When was the last French spelling reform?
The French spelling reforms of 1990 were proposed by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française and approved by the Académie française on May 3, 1990….Miscellaneous reforms.
| Traditional spelling | Reformed spelling | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ghilde, gilde | guilde | Gallicized spelling |
When did French spelling become standardized?
In February 2016 the French spelling reform of 1990, which introduced changes to approximately 2,000 words, became the object of discussion online, after it was announced that the new spellings would be included in textbooks from September.
Is the circumflex still used in French?
France’s education minister has said the changes will not culminate in the end of the circumflex, and that old and new spellings will both remain correct. Despite this, the news sparked furious reaction on social media, with users arguing the changes constituted dumbing down.
Why is French spelling so weird?
The biggest reason for unpronounced letters is that, at one time, the letters were pronounced. Spelling tends to reflect the language as it was spoken when the language was standardized, rather than how it’s pronounced today.
What is the English orthographic system?
English orthography is the system of writing conventions used to represent spoken English in written form that allows readers to connect spelling to sound to meaning. Like the orthography of most world languages, English orthography has a broad degree of standardization.
How does France protect its language?
France has one official language, the French language. The French government does not regulate the choice of language in publications by individuals, but the use of French is required by law in commercial and workplace communications.
Was spelling reform successful?
Public acceptance to spelling reform has been consistently low, at least since the early 19th century, when spelling was codified by the influential English dictionaries of Samuel Johnson (1755) and Noah Webster (1806).
What languages use circumflex?
Circumflex accent diacritical marks are used in Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek languages. Since computer users in the U.S. most likely use a Latin alphabet keyboard, the languages and words borrowed into English with circumflex accents come primarily from the French language.
Why is accent Circonflexe used in French?
Indicated by the sign ^, it is placed over a vowel to show that the vowel or syllable containing it must be pronounced in a certain way. In French, the vowel so marked has a certain grave and long sound quality. The circumflex accent adds a certain musicality to a word; some would argue it confers poetry to words.
Do the French use the letter K?
The French alphabet is based on the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, uppercase and lowercase, with five diacritics and two orthographic ligatures. The letters ⟨w⟩ and ⟨k⟩ are rarely used except in loanwords and regional words.
When did the French spelling reform take place?
In 2004, an international institutional effort to revive the 1990 spelling reforms arose. Notably, a French- Belgian – Swiss association was set up to promote reform. In July of the same year, Microsoft announced that the French version of their applications would soon comply with the new spelling rules.
When did the French orthography Council publish the reforms?
The Council, with the help of some Académie members and observers from Francophone states, published reforms that it called “rectifications orthographiques” on 6 December 1990. Those “rectifications”, instead of changing individual spellings, published general rules or lists of modified words.
Are there any proposals for spelling reform in English?
In terms of writing systems, most spelling reform proposals are moderate; they use the traditional English alphabet, try to maintain the familiar shapes of words, and try to maintain common conventions (such as silent e ). More radical proposals involve adding or removing letters or symbols, or even creating new alphabets.
Where was the International Convention for spelling reform held?
By the 1870s, the philological societies of Great Britain and America chose to consider the matter. After the “International Convention for the Amendment of English Orthography” that was held in Philadelphia in August 1876, societies were founded such as the English Spelling Reform Association and American Spelling Reform Association.