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Does English need a regulatory body?

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RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#51: Jan 20th 2011 at 7:58:29 PM

[up]Yep

Still, continental philosophy can easily turn into a beautiful pile of nonsense. Genuinely beautiful too.

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
LilPaladinSuzy Chaotic New Troll from 4chan Since: Jul, 2010
Chaotic New Troll
#55: Jan 20th 2011 at 8:17:06 PM

No. Regulatory bodies do nothing but try to inhibit the natural evolution of language.

When speakers of the same language are separated over a long distance, change is inevitable.

Would you kindly click my dragons?
ViralLamb Since: Jun, 2010
#56: Jan 20th 2011 at 8:17:19 PM

This seems to have gotten off-topic.

Edit: That wasnt there before [up]

edited 20th Jan '11 8:17:57 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.
RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#57: Jan 20th 2011 at 8:24:51 PM

[up][up]Well, France's french-speakers are leaving the rest of the community behind, their accent is becoming weird and slangy. Thankfully television is here to tell us what correct diction should be like.

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
ArlaGrey Since: Jun, 2010
#58: Jan 21st 2011 at 12:26:05 PM

I actually don't know. I'm not against language change, and I'm certainly not against different dialects. But I think it's good to have some kind of reference for everyone, otherwise different dialects might grow too far apart to understand. I guess I'm in favour of having a standard, but more as something everyone can understand, rather than something everyone should use. Does that make sense?

AlirozTheConfused Bibliophile. from Daz Huat! Since: May, 2010
Bibliophile.
#59: Jan 21st 2011 at 5:55:59 PM

^^^^ Completely agreed.

^ That seems like it would be hard to implement.

Never be without a Hat! Hot means heat. I don't care if your usage dates to 1300, it's my word, not yours. My Pm box is open.
DonZabu Since: May, 2009
#60: Jan 22nd 2011 at 2:09:49 AM

All I want is a decent spelling reform or two. Beyond that, no. This stuff creeps me out.

"Wax on, wax off..." "But Mr. Miyagi, I don't see how this is helping me do Karate..." "Pubic hair is weakness, Daniel-san!"
BobbyG vigilantly taxonomish from England Since: Jan, 2001
vigilantly taxonomish
#61: Jan 22nd 2011 at 3:05:13 AM

The concept of spelling reform is not one that appeals to me, because words like "nite" and "thru" look really awkward and artificial to me.

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Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#62: Jan 22nd 2011 at 3:06:35 AM

I'm honestly okay with shifting spelling. It's a pain in the ass as is.

Fight smart, not fair.
RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#63: Jan 22nd 2011 at 4:22:31 AM

I like it the way it is now. Conservative spelling means even Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe is still readable. A simplified spelling would make you loose all that.

@Don Zabu: I don't see how this can remotely be compared to Newspeak.

edited 22nd Jan '11 4:31:50 AM by RawPower

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#65: Jan 22nd 2011 at 4:32:16 AM

What?

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
ArlaGrey Since: Jun, 2010
#66: Jan 22nd 2011 at 4:45:09 AM

I wouldn't want a spelling reform. I know that the current spellings can be completely illogical, but they're reminders of how English used to be, which I like. It wouldn't feel like I was reading English if everything was spelt logically.

RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#67: Jan 22nd 2011 at 4:49:03 AM

"Spelt logically"? In english?

edited 22nd Jan '11 4:51:47 AM by RawPower

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#68: Jan 22nd 2011 at 4:57:27 AM

Spelling things logically means you can sound a word out and have a much better chance of spelling it right, that's a good thing. Funetik Aksent is awesome that way.

Fight smart, not fair.
RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#69: Jan 22nd 2011 at 4:59:49 AM

YA, BUT YA GOTTA MAKE UP JAS ONE STANDURD, OTHEWIZE IT BEKOMZ ALL KRAP.

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
ariesku Get me the Brain Bleach! from ES Since: Apr, 2010
Get me the Brain Bleach!
#70: Jan 22nd 2011 at 8:57:36 AM

My language (Spanish) has a regulatory body and that has not stopped or even slowed down the process of creating regional words. They seem very liberal about the language and instead of trying to force their Spanish upon the regions, they focus on categorizing on where the words come from and accept them on that region. The regulatory body seems to work more like a library than a bureaucracy that decides what words are Spanish or not.

I honestly don't think it would be a bad idea for English to have a regulatory body as long as it doesn't become an elitist bureaucracy trying to force one type of English on every region.

Horseman of War: "War never changes? F*** you! You don't know me!"
RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#71: Jan 22nd 2011 at 9:02:39 AM

Yup. Even Spain's Spanish can be "not proper spanish". I assure you, some spaniards speak so badly you can barely undertand them, and the youth have such a slurred language full of slang it takes some freaking time to get used to.

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
myrdschaem Since: Dec, 2010
#72: Jan 22nd 2011 at 9:12:11 AM

German poster here and I'm with the above Spanish troper. You don't need one but having one might not be bad. Straigthening out that spelling in little steps so it's not a nightmare to learn to read/spell for example (From what I hear pronouncation is pretty situational...).

As noted before, having a regulatory body should work out more like "here's a list of words which 90% percent of English speaking communities know and here's how to spell them so it can be recognized". Some words have variants which are right as well. And, since German spans several countries, spell variations can also be recognized. None of the Swiss have to use the ß.

On the other hand, one of the neat functions is that they try to keep spelling with pronouncation and streamlining rules for writing(Success varies). The recent reform booted out some h after t's because they didn't make any diffenrence or transformed some ph into f. Pretty harmless on the whole if you ask me.

petrie911 Since: Aug, 2009
#73: Jan 22nd 2011 at 9:18:44 AM

Eh, I'd rather keep English spelling the way it is. Especially with some of the bigger words, where if you know your greek or latin roots, you can tell what a word means just by seeing how it's spelled.

And besides, where would the world of badfic be without the Rouge Angles of Satin?

Belief or disbelief rests with you.
RawPower Jesus as in Revelations from Barcelona Since: Aug, 2009
Jesus as in Revelations
#74: Jan 22nd 2011 at 9:20:30 AM

[up]Dutch spelling. Dutch. It is a nightmare. It... the way those consonants stack up..

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?
myrdschaem Since: Dec, 2010
#75: Jan 22nd 2011 at 10:00:26 AM

[up][up]Somehow, even with some changes in orthography, the latin or greek roots are very easy to identify. You just have to be consistent about it. And seriously, how long ago was that? I don't know why you have to keep the spelling for words which are almost completely natural in the language. It's not like they're used with the greek pronounciation.


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