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Click here for an index to words discussed throughout this project, in chronological order, most recent first, from the commencement of the project on June 1st, 2004 thru January 2017; and here for words added from February 1st, 2017 onward.
Click here for an index to words discussed throughout this project from A-M, and here for an index to words discussed throughout this project from N-Z, in alphabetical order.
(Within the
webpages noted above are clickable links to all the discussions, organized
by quarter year.)/FONT>
Click
here for a list of possible future
words.
(In general, only the base form of a word to be revised is given,
but closely related forms, such as inflected variants of a verb or a noun
created from the verb take the same change (e.g, the reform of "saturate"
to "sachurate" carries over to "sachuration", "sachurated", and "sachurating";
"abizmal" carries over to "abizmally"; and so on.)
Friday, June 29, 2018:
"fovva [bean]" for
"fava"
Thursday, June 28, 2018:
"equivvalent" and "equivvalence" for
"equivalent" and "equivalence"
Wensday, June 27, 2018:
"disaible" and "disabillity" for
"disable" and "disability"
Tuesday, June 26, 2018:
"cavveot" for
caveat"
Munday, June 25, 2018:
"bandalairo" for
"_bandolero"
Sunday, June 24, 2018:
"auspishus" for
"auspicious"
Saturday, June 23, 2018:
"zobbollyony" for
"zabaglione"
Friday, June 22, 2018:
"wairwoolf" for
"werewolf"
Thursday, June 21, 2018:
"Veeshy" for
"_Vichy"
Wensday, June 20, 2018:
"ultracreppidarean" for
"ultracrepidarian"
Tuesday, June 19, 2018:
"tooty-frooty" for
"tutti-frutti"
Munday, June 18, 2018:
"scrounj" for
"scrounge"
Sunday, June 17, 2018:
"rambunkshus" for
"rambunctious"
Saturday, June 16, 2018:
"quodripleejea" for
"quadriplegia"
Friday, June 15, 2018:
"poparee" for
"potpourri"
Thursday, June 14, 2018:
"onnajer" for
"onager"
Wensday, June 13, 2018:
"nurosurjery_" for
"neurosurgery"
Tuesday, June 12, 2018:
"meezles" for
"measles"
Monday, June 11, 2018:
"lattitudinarean" for
"latitudinarian"
Sunday, June 10, 2018:
"Keeswaheelee" for
"Kiswahili" and "ki-Swahili"
Saturday, June 9, 2018:
"judishus" for
"judicious"
Friday, June 8, 2018:
"impeereus" for
"imperious"
Thursday, June 7, 2018:
"hypockarizm" for
"hypocorism"
Wensday, June 6, 2018:
"gammin" for
"gamin"
Tuesday, June 5, 2018:
"frajjil" and frajillity" for
"fragile" and "fragility"
Munday, June 4, 2018:
"ellocution" for
"elocution"
Sunday, June 3, 2018:
"derivvativ" for
"derivative"
Saturday, June 2, 2018:
"communicativ" for
"communicative"
Friday, June 1, 2018:
"ajjulate" and "ajjulation"for
"adulate" and "adulation"
We are running low on, or have already run out of, words in need of reform
that start in I, J, K, L, N, O, Q, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. If readers
see the need for reform of words that start in any of those letters, and
which have not already been used (as recorded in this project's
chronological archives) or
rejected for this project files, please suggest
reforms. But we need not change spellings unless the present
spelling is inadequate or misleading, or there is more than one spelling
and we need to settle on only one.
Please
bookmark this page and stop by regularly.
Tell your friends. Tell your teachers. Tell the world!
Tho it would be neater to
change all words of a pattern at the same time (e.g., all -OUS endings to
-US), that is implied in the change of individual words of that pattern.
But traditional English spelling isn't consistent, which is why it is so
hard to master. Some words that sound the same are spelled differently
(there, their, they're); some words that are spelled the same
are pronounced differently (refuse as verb and noun). To impose complete
consistency on English without radical reform is impossible. Short of radical
reform, then, we can either reform some words or surrender to spelling
chaos and do nothing.
English spelling didn't become
crazy all at once, but one word at a time. Old English was phonetic, and
such variations in spelling as occurred reflected variations in pronunciation.
New words have come into the language one by one, with their own individual
spelling, sometimes quite unreasonable. In like fashion, we can change some
unreasonable spellings to reasonable, one word at a time, inefficient tho
that approach may be. See below for radical reform that does address all
the issues at once.
*
SSWD is a project of L.
Craig Schoonmaker, Newark, New Jersey, United States, creator of
Fanetik: Reformed (Phonetic) Spelling
- at Least for Teaching. [NOTE: On April 5,
2017, I corrected the link above, and the two below. They had pointed to
a website I was paying for, but the Australian webhost proved unreliable.
So I moved the key files to the free webhost Tripod, which is compensated
for its webhosting by ads atop each hosted webpage. These links now point
to my free Tripod website.] Phonetic
pronunciations
on this site are rendered in
Augméntad
Fanétik, which employs accents for syllabic stress. For
information about other ways to change irrational spellings, search the Internet
for spelling reform.
Comments?
Suggestions? If you have suggestions as to words to reform,
please check first if they have already
been used or have already been placed
on the list of words to be addressed in the future or words that
have been considered but rejected. Please
also check the principles that control
whether a word will or will not be offered. Once you have done that,
or for any other purpose, please write to
Fanetiks@aol.com. Because, for
reasons I do not understand, some people have written under temporary email
addresses that are abandoned before I can reply, I will not
make personal replies to anyone who (a) does not request reactions
and (b) does not provide a valid return email address (which
will be checked, before I write any substantive reply, by a test
email). And if you'd like credit on this page for any suggestion
you make that is used, please provide a name and location (city,
state/country) for that credit. Absent a personal name, credit will be given
to an abbreviated form of the email address, without the at-sign or domain
information (e.g., if the email address is "mjmartin@gmail.com", credit might
be made to "mjmart...")
Click here for the principles that govern
the selection of words for this project.
Click here for a list of words rejected
for this project because of those principles.
Click here for links to other websites concerned
with spelling.
Simpler Spelling
Word of the Day
The distribution of words that require reform is wildly
uneven from one initial letter of the alphabet to another. Ordinarily, we
have considered one word a day for each initial letter, but we have just
about run out of words in various parts of the alphabet, so will treat of
the letters that have many, many words (e.g., C, D, P, M, and S) on multiple
days in a row before moving to the next letter in alphabetical
order.
Saturday, June 30, 2018:
"Jemmini" for
"Gemini"
The G here represents not G's own, unique sound, often called "hard-G", but the sound of J.
We have a J. Let's use IT for the J-sound. We can also make clear that the E is short, by doubling the following M: "Jemmini".
The first-A in this Food Friday's word represents neither of A's sounds, long or short, nor even a schwa, as does the second-A.
Rather, it represents short-O. To show that, we need to change the vowel to O and double the following-V: "fovva".
A single-V permits a reader, esp. a new reader of English to see the I before it as long, whereas it is actually
short, in both words: "equivvalent" and "equivvalence".
The second of today's pair of words suggests the need to reform the first, because the A in the second represents schwa,
but in the first represents long-A. We need to show that. If it were at the end of the word, we would write AY. But
within a word, AI would be expected. In the second word of today's pair, the A is fine, but the sound of the I is unclear
in that a single-L after it could permit a long-I. The sound is actually short-I, which we can readily indicate by doubling
the L: "disaible" and "disabillity".
The traditional spelling of today's word is very unclear, and has given rise to multiple pronunciatioins. The first four letters are very
misleading, in being the same in writing as the word to itself "cave" but having a short-A, not long. To show that, we need only
double the V. The E is then no longeer misleading but takes its long-sound, which the reader will understand because it is followed
by another vowel. That vowel, however, should be not A but O, because the sound of the preferred pronunciation is short-O, as in
"tot" and "jot": "cavveot".
ERO should be seen as being pronounced with a long-E, as in "hero", "zero", and "Nero". That's not the sound here, which is the AI-sound as in "air",
"fair", and "pair". So let's write AIR in the third syllable of today's word: "bandolairo".
CIOUS is a peculiar way to spell what sounds like SHUS. If the sound is SHUS, let's just write SHUS: "auspishus".
This Food Friday, let;s fix a word with a most un-English spelling (for a type of Italian dessert custard with wine). The sounds
eill nr vlrst only yo proplr eho knoe Italian spelling conventions, which relatiely few people in English-speaking countries do
actually know. But if we replace the bizarre Italian spellings with English conventions, many more people will be able to
pronounce it: "zobbollyony".
Both syllables of today's word have issues. WERE is a word to itself, pronounced WER, but the sound it should have is WAIR.
And WOLF should be said with a short-O, because a single-O is followed by two consonants, whereas the sound is actually short-OO
as in "good" and "took". So let's double the O to make that plain: "wairwoolf".
Today's word is spelled with French conventions but should be spelled with English conventions: "Veeshy".
There are two little things to fix in this seven-syllable word.* First, a single-P leaves unclear whether the E before
the P is long or short. It's short. To show that plainly, we need to double the P. The second problem is the IA at the end
of the word, which should be pronounced as a long-I followed by schwa, as in "dial", "diagnosis", and "pyschiatry". It is actually
said as long-E followed by schwa, as in "Caribbean", "Cesarean", and "pean", the simpler rendering of "paean"":
"ultracreppidarean".
____________________
* Dictionary.com: "noting or pertaining to a person who criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise".
UTT should be pronounced with a short-U, as in "butt", "mutt", and the golf term "putt". In actuality, the sound is
long-U without an initial Y-glide, which would more clearly be written OOT, twice: "tooty-frooty".
There's only one problem with today's word, a GE for a J-sound. If the sound is J, why would we write a G?: "scrounj".
The major problem with today's word is the odd spelling TIOUS for what would much more sensibly be written SHUS. But we could
also usefully replace the C with K, especially since if we do write SHUS, a C before it might be a little confusing because of
the common letter sequence SCH, which could be pronounced as either an SH-sound or an SK-sound. If we write K instead, the reader will
not be confused at all: "rambunkshus".
The first-A today takes neither of A's ordinary sounds, long as in "able" and short as in "at". Rather, the sound is
short-O. So let's exchange the A it for O. The second issue occurs in the third syllable, a long-E, which would be clearer if
we write EE, which has the added advantage of suggesting that the word's primary stress falls on that syllable, which it does.
The next issue is a G for a J-sound. Why does English use G for a J-sound? It's absurd, so should be eliminated everywhere, and
replaced with the proper J. The last problem falls at the end of the word, where there is an IA, which suggests a long-I, as in
"giant" and "diagram", whereas the sound is actually a long-E. To show that, we need merely replace the IA with EA: "quodripleejea".
There are FOUR problems in this nine-letter word! First, there is a silent-T. If the T is silent, it should not be there.
Second, there is an OU letter sequence, but it does not represent the English OU-sound. Rather, it is a schwa, which would
be much clearer if written as A. Third, there is a double-R, which a listener could not know, so we should delete the second,
extraneous R. And fourth, the word ends in I, which suggests a Latinized irregular plural, pronounced long-I, as in "cacti", "stimuli"
and "hippopotami", but it is actually pronounced as long-E. At the end of a word, we could show that as Y or EE. Y would be more
appropriate to an adjective, whereas this is a noun. So EE would be better. Putting these four little changes all together, we
get: "poparee".
This term for a wild donkey of southwestern Asia, has tw0 problems for readers of English. First, the Ois short, which is not
clear from its being followed by a single-N. And second, the G does not represent a G-sound but a J-sound. Happily, there are
quick fixes for both these problems. First, double the N; second, change the G to J: "onnajer_".
The bulk of speakers of English as a first language do not say a Y-glide at the start of the long-U sound in the first syllable of today's word,
which EU would seem to require. If we drop that E, different readers can say whichever they want, because a simple-U does not forbid
an initial Y-glide. So let's drop that E. The second issue in today's word is the G, hwich represents not G's own, unique soudn,
as in "give", "get" and "giddy", but the J-sound. If the sound is J, let's just write J: "nurosurjery".
EA can be pronounced in a number of waysP long-e, without more, as in "sea"; long-E + schwa, as in "ethereal"; long-E olus long-A, as in "creation";
even the AUU-sound, as in the personal name "Sean". Here, the sound iz a simple long-E, which is much better shown by EE. The other problem with
today's word is an S for a Z-sound. If the sound is Z, we should write Z: "meezles".
Today's word means marked by freedom of attitude, with which it rhymes. So it should follow the clearer pattern
of "attitude", with a double-T. At the end of today's word we have the vowel sequence long-E + schwa, but it's written
like the sequence long-I + schwa, as in "dial", "defiant", and "psychiatry". There is no way to make the correct sequence entirely
clear, but EA is arguably better, as in "rhea", "Caribbean", and "cereal". Putting these two little changes together, we get:
"lattirudineairean".
I is the wrong letter for all of the I's in today's word/s. The sound is long-E, so we should substitute EE for all
the I's: "Swaheelee" and "kee-Swaheelee".
The first four letters of today's word are fine. The last two letters are fine. But the middle of the word is radically wrong.
CI does not spell the SH-sound. SH does. And OU should be said as the OU-sound, but here it is pronounced as a schwa,
which would be better written as just-U: "judishus".
The letter sequence IOU is entirely wrong for the sounds. The I should be pronounced as a long-I, but is actually pronounced as long-E.
If the sound is long-E, we should write E. The OU does n0t represent the OU-sound, but a schwa, or short-U, which we can show
clearly by writing, simply, U[S]: "impeereus".
There are three problems in today's five-syllable word. First, the O before the C is short, which a single-C
does not make plain. We could double the C or put a K after it. CC in such a location is uncommon, so CK seems the
better choice.
The second problem is an OR after the K-sound. Many readers might be tempted to pronounce that letter sequence like the
identical word to itself, "or", with an AU-sound. The proper sound, however, is schwa, which would better be shown by A.
There is a third problem, an S before the final-M. The sound is not S, as in "isthmus", but Z. So let's replace the S with Z.
Ideally, we should show that the ZM letter sequence is pronounced as two syllables, as by placing an A or I between the Z
and M, but, on the principle that the less change the better, let's just leave ZM: "hypockarizm".
____________________
Dictionary.com defines "hypocorism" thus:
1. a pet name.
2. the practice of using a pet name.
3. the use of forms of speech imitative of baby talk, especially by an adult.
A sngle-M in this word suggests that the A before the M-sound is long, as in the nearly
identical word "gaming" (as in playing casino games. To make plain that the A is short, we should
double the M: "gammin".
The G's in today's words represent not the G-sound (which is also sometimes called the "hard"-G sound, as in "get", "give", and "go"), but the J-sound, as in "jab", "jig", and "just".
So let's replace the G's with J's. In "fragile", the A before the J-sound takes its short sound, so we need a double-J
to show the short-A. We also shouldn't write an E at the end of the word, because that would ordinarily indicate that
the I before the L is long, as in "file" and "while", whereas it is actually short.
In "fragility", however, the A represents not a full short-A but a schwa, because the word's stress falls on the
second syllable, before the L-sound. To show that, we need merely delete the second J from "fragile" and add a second L to "fragility": "frajjil" and "frajillity".
E at the beginning of a word is often pronounced as long-E, as in
"elect", "emit", and "evolve". Here, it is short. To show that, we should
double the L: "ellocution".
There are two problems in today's four-syllable word, an E at the end, which would ordinarily signal that the
I before the V takes its long sound. To indicate the proper, short-I sound, we need merely drop the final-E. The other
problem is the short-I before the V-sound. To show that, we need to double the V:
"derivvativ".
There is only one problem in today's five-syllable word, an E at the end, which would ordinarily signal that the
I before the V takes its long sound. To indicate the proper, short-I sound, we need merely drop the final-E:
"communicativ".
The D's in today's words represent not the D-sound but the J-sound, so let's replace them both with J.
Moreover, since the A-sound before the J is short, we need to double the J: "ajjulate" and "ajjulation".
This website proposes modest
spelling changes to make English easier to read and write. Each day, we list
(at least) one word that could usefully be respelled as would make English
easier for kids and non-native speakers to learn, and for all of us
to use, every day. If ordinary people, in their emails and
personal communications, note-taking, etc., were to adopt these little changes
each day, over time we would achieve significant simplification of English
spelling, because publishers and educators would have to follow the
people's lead. (Proposed reforms apply to all derivatives of the
word reformed, not just to the base word.)