Transcript Writing Systems Chapter 12 (pp. 518-527)

Allison Barden
August 7, 2007
 Written language reflects elements and rules that
constitute the grammar of a language
 Punctuation
 Used in English to set apart sentences and phrases,
indicate questions, intonation, stress and contrast.
 Consider the differences
 1. Greg thinks Sally is a looker.
 2. Greg, thinks Sally, is a looker
 1. You are going to eat ice cream for breakfast.
 2. You are going to eat ice cream for breakfast?
 3. You are going to eat ice cream for breakfast!
 1. Jacob said he’s driving.
 2. Jacob said, “He’s driving.”
 1. My friend’s party.
 2. My friends’ party.
 Emphasis that is often represented in writing with
capital letters, italics or underlining to stress the
importance of a specific word or to clarify a reference
in a sentence such as:
 John whispered the message to Bill and then he
whispered it to Mary. [Who’s the he?]
 John whispered the message to Bill and then he
whispered it to Mary. [Now, who’s the he?]
OR
 She’s going to the party?
 She’s going to the party? or She’s going to the party?
 Differences between learning to read/write and to speak
 1. Speech is learned at a much younger age
 2. All children learn to talk or sign while many never learn to read
or write.
 3. Reading requires specific instruction and conscious effort
whereas language acquisition does not.
 Whole Word Approach – word recognition – 1950’s
 Phonics Approach – “sound it out” – baby boomers
 Whole Language Approach (also, “literature-based” or “guided
reading”) – phonics should not be taught directly – 1990’s
 Benzoxycamphors – Do you have to sound it out? Should
Phonics supplement Whole Language or should Whole Language
supplement Phonics?
 English discrepancies include:
Same Sound, Different Spelling (buy, die)
Different Sound, Same Spelling (thought,
Thomas)
Silent Letters (listen, mnemonic)
Missing Letters (use, fuse)
 Spelling was reformed from erratic 14th, 15th and 16th Century versions to
conform to Greek and Latin etymologies
Middle English Spelling
Reformed Spelling
Indite
Dette
Receit
Oure
Indict
Debt
Receipt
Hour
 Some famous figures that thought so…
 Noah Webster – recommended simpler spellings in his dictionary
 Benjamin Franklin – created a phonetic alphabet
 President Theodore Roosevelt – attempted to pass an executive order to
implement simpler spellings
 H. G. Wells – V.P. of the Simplified Spelling Society
 Andrew Carnegie – donated $ to spelling reform societies
 Wyrdplay - Reformed Spelling Systems
“Mind, I myself am a Simplified Speller; I belong to that unhappy guild that is
patiently and hopefully trying to reform our drunken old alphabet by reducing
his whiskey. Well, it will improve him. When they get through and have
reformed him all they can by their system he will be only HALF drunk. Above
that condition their system can never lift him. There is no competent, and
lasting, and real reform for him but to take away his whiskey entirely, and fill
up his jug with Pitman's wholesome and undiseased alphabet.”
Mark Twain 1899
 Homophones
 The book was red. The book was read.
 Different Pronunciations May Represent the Same
Morpheme
 divine/divinity – serene/serenity – sane/sanity
 Dialectal Differences
 Common spellings indicate the intended word
 Writing has affected speech through spelling
pronunciation
 Hour, habit, heretic, hotel, hospital and herb
 Thomas, anthem, author, theater
 Catherine, Elizabeth, Arthur
 Berkley, Worcester
 Although some influence, the writing system reflects,
for the most part, the grammar that every speaker
knows
In the following pairs of English words, the bold-faced portions are pronounced the same
but spelled differently. Can you think of any reason why the spelling should remain
distinct? (Hint: reel and real are pronounced the same, but reality shows the presence of
a phonemic / ǽ/ in real.)
A
B
Reason
I am
Iamb
Iambic /b/
Goose
Produce
Production /k/
Fashion
Complication
Complicate /t/
Newton
Organ
Organic /ǽ/
No
Know
Knowledge /a/
Hymn
Him
Hymnal /n/
In the written form, the following sentences are not ambiguous, but they
would be if spoken. State the devices used in writing that make the
meanings explicit.
a.
They’re my brothers’ keepers
a.
b.
He said, “He will take the garbage out.”
a.
c.
This shows that the person said the phrase “He will take the garbage
out,” not that he would complete the action of taking the garbage
out.
The red book was read.
a.
d.
They’re shows that it is they are instead of there and punctuation
shows that brothers is plural.
Distinguishes between the color and the action (adjective and verb).
The flower was on the table.
a.
Distinguishes between the plant and the baking ingredient.