Undoing the damage English-language spelling reform

the epitaph on grave of william shakespeare spells friend frend.

some proposed simplified spellings exist standard or variant spellings in old literature. noted earlier, in 16th century, scholars of greek , latin literature tried make english words more graeco-latin counterparts, @ times erroneously. did adding silent letters, det became debt, dout became doubt, sithe became scythe, iland became island, ake became ache, , on. spelling reformers propose undoing these changes. other examples of older spellings more phonetic include frend friend (as on shakespeare s grave), agenst against, yeeld yield, bild build, cort court, sted stead, delite delight, entise entice, gost ghost, harth hearth, rime rhyme, sum some, tung tongue, , many others. once common use -t ending -ed pronounced such (for example dropt dropped). of english language s celebrated writers , poets have used these spellings , others proposed today s spelling reformers. edmund spenser, example, used spellings such rize, wize , advize in famous poem faerie queene, published in 1590s.

many english words based on french modifications (e.g., colour , analogue) though come latin or greek.