Cut Spelling

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Cut Spelling is a system of English-language spelling reform which reduces redundant letters and makes substitutions to improve correspondence with the spoken word. It was designed by Christopher Upward and was for a time being popularized by the Simplified Spelling Society. It was never, however the official proposal of the society which for a long time has avoided endorsing one particular proposal and the society has put much less emphasis on it recently. One of its benefits is that the resulting words are 8–15% shorter than standard spellings.

Unlike some other proposed reforms, Cut Spelling does not attempt to make English spelling phonemic, but merely attempts to remove many of the unneeded difficulties of the current spelling. Cut Spelling differs from "traditional orthography" mainly in removing letters from words and makes relatively few substitutions of letters compared with other proposed reforms. According to its designers, this allows readers accustomed to traditional orthography to get used to Cut Spelling fairly quickly and easily, while still giving learners of the language a much-simplified and more systematic spelling system.

Cut Spelling operates under three main substitution rules to transform traditional spellings into cut spellings:

Letters irrelevant to pronunciation. This rule deletes most silent letters, except when these letters (such as "magic e") help indicate the word's pronunciation. Silent letters can be the most difficult part of learning the current spelling, and omitting or writing the wrong silent letters are common errors. Examples: peace → pece, except → exept, plaque → plaq, blood → blod, pitch → pich.
Cutting unstressed vowels. English unstressed syllables are usually pronounced with the vowel schwa /ə/, which has no standard spelling, but can be represented by any vowel letter. Writing the wrong letter in these syllables is a common error (for example, the incorrect spelling seperate seems almost as common as the correct separate). Cut Spelling eliminates these vowel letters completely before approximants (/l/ and /r/) and nasals (/m/, /n/, and /ŋ/). In addition, some vowel letters are dropped in suffixes, reducing the confusion between -able and -ible. Examples: symbol → symbl, victim → victm, lemon → lemn, glamour → glamr, permanent → permnnt, waited → waitd, churches → churchs, warmest → warmst, edible → edbl.
Simplifying doubled consonants. This rule helps with another of the most common spelling errors: failing to double letters (accommodate and committee are often misspelled) or introducing erroneously doubled letters. Cut Spelling does not eliminate all doubled letters: in some words (especially two-syllable words) the doubled consonant letter is needed to differentiate from another differently pronounced word (e.g., holly and holy). Examples: innate → inate, spell → spel.

The Cut Spelling system also uses three substitution rules:

The digraphs gh and ph become f when pronounced /f/. Examples: draught → draft, sulphur → sulfr, photograph → fotograf.
The letter g is changed to j when pronounced /dʒ/ or /ʒ/. Examples: judge → juj, rouge → ruje.
The combinations ig and igh are changed to y when pronounced /aɪ/. Examples: flight → flyt, sign → syn.

The Cut Spelling Handbook also lists, in Chapter 6, optional additional rules such as replacing ch with k when it makes the /k/ sound, respelling as y unusual patterns that make the /al/ dipthong, as well as replacing tion, cian, sion, ssion, etc. with shn.

Example texts

Th Americn Declration of Independnce

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that al Men ar created equal, that they ar endowd, by ther Creator, with certn unalienbl Ryts, that among these are Life, Librty, and th Pursuit of Hapiness.

That to secure these Ryts, Govermnts ar instituted among Men, deriving ther just Powrs from th Cnsent of th Governd, that wenevr any Form of Govermnt becoms destructiv of these Ends, it is th Ryt of th Peple to altr or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principls, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shal seem most likely to efect ther Safety and Hapiness.

Prudence indeed, wil dictate, that Goverments long establishd, shud not be chanjed for lyt and transient Causes; and acordngly al Experience hath shon, that Mankind are mor disposed to sufr, wile Evils ar sufrbl, than to ryt themselvs by abolishng th Forms to wich they are acustomd. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Desyn to reduce them undr absolute Despotism, it is ther Ryt, it is ther Duty, to thro off such Govermnt, and to provide new Gards for their futur Security.

Such has ben th patient Sufrance so these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to altr ther formr Systms of Govermnt. Th Histry of th Presnt King of Gret-Britn is a Histry of repeatd Injuris and Usurpations, al havng in direct Object th Establishment of an absolute Tyrany over these States. To prove this, let the Facts be submitd to a candid World.

''Th synrs then list 27 grevances against th British Crown. The grevances ar directd personly at th King (as in "He has refused his Assent to Laws..."), altho many of them refr to actions taken by the British Parlment or th Royal Governors. Many of the grievances are examples of violations of fundamental English law, such as "imposing taxs on us without our Consent", and "depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury". Many historians maintain that some of th grevances ar exajrated propaganda (such as th "Swarms of Oficers" in truth refrng to about fifty men ordered to prevent smuglng). In every staje of these Opressions we hav Petitiond for Redress in the most humbl Terms: Our repeatd Petitions have been answerd only by repeatd Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus markd by every act wich may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be th Ruler of a fre People.''

Nor hav we ben wantng in Atentions to our British Brethren. We hav warnd them from Time to Time of Atempts by ther Lejislature to extend an unwarntbl Jurisdiction over us. We hav remindd them of th Circumstances of our Emigration and Setlmnt here. We have apeald to ther nativ Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjurd them by th Ties of our comn Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, wich, wud inevitbly intrupt our Conections and Corespondence. They too hav ben def to th Voice of Justice and of consanguinity. We must, therfor, aquiesce in th Necessity, wich denounces our Sepration, and hold them, as we hold th rest of Mankind, Enemis in War, in Pece, Frends.

We, therfor, th Representativs of th UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENRAL CONGRESS, Assembld, apealng to th Supreme Juj of th World for th Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in th Name, and by th Authority of th good Peple of these Colonis, solemly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ot to be, FRE AND INDEPENDNT STATES; that they ar absolvd from al Alejance to th British Crown, and that al politicl Conection between them and th State of Gret-Britn, is and ot to be totaly disolved; and that as FRE AND INDEPENDNT STATES, they hav ful Powr to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Aliances, establish Comerce, and to do al othr Acts and Things wich INDEPENDNT STATES may of ryt do. And for th suport of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutualy pledge to each othr our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Th Star (HG Wells)

It was on th frst day of th new year that th anouncemnt was made, almost simltaneusly from thre observatorys, that th motion of th planet Neptune, th outrmost of al planets that weel about th Sun, had becom very eratic. A retardation in its velocity had ben suspectd in Decembr. Then a faint, remote, spek of lyt in th rejn of th prtrbd planet. At frst, this did not caus any gret exitemnt. Sientific pepl, howevr, found th intelijence remarkbl enuf, evn befor it became nown that th new body was rapidly groing larjr and brytr, and that its motion was quite difrnt from th ordrly progres of th planets.

From th Gospl Acordng To St. Jon, New King James version

Th good news of Jon

In th beginng was th Word, and th Word was with God, and th Word was God. Th same was in th beginng with God. Al things wr made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and th life was th lyt of men. And th lyt shineth in darknes, and th darknes comprehendd it not.

Ther was a man sent from God, hose name was Jon. Th same came a witnes, to ber witnes to th Lyt, that al men thru him myt beleve. He was not that Lyt, but was sent to ber witnes of that Lyt.

That was th tru Lyt, wich Lyteth evry man that cometh in to th world. He was in th world, and th world was made by Him, and th world new Him not. But as many as receved him, to them gave He powr to becom th sons of God, even to them that beleve in his name: wich wer born, not of blod, nor of th wil of th flesh, nor of th wil of man, but of God. And th Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, th glory of th only begotn of th Fathr, ful of grace and truth.

Britn wen yung (Frank Kermode)

We may nowadays be chery about usng th wrd "jenius", but we stil hav a good idea wat is ment by it. For exampl, ther ar gret numbrs of very giftd musicians ho ar admired but not cald jeniuss. But ther ar othrs, manifestly prodijus, performng ofn at extrordnarily erly ajes, a variety of feats so complex that th musicl laymn cud hardly imajn, evn with th most desprat labr, acomplishng any of them, wile evn musicians ar astonishd and we then reach for th good, handy, vage Enlytnmnt wrd and cal them jeniuss. Th list includes Mozart and Mendlson; and, despite al th limitng jujmnts, it includes Benjmn Britn.

Ode to a Nytingale (John Keats)

My hart aches, and a drowsy numnes pains my sens, as tho of hemlok I had drunk, Or emptyd som dul opiate to th drains One minut past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 'Tis not thru envy of thy hapy lot, But being to hapy in thyn hapynes, That thou, lyt-wingèd Dryad of th trees, In som melodius plot Of beechn green, and shados numbrles Singst of sumr in ful-throatd ese.

Fuzy Opaqe Orthograficl Visions (C Upward)

Ther was a por boy ho cudnt spel haf th wrds in our languaj to wel. His teachrs thot: "Brain-sik!" Mum and Dad hoped: "Dislexic?" Yet th child rashly jeerd "Wat th Hel?"

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