Karina Galperin: Should we simplify spelling?
קארינה גלפרין: האם עלינו לפשט את האיות?
Karina Galperin studies the culture, language and literature of early modern Iberia. Full bio
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learning spelling.
at school with spelling.
בבית הספר בנושא האיות.
a question with you:
to simplify the ones we already have.
מה שכבר יש לנו.
are new in the Spanish language.
from century to century
guide of the Spanish language,
של השפה הקסטיליאנית
principle for our spelling:
פשוט וברור של האיות שלנו:
as we pronounce them,
כפי שאנו מבטאים אותן
to one letter,
a single sound,
any sound should be removed.
words as we pronounce them,
כפי שאנו מבטאים אותן,
as we practice it today.
in contrast to English, French or others,
writing words too differently
מהצורה בה אנו מבטאים אותן.
is also absent today,
we decided how we would standardize
a good part of the decisions.
חלק ניכר מההחלטות.
in their original language,
which we write but don't pronounce.
שאנו כותבים אך לא מבטאים
contrary to what many people believe,
in Spanish pronunciation.
בהיגוי השפה הקסטליאנית
כמו בהיגוי של "gente" (אנשים)
as in "gente,"
כמו ב"gato" (חתול).
with C's, S's and Z's,
correspond to one sound,
תואמות לצליל אחד,
but nowhere to three.
you don't know from your own experience.
of learning time,
childlike brain time
filled, nevertheless, with exceptions.
implicitly and explicitly,
to our upbringing was at stake.
מדוע זה היה כל כך חשוב.
why it was so important.
a previous question:
asks themselves this question,
ופחות טרנסצנדנטלית
and less momentous
so we can all write the same way,
כשאנו מקריאים זה לזה.
when we read to each other.
such as punctuation,
בהבעה אישית
individual expression involved.
לשנות את משמעות המשפט.
to change the meaning of a phrase.
a particular rhythm to what I am writing,
מסוים במה שאני כותבת,
it's either wrong or right,
or not to the current rules.
לפשט את הכללים הקיימים
to simplify the current rules
וללמוד להשתמש נכון באיות?
and use spelling correctly?
to simplify the current rules
את הנורמות הנוכחיות
to teaching spelling,
deserve the time and effort?
that we use it following common criteria.
קריטריונים משותפים.
הכי פשוטים שאפשר,
be as simple as possible,
if we simplify our spelling,
doesn't suffer at all.
Golden Age literature,
Góngora, Quevedo,
סרוונטס, גונגורה, קבדו,
"escribir" (לכתוב) עם V קצר,
ושלנו הוא הבדל של מוסכמה,
and ours is one of convention,
during their time.
in this story.
thoughtless insistence
שההתעקשות חסרת המחשבה במקצת
ומוחצים אותנו
things being as they are,
as an index of privilege,
ובין המשכילים לבורים,
the educated from the ignorant,
that's being written.
an object of public ridicule
all this time to spelling.
of our language,
in the early learning of language
בהוראה הראשונית של האותיות
there was often an obstacle
רפורמה גדולה באיות
spearheaded the biggest spelling reform
the task of those teachers
to start discussing.
יהיה להתחיל להתווכח עליהם
but pronounce nothing,
אבל לא מבטאים שום דבר
what sentimental attachment
כל הבעיות שנגרמו על ידי H אילמת.
all the hassle caused by the silent H.
in the Spanish language --
כל אחד, נוכל לדון בזה,
We can discuss it, talk it over.
and can make their arguments.
like in "gato," "mago," and "águila,"
(חתול), "mago" (קוסם) "aguila"(עייט)
"jarabe" (סירופ) "jirafa" (ג'ירפה}
"gente," "argentino."
חייב להיות מדריך.
approach must be a guide,
in pronunciation must be addressed.
חייבים להיות משויכים.
to one sound, in others to two.
מתאימות לצליל אחד, באחרים לשניים.
to two, we're all better off.
זה ייטיב עם כולנו.
להיראות קצת דרסטיים
may seem a bit drastic.
כל האקדמיות של השפה,
all of language academies,
should be progressively modified;
למסורות ולמנהגים,
tradition and custom,
it is a practical everyday tool
למסורות ולמנהגים
to history, tradition and custom
the others we are geographically close to,
modifying itself based on us,
ל - "ortografía",
from "ortographia" to "ortografía,"
from "quantidad" to "cantidad,"
מ -"quantidad" ל" cantidad"
being stealthily removed:
לסלק בחשאי כמה אותיות H אילמות,
with or without an H.
ניתן לכתוב עם או בלי H
moment to have this discussion.
changes spontaneously,
who incorporate new words
in some places an academy,
במקומות אחרים רשות כלשהי,
in others a ministry --
long after the fact.
for some levels of language.
עבור רמת המילים,
the level of words.
it is not true for the spelling level,
עבור רמת האיות
from the top down.
מלמעלה למטה.
to establish the rules
appropriate moment?
יותר מגביל ופרטי מאשר לדיבור
and private use than speech.
the age of social networks,
a revolutionary change.
for so many others to see.
כדי שיקראו זאת רבים כל כך
for the first time,
שימושים אורתוגרפיים חדשים
of spelling on a large scale,
with impeccable spelling,
ללא דופי, משכילים מאוד,
of social networks behave.
on spell-checking
in communication.
ואת האפקטיביות של התקשורת
we see chaotic, individual usages.
to pay attention to them,
a new place for writing
to reject them, to discard them,
of the cultural decay of our times.
organize them and channel them
בהם, לסדר אותם ולשפוט אותם
to the needs of our times.
לצרכים של זמננו.
עלולים לאבד את האטימולוגיה.
we'll lose etymology.
to preserve etymology,
יוונית, ערבית.
Latin, Greek, Arabic.
אנו הולכים לשחזר את האטימולוגיה
in the same place we do now:
למילונים אטימולוגיים.
from those who say:
we'll stop distinguishing
in just one letter."
יש בה מילים עם יותר ממשמעות אחת
words with more than one meaning,
the "banco" where we sit
ה-Banco (בנק) שבו אנו מפקידים את כספנו,
של הדברים ש-trajemos (הבאנו)
with the things we "trajimos."
מעלים את הבלבול.
context dispels any confusion.
even the most moving.
"I don't want to change.
I got used to doing it this way,
in simplified spelling, my eyes hurt."
כל אחד מאיתנו.
done in these cases:
children are taught the new rules,
can write the way we're used to writing,
כפי שהיינו רגילים
the new rules in place.
בהרגלים כל כך טבועים
that affects deeply rooted habits
ובסובלנות.
gradualism and tolerance.
לשורשי המנהגים הישנים
the attachment to old customs
reach an agreement,
ומקבלים אותם גם אם הם לא משרתים אותנו.
just for the sake of tradition,
important realm of language,
to the next generations.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Karina Galperin - Literary scholarKarina Galperin studies the culture, language and literature of early modern Iberia.
Why you should listen
Karina Galperin spends long hours reading old books, with old spelling, in her office at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She received her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard University in 2002, specializing in early modern Spanish literature.
In her scholarship and teaching, she became familiar with the discussions on spelling that took place in Spanish and other languages from as early as the 15th century to today. However, what ended up calling her attention to the spelling issue was the convergence of her academic awareness with other experiences. As a social media user, she noticed how spelling mistakes are frequently pointed out with unusual harshness and contempt. As a mother, she saw her children devote huge amounts of time to memorizing words and rules, in detriment to other aspects of language.
Karina Galperin | Speaker | TED.com