Talk:Orthography

I don't think Spanish orthography is regular as the article says, but, for me, it is still easier than English orthography. I get confused, for exemple, when Vs and Bs are pronounced as if they were B. aflm 01:31, 16 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Simple Definition of English Spelling[change source]

How about a simple short definition of English spelling? A definition to help ordinary students know why English is so hard to spell.

Also, as this is simple English Wikipedia, could the word "spelling" be the page heading rather than "orthography"?

English spelling is a problem for English children and for students of English who are not English. Often students (I) cannot write a word down (spell it) from its sound (in the first case) and they cannot say a word they see written (in the second).

English spelling is a problem affecting billions of people costing an enormous effort in time and resources. It is also a problem for me after 50 years of study and I would never dare to write anything without my spell check switched on and none of my friends and family would either ( I have asked)

The underlying cause of the problem is well understood and is actually quite simple.

The site of Wikipedia The Alphabetic Principal states it very well: there is a rather poor fit between the sounds of English and the letters we use to write them down.

Perhaps another page might be a good idea. Maybe the title could be "The Difficulty of English Spelling"

There are many other complex issues involved in this, such as the whole history and development of modern English and all the words that came in from other languages and the influence of Latin on English. Also the whole question of dialects and changes in vowel sounds (and other sounds) over the centuries. But none of this would affect a simple definition of spelling (or the problem of spelling) for the ordinary student, to the effect that the core problem is lack of a very good fit between the English sounds and the letters used to write them down. Onevoicein10billion (talk) 01:09, 4 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Options[change source]

At present 'Spelling' redirects to this page. I remember thinking about it. One has to consider that a) English wikipedia uses orthography as a top-tier article, and b) the term orthography means more than just spelling, though in English spelling is the big issue.

The article at present considers the issues for a wide range of languages, not just English. And it will have more. If editors feel the need to address the peculiarities of English more closely, they may start one or more pages on more specific topics:

Note also that we have quite a few other pages on the English language, which you can get to via English language. In general, editors are free to do what they think is appropriate, so long as their work in line with (and supported by) reliable references. Necessary technical terms should be explained on pages, or have links to their own pages, or to pages our own dictionary, wikt. Macdonald-ross (talk) 09:48, 4 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]