ns5-newsletter.pdf |website=English Spelling Society}}</ref> stated that spelling reform should start outside of the UK, and that the lack of progress originates in the discord amongst reformers. However, his abandonment of the cause was coincident with literacy being no longer an issue for his own children, and his less than lukewarm involvement may have ended as a result of the society's rejection of attempts to 'pull strings' behind the scenes.{{Dubious discuss|date=March 2025}}{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

* [[Anatoly Liberman]], professor in the Department of [[German language|German]], [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] at the [[University of Minnesota]], advocated for spelling reforms in his weekly column on word origins at the [[Oxford University Press]] blog.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 May 2014 |title=Casting a last spell: After Skeat and Bradley |url=http://blog.oup.com/2014/05/spelling-reform-after-skeat-and-bradley/ |access-date=9 August 2014 |website=The Oxford Etymologist |publisher=OUP}}</ref> Current president of the [[English Spelling Society]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Officers |url=http://spellingsociety.org/officers |access-date=16 October 2015 |website=The English Spelling Society}}</ref>

==See also==

Line 230 ⟶ 258:

==Further reading==

{{Lacking ISBN|date=June 2025}}

* Bell, Masha (2004), ''Understanding English Spelling'', Cambridge: Pegasus

* Bell, Masha (2012), [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spelling-it-out-ebook/dp/B008GKU1ZA/ SPELLING IT OUT: the problems and costs of English spelling], ebook

Line 236 ⟶ 265:

* Crystal, David. ''Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling and Extraordinary Story of English Spelling'' (St. Martin's Press, 2013)

* Condorelli, M. (2022). Pragmatic Framework. In ''Standardising English Spelling: The Role of Printing in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-century Graphemic Developments'' (Studies in English Language, pp.&nbsp;40–58). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

* {{cite book|first=Gabe|last=Henry|title=Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell|year=2025|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|isbn=9780063360235}}

* Hitchings, Henry. ''The language wars: a history of proper English'' (Macmillan, 2011)

* Kiisk, Allan (2013) ''Simple Phonetic English Spelling - Introduction to Simpel-Fonetik, the Single-Sound-per-Letter Writing Method'', in printed, audio and e-book versions, Tate Publishing, Mustang, Oklahoma.