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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:15 am Post subject: How would you improve the English language? |
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Yeah. How would you improve the English language? 
1. Replace American/British English with Jamaican Creole.
or
1. Replace irregular verbs with regular ones.
2. Make the split infinitive a prescribed norm.
3. Make the P-stranding a prescribed norm. |
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murmanjake
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:24 am Post subject: |
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A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling
For example, in Year 1 that useless letter c would be dropped to be replased either by k or s, and likewise x would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which c would be retained would be the ch formation, which will be dealt with later.
Year 2 might reform w spelling, so that which and one would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish y replasing it with i and Iear 4 might fiks the g/j anomali wonse and for all.
Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants.
Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez c, y and x � bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez � tu riplais ch, sh, and th rispektivli.
Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.
-Mark Twain |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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I'd replace a lot of Greek roots with Germanic ones. Something like this, though not each and every one:
http://anglish.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Lores
One of the problems with English is that a lot of the vocabulary is needlessly removed from the words most people understand, making academic terminology more intimidating than it needs to be. The word for science should be based on a word that has to do with knowledge as most languages do (de Wissenschaft, tr bilgi, etc.), and chemical elements could be changed too - waterstuff in place of hydrogen, coalstuff instead of carbon. All of a sudden science isn't that intimidating anymore.
Spelling I wouldn't touch since English uses an extremely etymological spelling and once you start to change that to something more phonological there's no end, you'll end up with something that looks like Bislama. The most you could do is agree on a single orthographic standard (UK or US or a combination of both) and maybe some other minor changes like replacing ph with f in some places. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
| I'd replace a lot of Greek roots with Germanic ones. |
I feel like the more English has included non-germanic words, the richer and better the language has become. Academic terminology should be slightly intimidating to the unlearned, leaving them with a vague sense of having trespassed. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
| I'd replace a lot of Greek roots with Germanic ones. |
I feel like the more English has included non-germanic words, the richer and better the language has become. Academic terminology should be slightly intimidating to the unlearned, leaving them with a vague sense of having trespassed. |
There's a big difference between slightly intimidating and completely incomprehensible. I don't think words like gravity and acceleration need to be turned into bringtogetherforce and speedupity or anything ridiculous like that, but words that English speakers might have known thanks to learning Greek or Latin in school that they don't learn anymore need to be changed.
Icelandic and German and to a lesser extent the other Germanic languages are good models to take inspiration from. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
| but words that English speakers might have known thanks to learning Greek or Latin in school that they don't learn anymore need to be changed. |
How about we just start teaching Greek and Latin again instead? |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
| but words that English speakers might have known thanks to learning Greek or Latin in school that they don't learn anymore need to be changed. |
How about we just start teaching Greek and Latin again instead? |
I'd be up for that. Latin teaching methods are way better than they used to be and Latin's on the verge of revival as a spoken language anyway (IMO). Greek you'd only need to learn the alphabet and a bit of etymology for Greek-derived English words, nothing too complex. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| How about we just start teaching Greek and Latin again instead? |
Or learning English-based creoles that often have a down-to-earth approach to grammar. English should be more simplified for the sake of the world population.
Hell, I don't know. Maybe a controlled language like Newspeak in Orwell's 1984 could do a trick. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| How about we just start teaching Greek and Latin again instead? |
Or learning English-based creoles that often have a down-to-earth approach to grammar. English should be more simplified for the sake of the world population. |
If we have to choose between lowering our language to the level of the common man, or raising the common man to the level of our language, I prefer the latter.
Briefly glancing at your proffered example (Jamaican Creole) fills me with disgust and revulsion. This is no something we should be emulating. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
If we have to choose between lowering our language to the level of the common man, or raising the common man to the level of our language, I prefer the latter.
Briefly glancing at your proffered example (Jamaican Creole) fills me with disgust and revulsion. This is no something we should be emulating. |
"English is another ordinary language that happened to be the world language with the help of British pirates, bankers, opium dealers, and American soldiers." - from a history grad student |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
If we have to choose between lowering our language to the level of the common man, or raising the common man to the level of our language, I prefer the latter.
Briefly glancing at your proffered example (Jamaican Creole) fills me with disgust and revulsion. This is no something we should be emulating. |
"English is another ordinary language that happened to be the world language with the help of British pirates, bankers, opium dealers, and American soldiers." - from a history grad student |
I would have no problem with a language other than English being used as the international language, so long as the language chosen is complex, expressive, and dignified. Make Sanskrit the international language, and I will begin learning Sanskrit tomorrow. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| I would have no problem with a language other than English being used as the international language, so long as the language chosen is complex, expressive, and dignified. Make Sanskrit the international language, and I will begin learning Sanskrit tomorrow. |
I already learned Classical Sanskrit in university. No seriously. Your argument is invalid. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| I would have no problem with a language other than English being used as the international language, so long as the language chosen is complex, expressive, and dignified. Make Sanskrit the international language, and I will begin learning Sanskrit tomorrow. |
I already learned Classical Sanskrit in university. No seriously. Your argument is invalid. |
And what argument is that? I've made several assertions, but no arguments. If this is the best defense you can pull together for your (evidently quite serious) suggestion that we should speak Jamaican babble-tongue as an international language, I don't know what else to say. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| And what argument is that? I've made several assertions, but no arguments. If this is the best defense you can pull together for your (evidently quite serious) suggestion that we should speak Jamaican babble-tongue as an international language, I don't know what else to say. |
Nah, I was just teasing you about the Sanskrit part. But seriously. I'll take Creole over "normal" variety of English any day. Language is meant for communication. It's not a way to represent how snobby someone is. |
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NYC_Gal 2.0
Joined: 10 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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I studied Latin in school, which helped (but wasn't necessary.) I read a lot and learned that way. I didn't know a word? I looked it up.
Have kids read more. If they're lucky and their school offers it, have them study Latin as well as another language. |
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