The LOJIKON

Govind N Deodhekar presents another idea of a better English spelling system. He finds the English spelling unpredictable and inconsistent. He considers English as the most popular and also the most important language in the world. According to Deodhekar, the popularity of English derives from the "dominance of America in world affairs, the comparative simplicity of the structures of English, the legacy of the British Empire and above all the vast store of scientific and technical knowledge in English" ( Deodhekar ).

However, it is obvious that many people are not able to spell English correctly. From Deohekar's point of view, this is mainly due to the illogical or semi-logical spelling, as he calls it. We can take the long /i/ sound as an example of a vowel that is represented through several orthographic possibilities: sea, see, she, seize, shield (Deodhekar). One of the reasons why there has been no spelling reform so far, Deodhekar explains, might be the fact that English speaking people are not upset with the irregularities in their language, instead, they push them forward, such as in names that turn from male to female names, just by changing a vowel, such as in Tony (male) and Toni (female). Deodhekar continues by saying, "logic is not the strong point of the English" (Deodhekar). He concludes that there will not be any change in the English spelling system made by English people themselves. What he is aiming at are the non-native English speakers of the world. He thinks that these are the people who could fight for an easier spelling system, and he appeals to them: "Let us have the English-speaking world to enjoy the illogicality, imprecision and flexibility of English spelling. Let us use a logical and reasonably precise system at least for the consonants, in such a way that no English speaker will have any difficulty in reading and understanding what we mean" (Deodhekar). Deodhekar himself was born in March 1919 in India. He studied Science and Law. In 1951, he moved to London where he taught at several schools. There he was confronted with the difficulties immigrant children have with English. His invention - the LOJIKON - should help learners of English to master speaking and writing more easily. His suggestions for a better writing system are limited to consonants. In order to get an idea of the LOJIKON , see the examples.

The question that remains is: is his LOJIKON really an advantage compared to the traditional spelling? Fact is, that he does not prove his argumentation by presenting test results or other evidence. His line of argumentation is very subjective. Deodhekar's main argument implies the fact, that his way of spelling has a logic origin (that's why LOJIKON). In his opinion, it will not be hard to read and write in LOJIKON-style: "The great gain for the LOJIKON user will be liberation from the tyranny of having to learn several illogical ways of spelling the same consonant sound in hundreds of different words." But is it really a problem to spell cash machine or kash kashine? Above all, he is not a linguist who has the scientific background knowledge. His idea of introducing this system through single persons who favor this system seems to be a bit too idealistic. He suggests writing letters in Lojikon style, which could then lead to a popularization among journalists and so on and could then be accepted by education authorities and government. Deodhekar believes that this could build up pressure on education authorities in non-English speaking countries, so they would push forward a reform in English spelling. The question is: will anyone take this serious?