08-15-2017, 09:19 AM
(08-15-2017, 12:44 AM)Taem Wrote: Where is says, "The Great Vowel Shift", it is rather well known that around this time, vowels were added in to confuse commoners and keep them illiterate, which was important for maintaining power.
Do you have a source for this claim? It seems extraordinarily unlikely to me.
Quote: Why not tap one of them (living ones of course) to do this? I guess it's not a priority on many peoples plates, but I think it'd make learning this language so much easier for everyone!
Lots of people have proposed simplified phonetic systems for English orthography. The problem is not the lack of suitably talented linguists. The problem is network externalities. English is already known by over a billion people, and they are united by nothing except speaking English. The cost of altering it is enormous, and more importantly, who could possibly exert enough authority over English to change it?
-Jester