Gabe Henry

There were early efforts. People were proposing spelling words like laugh, L-A-F, though, T-H-O. The story of simplified spelling, the story of spelling reform is really a history of failure.

There were early efforts. People were proposing spelling words like laugh, L-A-F, though, T-H-O. The story of simplified spelling, the story of spelling reform is really a history of failure.

There were early efforts. People were proposing spelling words like laugh, L-A-F, though, T-H-O. The story of simplified spelling, the story of spelling reform is really a history of failure.

English is unique in its spelling inconsistencies. French is a little bit inconsistent. It's probably second to English in terms of its inefficient use of letters. But English really is on its own in terms of the unreliable pronunciations, the unreliable spellings, the sheer number of pronunciations of the letters O-U-G-H. Though, tough, cough, bow. We're really alone in that.

English is unique in its spelling inconsistencies. French is a little bit inconsistent. It's probably second to English in terms of its inefficient use of letters. But English really is on its own in terms of the unreliable pronunciations, the unreliable spellings, the sheer number of pronunciations of the letters O-U-G-H. Though, tough, cough, bow. We're really alone in that.

English is unique in its spelling inconsistencies. French is a little bit inconsistent. It's probably second to English in terms of its inefficient use of letters. But English really is on its own in terms of the unreliable pronunciations, the unreliable spellings, the sheer number of pronunciations of the letters O-U-G-H. Though, tough, cough, bow. We're really alone in that.

The reason being is we, England, was really subject to a lot of invasion over thousands of years. Viking conquests, new settlements, dialects, spellings, pronunciations. And we're just really trying to manage that.

The reason being is we, England, was really subject to a lot of invasion over thousands of years. Viking conquests, new settlements, dialects, spellings, pronunciations. And we're just really trying to manage that.

The reason being is we, England, was really subject to a lot of invasion over thousands of years. Viking conquests, new settlements, dialects, spellings, pronunciations. And we're just really trying to manage that.

And we're really an accidental language that came together from many different regions, many different histories, many different peoples, and trying our best to pretend to be one homogenous language. Well, what a mess.

And we're really an accidental language that came together from many different regions, many different histories, many different peoples, and trying our best to pretend to be one homogenous language. Well, what a mess.

And we're really an accidental language that came together from many different regions, many different histories, many different peoples, and trying our best to pretend to be one homogenous language. Well, what a mess.

There were early efforts. As early as the 12th century, there was one man named Orman. He was a monk. And his problem that he saw in English was the inconsistent ways that we denote long and short vowel sounds. So he came up with a solution of denoting short vowel sounds in which he doubled the consonant that follows it. So you take a word like... Sir, S-I-R, and he would spell it S-I-R-R.

There were early efforts. As early as the 12th century, there was one man named Orman. He was a monk. And his problem that he saw in English was the inconsistent ways that we denote long and short vowel sounds. So he came up with a solution of denoting short vowel sounds in which he doubled the consonant that follows it. So you take a word like... Sir, S-I-R, and he would spell it S-I-R-R.

There were early efforts. As early as the 12th century, there was one man named Orman. He was a monk. And his problem that he saw in English was the inconsistent ways that we denote long and short vowel sounds. So he came up with a solution of denoting short vowel sounds in which he doubled the consonant that follows it. So you take a word like... Sir, S-I-R, and he would spell it S-I-R-R.

And he tried to get this to be picked up. He wrote a whole book of poetry in this new spelling. Ultimately, it was just too much of a sprawling lengthening of the language and what people really craved was something a little shorter. But his effort was the first to try to bring consistency to it.

And he tried to get this to be picked up. He wrote a whole book of poetry in this new spelling. Ultimately, it was just too much of a sprawling lengthening of the language and what people really craved was something a little shorter. But his effort was the first to try to bring consistency to it.

And he tried to get this to be picked up. He wrote a whole book of poetry in this new spelling. Ultimately, it was just too much of a sprawling lengthening of the language and what people really craved was something a little shorter. But his effort was the first to try to bring consistency to it.

Then there were efforts in the 1500s, the 1600s, and it was in the 1700s that it really became the domain of America and American intellectuals to try to simplify the language they were speaking. And it seems like they failed. They generally failed. The story of simplified spelling, the story of spelling reform is really a history of failure. It's a history of futility.

Then there were efforts in the 1500s, the 1600s, and it was in the 1700s that it really became the domain of America and American intellectuals to try to simplify the language they were speaking. And it seems like they failed. They generally failed. The story of simplified spelling, the story of spelling reform is really a history of failure. It's a history of futility.