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[edit] Simplification of English Spelling
I'd be more inclined to accept a standardised spelling, with a governing body like L'Académie Française rather than reforming it totally.
[edit] The changing of -ise to -ize by Noah Webster.
There are many simple reasons why the spelling -ise makes sense:
- At the end of a word, -ic is pronounced ik, -ice is pronounced eye-s; therefore it makes sense that at the end of a word, -is is pronounced is, -ise is pronounced eye-z.
- The changes are inconsistent; if your going to change -ise, then why have the spellings of -ase (e.g. lipase) -ose (e.g. prose) -ese e.g. (Chinese) -ease (e.g. please), the s in use, the s at the end of most plurals and the s in -ism stayed as normal?
- The translation service of the European Commission advocates "ise" for the reason that it avoids questions of exceptions, as there are no English words that always use the ize suffix (in the words size, prize, capsize, and seize, the -ize is not a suffix.), but there are words that always use ise, regardless of whether or not it is a suffix (advertise, advise, apprise, arise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, demise, despise, devise, disguise, enterprise, excise, exercise, franchise, improvise, incise, merchandise, revise, supervise, surmise, surprise, and televise), and is therefore the most convenient solution for non-native speakers, and native speakers alike.
[edit] The changing of -our to -or by Noah Webster.
There are also some simple reasons why it is spelt -our.
- The ending -our was intended to sound like (IPA ə). If it was intended to sound like -or (IPA ɔː(r)), it would be spelt that way.
- The ou, in the spelling of colour for example, differentiates between the two vowel sounds of o (IPA ʌ) and our (IPA ə), otherwise non-native speakers would pronounce them the same, instead making different sounds (like in culler [IPA ˈkʌlə]). The same applies to the word honour.
