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===Undoing the changes===
[[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. 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'', ''[[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''). 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===
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