20th century onward English-language spelling reform

president theodore roosevelt criticized supporting simplified spelling campaign of andrew carnegie in 1906

the simplified spelling board founded in united states in 1906. ssb s original 30 members consisted of authors, professors , dictionary editors. andrew carnegie, founding member, supported ssb yearly bequests of more us$300,000. in april 1906, published list of 300 words, included 157 spellings in common use in american english. in august 1906, ssb word list adopted theodore roosevelt, ordered government printing office start using them immediately. however, in december 1906, u.s. congress passed resolution , old spellings reintroduced. nevertheless, of spellings survived , commonly used in american english today, such anaemia/anæmia→anemia , mould→mold. others such mixed→mixt , scythe→sithe did not survive. in 1920, ssb published handbook of simplified spelling, set forth on 25 spelling reform rules. handbook noted every reformed spelling in general use overt act of lone writer, followed @ first small minority. thus, encouraged people point way , set example using reformed spellings whenever could. however, main source of funds cut off, ssb disbanded later year.

in britain, cause of spelling reform promoted 1908 simplified spelling society , attracted number of prominent supporters. 1 of these george bernard shaw (author of pygmalion) , of considerable left cause. among members of society, conditions of gave rise major disagreements, hindered development of single new system.

between 1934 , 1975, chicago tribune, chicago s biggest newspaper, used number of reformed spellings. on two-month spell in 1934, introduced 80 respelled words, including tho, thru, thoro, agast, burocrat, frate, harth, herse, iland, rime, staf , telegraf. march 1934 editorial reported two-thirds of readers preferred reformed spellings. claimed prejudice , competition preventing dictionary makers listing such spellings. on next 40 years, however, newspaper gradually phased out respelled words. until 1950s, funk & wagnalls dictionaries listed many reformed spellings, including ssb s 300, alongside conventional spellings.

in 1949, labour mp, dr mont follick, introduced private member s bill in house of commons, failed @ second reading. in 1953, again had opportunity, , time passed second reading 65 votes 53. because of anticipated opposition house of lords, bill withdrawn after assurances minister of education research undertaken improving spelling education. in 1961, led james pitman s initial teaching alphabet, introduced many british schools in attempt improve child literacy. although succeeded in own terms, advantages lost when children transferred conventional spelling. after several decades, experiment discontinued.

in 1969 book spelling reform: new approach, australian linguist harry lindgren proposed step-by-step reform. first, spelling reform step 1 (sr1), called short /ɛ/ sound (as in bet) spelled <e> (for example friend→frend, head→hed). reform had popularity in australia.

in 2013, university of oxford professor of english simon horobin proposed variety in spelling acceptable. example, believes doesn t matter whether words such accommodate , tomorrow spelled double letters. note proposal doesn t fit within definition of spelling reform used by, example, random house dictionary.