Press Release: EMBARGOED Monday 12th April 2021
Revised Spelling System Approved
The International English Spelling Congress has voted to select a new English spelling system.
Following a series of consultations and meetings, the Congress has voted in favour of
Traditional Spelling Revised (TSR) as the best alternative to our current spelling system.
The proposal is that Traditional Spelling Revised (TSR) should be promoted voluntarily to
run alongside traditional spelling in the hope that, if it gains sufficient support, it will
eventually become the new norm, thereby accelerating access to literacy.
The Chair of the English Spelling Society, Jack Bovill, said:
‘The highly irregular English spelling system has significant economic and social costs
compared with those of other languages. The search has gone on for many years to find
consensus among those sympathetic to reform on an alternative which will combine better
access to literacy with the avoidance of unnecessary change. The Congress has been a
painstaking process involving experts as well as members of the general public throughout
the English-Speaking World. There will now follow a period of further consultation with
members of the English Spelling Society and more widely. It is my sincere hope that the
scheme now approved by this Congress, together with the proposed further consultation, will
achieve this consensus and gain wide acceptance.’
Traditional Spelling Revised (TSR) is a minimal respell approach to the reform of Traditional
English Spelling (TS), based essentially on making English spelling observe its own rules. Its
core principles are:
• One sound can be represented by more than one letter or letter combination, BUT
• One letter or letter combination must normally only represent one sound – where that
principle is not followed, there must be strict rules indicating which sound is indicated in any
particular situation.
• If a rule in TS is reasonably dependable, it is normally carried over into TSR.
• Where a pattern cannot be brought within an existing dependable rule, it is normally
respelled. • A few words are retained with their irregular TS spellings.
• The result is a system that it is not as phonemic as Spanish or Italian but offers one-way
phonemicity on the lines of German or French. Depending on the text it respells from 8% to
18% of TS spellings. • Omission of redundant letters: in words such as (w)rong, (k)night, (g)nash, snor(e) etc. But
the otherwise redundant e is retained for the past particle in words such as endowed and
blurred etc. It is also retained in words such as bathe to help distinguish /D/ from /T/. • Spelling changed where the doubling rule is applied incorrectly in TS: Committee is
respelled comittee, accommodate is respelled acommodate etc.
Notes to Editors.
1. The International English Spelling Congress was sponsored by the English Spelling
Society and the American Literacy Council. It held its first meeting on 30 May 2018.
2. The Congress was open to all, whatever their level of expertise.
3. Following the first meeting, authors of alternative spelling schemes were invited to
submit their proposals; 35 were submitted and an Expert Commission produced a
shortlist of 6.
4. Following three further meetings of the Congress, a vote was held among participants
in March 2021 and the result is announced today. The Alternative Vote system was
used, and the ballot was administered by CIVICA.
5. The author of the scheme is Stephen Linstead. He spent most of his working life as a
civil servant. He has studied several European languages. In his retirement, he lives in
Solihull, West Midlands, and now has the opportunity to devote more time to his longstanding interests in law and linguistics. His concern for the reform of English spelling
is long- standing.
Examples of words changed:
wash becomes ‘wosh’, love - ‘luv’, glorious - glorius, educate – edducate, foot - fuut,
good - guud, blue - bloo, show – sho.
END