List of language reforms of English

For centuries, many people have called for language reforms of English, which vary in approach from the radical (completely overhauling existing conventions) to the conservative (preserving most while removing irregularities).

Phonetic alphabets limited to English do not belong here. See :Category:Phonetic alphabets.

Spelling reforms

Spelling reforms are attempts to regularize English spelling either by reducing the number of irregularities or by making it completely phonemic. This may be done using the existing basic English alphabet more uniformly (basic), by adding diacritics (diacriticized), by adding new letters (extended), by removing letters in the script or writing (squeezed), by removing letters and replacing it by new ones (altered) or by replacing it entirely (replaced). Such proposals include: +Proposals for English language spelling reformsName of workDate completedCreator(s)AlphabetOrmulumc. 1150–1180OrrmExtendedGospel according to Saint Matthew1550John ChekeDiacriticizedThe Opening of the Unreasonable Writing of Our Inglish Toung1551John HartExtendedDe recta & emendata lingvæ Anglicæ scriptione, dialogus (Correct and Improved English Writing, a Dialogue)1568Thomas SmithDiacriticizedBooke at Large for the Amendment of English Orthographie1580William BullokarExtendedThe Art of Pronuntiation1617Robert Robinson ExtendedLogonomia Anglica1619Alexander GillExtendedThe English Grammar1633Charles ButlerExtendedA New English Grammar1662James HowellBasicBenjamin Franklin's phonetic alphabet1768Benjamin FranklinExtendedA Compendious Dictionary of the English Language1806Noah WebsterBasicA Plea for Phonetic Spelling1848Alexander John EllisExtendedDeseret alphabet1847–1854Board of regents of the University of DeseretReplacedSoundSpel (previously Classic New Spelling, New Spelling, World English Spelling)1910–1986VariousBasic, ExtendedRobert Bridges' Literary Alphabet1913Robert Bridges, David Abercrombie and Stanley MorisonExtendedHandbook of Simplified Spelling1920Simplified Spelling BoardBasicThe Global Alphabet1944Robert L. OwenReplacedUnifon1950sJohn MaloneExtendedRegularized Inglish1959Axel WijkBasicShavian alphabet (revised as Quikscript)1960 (revised 1966)Ronald Kingsley ReadReplacedSpelling Reform 1 (SR1)1969Harry LindgrenBasicInterspel1986Valerie YuleExtendedCut Spelling1992Christopher UpwardSqueezedSaypYu (Spell As You Pronounce Universally)2012Jaber George JabbourAlteredSimpel-Fonetik method of writing2012Allan KiiskExtendedTraditional Spelling Revised (TSR)2021Stephen LinsteadDiacriticized

Subsets Subsets are reforms that use a restricted wordlist and grammar. English subsets include: Attempto Controlled English Aviation English Basic English ClearTalk Common Logic Controlled English E-Prime Gellish Formal English Globish Learning English Logical EnglishKowalski, R., Dávila, J., Sartor, G. and Calejo, M., 2023. Logical English for law and education. In Prolog: The Next 50 Years (pp. 287-299). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. ModeLang Newspeak (fictional) Plain English Processable English (PENG) Seaspeak SBVR Structured English Simplified Technical English Specialized English

Vocabulary reforms Vocabulary reforms seek to reform English by changing or restricting its words without changing its grammar. Anglish: the use of native (Germanic) words only, and spellings of such without foreign influence—a form of linguistic purism

References

External links Language Romanisation and Re-Romanisation