You know when was the best time to write in English?
Answer is astonishing.
It was in Shakespeare's time. There were hardly coorect and incorrect spellings.
His own name had 41 spellings and he himself used 5 of them.
God forbid, we are told that root of the problem is the first bible in English language. About 500 years ago, one was to read it only in Latin and one can be punished for printing or keeping English version.
So the first bold step was to print it in Germany
It was a first ever book for most of the people and it became the sole primer for their reading, writing, and we are bearing the brunt today of those uncorrected prints.
- there are some 43 sounds as against around 50 in European languages .
- But funnily enough , there about 185 spellings for 43 sounds and children have to learn this.
- More than 100 words have same spellings
- About 70 English spellings have more than one pronunciation and as a result about 2,000 words become totally un-decodable!
- There are about 100 words where pronunciation changes with their context and again ,
- about 370 words obey the doubling rule and
- some 380 words disobey it and finally,
- the silent letters are just the last straw on the camel’s back.
Generally, it takes about ten years of practice to be a good English speller or speaker.
Now we know it and must pity them if they are still learning – or admire them if they have learnt it.
Imagine the plight of about 250 million users of Facebook, MSN Messenger and Twitter and add further a few hundred millions who use SMS or text messages on their cell phones ! No wonder the following parallel NETLINGO spellings are going around in great volume :
- OR
luv U, cant w8t 2C U l8r - love you, can not wait to see you later /
Letters
| Letter | Code word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa | AL FAH |
| B | Bravo | BRAH VOH |
| C | Charlie | CHAR LEE |
| D | Delta | DELL TAH |
| E | Echo | ECK OH |
| F | Foxtrot | FOKS TROT |
| G | Golf | GOLF |
| H | Hotel | HOH TELL |
| I | India | IN DEE AH |
| J | Juliett | JEW LEE ETT |
| K | Kilo | KEY LOH |
| L | Lima | LEE MAH |
| M | Mike | MIKE |
| N | November | NO VEM BER |
| O | Oscar | OSS CAH |
| P | Papa | PAH PAH |
| Q | Quebec | KEH BECK |
| R | Romeo | ROW ME OH |
| S | Sierra | SEE AIR AH |
| T | Tango | TANG GO |
| U | Uniform | YOU NEE FORM |
| V | Victor | VIK TAH |
| W | Whiskey | WISS KEY |
| X | X-ray | ECKS RAY |
| Y | Yankee | YANG KEY |
| Z | Zulu | ZOO LOO |
With all these headaches in spoken and written communication, one day we should not be surprised that more people will turn towards the SIGN LNGAUGE used by the hearing-impaired people. But here also there will be spelling problems. So, perhaps the best option could be "Hieroglyphs" or logograms representing words using graphical figures such as animals, objects or people, used by Egyptians some 5,000 years ago.
Or better still, would be to observe total silence as Hinduism, Buddhism and other eastern religions preach.
Or best of all would be to be born as a star or a butterfly or a flower – I suppose.
Amen!
Reading the last line suddenly reminded me of a poem by pessoa which I had read in the journal of Nirmal Verma, Dhundh se Uthti Dhun. The poem was translated by him in Hindi. Thanks to the internet, I was able to locate it and am posting it below.
ReplyDeleteBut if God is the flowers and the trees
And the hills and the sun and the moonlight,
Then I believe in him,
Then I believe in him all the time,
And my whole life is an oration and a mass,
And a communion with my eyes and through my ears.
But if God is the trees and the flowers
And the hills and the moonlight and the sun,
Why should I call him God?
I call him flowers and trees and hills and sun and moonlight;
Because if he made himself for me to see
As the sun and moonlight and flowers and trees and hills,
If he appears to me as trees and hills
And moonlight and sun and flowers,
It’s because he wants me to know him
As trees and hills and flowers and moonlight and sun.
Thanks a lot for enrichment through for this lovely poem and remembering two great translators. FP and NV.
ReplyDeleteThese additional lines of the same poem are equally beautiful:
"And that’s why I obey Him,
(What more do I know about God than God knows about himself?),
I obey Him by living, spontaneously,
Like someone opening his eyes and seeing,
And I call Him moonlight and sun and flowers and trees and hills,
And I love Him without thinking about Him,
And I think Him by seeing and hearing,
And I walk with Him all the time."
Fernando Pessoa,(1888-1935), was a Portuguese poet, writer and translator described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.
Nirmal Verma had lived in Prague for 10 years; he also learnt the Czech language, and translated nine world classics to Hindi. He travelled widely across Europe, and the result was seven travelogues, including " Dhund Se Uthti Dhun"