[net.nlang] Spelling

jon (07/09/82)

I don't equate language and spelling.  I do equate written language and
spelling.  I don't see how the two can be divorced.  Understandability
is one thing, accepted usage another.

Island has an 's' in for the same reason many other words have
silent letters: that's how the word is spelled. (typically, the spelling
dates from days when the letter was pronounced, but that is no longer
relevant)

                          Jon (jon is not an uncommon name)
                          Mauney (you don't want to know how I pronounce THAT)

thomas@utah-gr.UUCP (07/29/83)

I'm writing my dissertation, and decided it to reread Strunk and White
(Elements of Style).  In it is a remark on the use of correct spelling
I thought would be good to share with the net.  How many of you
remember a certain ex(?)netter who persisted in spelling "of" as "ov"?
He annoyed a number of readers (myself included) enormously.
The quote (V.10 "Use orthodox spelling"):
	The spelling of English words is not fixed and invariable, nor
	does it depend on any other authority than general agreement.
	At the present day there is practically unanimous agreement as
	to the spelling of most words. ... At any given moment,
	however, a relatively small number of words may be spelled in
	more than one way.  Gradually, as a rule, one of these forms
	comes to be generally preferred, and the less customary form
	comes to look obsolete and is discarded.  From time to time new
	forms, mostly simplifications, are introduced by innovators,
	and either win their place or die of neglect.

	The practical objection to unaccepted and oversimplified
	spellings is the disfavor with which they are received by the
	reader.  They distract his attention and exhaust his patience.
	He reads the form "though" automatically, without thought of
	its needless complexity; he reads the abbreviation "tho" and
	mentally supplies the missing letters, at the cost of a
	fraction of his attention.  The writer has defeated his own
	purpose.

=Spencer	{harpo,hplabs}!utah-cs!thomas thomas@utah-cs