英文应该简化么？

 　　Simplified Spelling Society: "Let's get phonetic¹"

　　英文应该简化么？

　　The Simplified Spelling Society (SSS) is celebrating its 99th birthday by launching² a new campaign to make it easier to read and write English.

　　It may be the world's most universal language but linguistic³ experts say it has failed to adapt for the last 500 years and now half the globe's English speakers have difficulty spelling.

　　With texts and e-mails revolutionising（革命）the way we communicate, SSS secretary John Gledhill says the time is ripe for phonetic（语音的）reform and spelling simplification.

　　"Texts cut away the complications⁴ and take away the stigma（耻辱）of not being able to use an obsolete（陈旧的）spelling," Gledhill told Reuters in an interview.

　　The SSS message is simple: "You can change the spelling without spoiling（损坏）the language. People are scared of change and don't realise it is normal in language."

　　European children learn to read and write far quicker than the British, he said. Italians take just two years while the British can struggle for up to 12 years.

　　He said 40 million American adults are functionally⁵ illiterate（半文盲）-- for everyday purposes, they are not able to read and write.

　　Gledhill, who has a PhD in the history of Dutch consonantal（辅音的）spelling from 1100-1970, said the Netherlands updated spelling to keep pace with pronunciation.

　　"English is about the only language, apart from French, on the world stage that hasn't updated its spelling for 500 years. That is why it is in rather a mess," he said.

　　Note:

　　英文简体协会今年成立99周年了，在近一个世纪的时间里，他们都致力于简化英文拼写，方便人们阅读和写作。例如：enough可以被写成enuf。

1 phonetic   

adj.语言的，语言上的，表示语音的

参考例句：

• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
• English phonetic teaching is an important teaching step in elementary stages.语音教学是英语基础阶段重要的教学环节。

2 launching   

n.（火箭等的）发射；（船的）下水（典礼）；发动；发行v.发射( launch的现在分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• They are launching out into a series of scientific experiments. 他们正在着手进行一系列科学试验。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• John is launching his son on a career in banking. 约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

4 complications   

（新出现的）困难，难题( complication的名词复数 )； 并发症； 曲折

参考例句：

• Complications set in, and the patient died. 病人因出现并发症而死亡。
• Normally there are no complications with the medicine. 服用这种药按理不会产生并发症。

5 functionally   

adv.机能上地，官能地

参考例句：

• Objective To explore occlusion reconstruction by computer aided design (CAD) with functionally-generated pathway (FGP). 目的探索借助功能性？记录(functionally-generated pathway,FGP)技术进行口腔固定修复体计算机辅助设计(Computer aided Design,CAD)生理性建？的方法。 来自互联网
• In this respect, the proceeding was functionally similar to a comparative licensing adjudication. 在这一点上，手续在作用上即类似于比较许可证发放的裁断。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法