Talk:French Influences on English Spelling



One possible revised spelling: Example text from "the Owl and the Nightengale"
 Ih was in a dale in springtiym; in a greatly hidden nook, ih heard an uwl and a niyhtingale houlding a great mooting. Their rake was reethed, tended and hoalharted, sumtiymes swey, sumtiymes luwd; and each of them swelled with wrath agaynst the other and let uwt all her nithe, and sayed the full worst she coud think of the otheres kind, and namely they raked agaynst each otheres song. The niyhtingale began the rake in a garthnook, and cleft on a wlitty bouh---thear was mickle blossom umb it---in an unthuringly thick hedge, with reeds and green sedge growing throuh it. Forof the bouh, she was all the eadier, and sang in many other ways; the swin lithed as if it came from a harp or a rowel rather than from a living throat. Nearbiy thear stood an ould stump whear the uwl sang her longlogs and which was all overgrown with ivy; this was whear the uwl lived. The niyhtingale looked at her, and yemed her and ashuned her, and everything abuwt the uwl seemed uncweming to her, sins she is houhed as ugly and dirty. 'Ew slithe thing!', she sayed, 'fliy away! The siyht of ew makes me sick. Ih often have to stop singing forof ewer ugly nebb. Miy heart fails me, and so does miy speech, when ew thrust ewerself on me. Ih'd rather spitte than singe abuwt ewer wretched huwling.' The uwl waited until it was evening; she couldn't houlde back any longer, for she was so wrath that she coud hardly breathe, and endily she spoke: 'Huw does miy song seme to ew nuw? Do ew thinke that ih can't singe oanly for ih can't twittere? Ew often heashe me and saye things to upsette and fase me. If ih held ew in miy grippes---if only ih coud!--and ew were off ewer bouh, ew'd singe a full other lede!' The niyhtingale answered, 'As long as ih kepe uwt of the open, and ward miyself agaynst being unheled, I'm not bothered biy ewer threates; as long as ih stay put in miy hedge, ih don't care at all what ew saye. Ih knowe that ew're ruthless toward those who can't ward themselves from ew, and that whear ew can ew tharle smal birdes reethly and harshly. That is whiy all kindes of birdes hate ew, and they all drive ew away, and screeche and screame umb ew, and mob ew at niyh fourthers; and for the same rethe even the titmuws would gladly rippe ew to bittes. Ew're ugly to looke at, and atel in all kindes of wayes; ewer body is squat, ewer neck is scrawny, ewer head is bigger than the laf of ew put together; ewer eyes are black as coul, and as big as if they were mealed with woad. Ew glare as if ew wante to bite to death everything that ew can strike with ewer clawes. Ewr beak is hard and sharp, and bowed like a bent hook. Ew often make an edwerving clacking din with it, and that's oan of ewer songs. But ew're making threats agaynst miy were, and would like to crushe me with ewer hindes; a frog would fitte ew better, squatting under a mill-wheel; snayles, miys, and other scum would bee riyhter and more fitted for ew. Ew rooste biy day and fliye biy niyht; ew shewe that ew're an evil wiyht. Ew are loathsome and unclean---I'm talking abuwt ewer nest, and also abuwt ewer dirty chickes; ew're bringinwg them up with trewly filthy wontes. Ew knowe swith well what they dooe in their nest: they fuwle it up to the chin; they sitte thear as if they're blind. There's a saying abuwt that: 'Shame on that wiyht which fuwles its own nest'! The other year a falk was breeding; she didn't warde her nest well. Ew crepte in thear oan day, and layed ewer filthy egg in it. When the tiym came that she hatched the egges and the chickes uwtcame, she brouht her chickes food, watched over the nest and saw them ete; she saw that on oan side her nest was fuwled on the uwter edge. The falck was wrath with her chickes, and screamed luwdly, and chided sternly: 'Tell me, who's done this? It was never ewer lund to dooe this kind of thing. This is a wlatsum thing to have happened to ew. Tell me, if ew knowe who did it!' Then they all sayed, 'It was indeed uwer brother, the oan over thear with the big head--- it's a shame nobody's cut it off! Throw him uwt as a spurn, so that he breakes his neck!' The Falk believed her chickes, and fanged that dirty chick biy the middel, and threw it off that wild bouh, whear magpies and crowes tore it to bittes. There's a tale tould abuwt this: this is what happenes to the nithing who's cumme from an unnamecuwth inherd and blendes with aringly foulk; he's alwayes letting his ors shewe, that he's cumme from a rotten egg even if he's wended up in an aringly nest; even if an appel roulls away from the tree whear it was growing with the others, althouh it's sum span from it it still edleames swotelly whear it's cumme from.' The niyhtingale answered with these wordes, and after that long speech she sang as luwdly and as shrilly as if a clinging harp were being played. 130.71.254.49 08:10, April 15, 2015 (UTC)