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"Je suis circumflex"

swallow
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Joined: May 16 2002

^


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swallow
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Joined: May 16 2002

Quote:

In future the French can go for a picnic, not a pique-nique. While doing so, they can choose to eat an ognon, not an oignon. 

And if they write a postcard – or more likely send a text message – they don’t need to place quite as many little hats on their “i’s” and “u’s” as they once did.

A decision to implement a 26-year-old, very modest and non-compulsory reform of the spelling rules of the French language has caused an uproar in France.

Uproar over France's decision to implement 26-year-old reform of spelling rules: The accent is on caution in Education Ministry’s new guide for text books

 


Mr. Magoo
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Joined: Dec 13 2002

I'm reminded of an old joke.

Quote:
The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase-in plan that would be known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru!


NorthReport
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Joined: Jul 6 2008

Laughing


Mr. Magoo
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Joined: Dec 13 2002

While we're on the topic of linguistics, see what you can make of this alphabet soup:

Quote:
I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.


swallow
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Joined: May 16 2002

Prety eesy to reed. 


montrealer58
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Joined: Jun 30 2014

Mr. Magoo wrote:

I'm reminded of an old joke.

Quote:
The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase-in plan that would be known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru!



Is this how Dutch was invented? 


mark_alfred
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Joined: Jan 3 2004

Mr. Magoo wrote:

While we're on the topic of linguistics, see what you can make of this alphabet soup:

Quote:
it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae.

I actually had great difficulty reading it until I got to the above quoted line.  Only after realizing what was going on did it become relatively easy for me.


swallow
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Joined: May 16 2002

In other news, the Quebec equivalent office, the OQLF, doesn't want you to say "hashtag" any more. It should be "mot-clic."

And you don't have "momentum" in a hockey game (a word omnipresent in French-language hockey commentary) - you should "avoir le vent en poupe" (have the wind in your sails). 


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