Spelling Reform 1 (commonly known as SR1) is an Australian spelling reform that was proposed by British-Australian engineer, linguist and amateur mathematician Harry Lindgren in 1969. It was developed as the first step in a planned, gradual approach to making English spelling more phonetic.

SR1's single rule is that the short e vowel sound (, as in b<u>e</u>t) should be spelt only with an e. Under the reform, words such as friend and head would become frend and hed. Lindgren stated that limiting each reform to one small, simple and easily understood rule would allow English orthography to be adjusted incrementally over a couple of generations.

The reform attracted notable attention in Australia during the 1970s, being voluntarily adopted by a number of writers, educators and publications, and considered by teachers' organisations and educational authorities. SR1 also faced criticism from linguists, educators and members of the public, who objected to its practical, etymological and aesthetic implications. Despite the interest and debate it generated, SR1 was never officially implemented in schools and gradually fell out of use, with spelling reform organisations later moving on from the proposal.

Conception and purpose

Lindgren, once a schoolteacher in Western Australia, became convinced that learning to spell was dull and wasted too much time. In his book he claims pupils devote 500 hours towards learning to spell, but that only 100 hours would be needed to reach the same standard with the reformed spellings of SR1, and even that spelling lessons could be abolished entirely. believing the reform would give such children equal opportunity. His goal was to eliminate illiteracy by reducing spelling's difficulty to less than a tenth of what it is. and children struggling to spell isosceles and cycle (after learning bicycle). as he believed the public was unable to adopt multiple spelling reforms at once. In his 1969 book Spelling Reform: A New Approach, Lindgren published only the first step, SR1; he intentionally neglected writing about SR2 and subsequent steps to allow regulatory bodies to freely plan them in the future.

Lindgren did, however, write that future spelling reforms should include spelling the other short vowels phonetically as well. For example, the short o vowel sound (, as in h<u>o</u>t) would be spelt only with an o (e.g. salt→solt, wash→wosh). He believed consonants should also be reformed (e.g. of→ov, nephew→nevew) but advised that this was less urgent than reforming the vowels. Each spelling reform was to be introduced only once the public had become familiar with the last.

SR1 in practice

Lindgren provided the following examples to demonstrate what SR1 would change. From a compiled list of the top 500 most common words in English, SR1 was found to modify 2% of nouns, 1% of verbs and 5% of adjectives. In 1978, one of the most commonly used word lists by teachers in Australia was the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary; SR1 modifies 1.7% (1 in 59) of its words.

<blockquote><poem>Draw a breth for progress,

Tred abrest ahed.

Fight agenst old spelling,

Better "red" than "read".

Spred the words at brekfast,

Mesure them in bed,

Dream of welth and tresure,

Better "ded" than "dead".</poem></blockquote>

The following is an excerpt from page 23 of Spelling Reform: A New Approach, containing three words modified by SR1. He would also frequently write editorials in magazines and in The Canberra Times, discussing spelling reform.

Numerous public figures voluntarily adopted the reform. Dr L. J. J. Nye wrote a booklet titled An International Language as a World Civilising Influence in SR1 and would later, in 1972, write the novel Escape to Elysium in SR1. From 1970 onwards, SR1 was used by Kevin Grover in his regular features in The Teachers' Journal. Gough Whitlam, a former prime minister, found this amusing, naming himself "Gof" and Doug "Dug" in their correspondences. In March 1975, award-winning Australian poet Mark O'Connor wrote Reef Poems in SR1.

Stage 1

In 1984, using SR1 as a starting point, the United Kingdom–based Simplified Spelling Society (SSS), of which Lindgren was a member, created a five-part reform proposal called Stage 1. The proposals were first printed in the November 1983 edition of the society's newsletter; in April 1984, during its annual meeting, they were adopted as the society's house style. The SSS stated the reforms could either be used together or individually (as a step-by-step change).

The four extra proposals are: C. R. Barnfield, the president of the Tasmanian Teachers' Federation, introduced the proposal, stating that English spelling was archaic and that learning it wasted time. Rupert Hamer, former Premier of Victoria, and the acting Victorian Minister for Education gave permission for schools to teach SR1 in Victoria, though traditional spelling continued to be used. Their SR1 policy was not carried over.

Criticism

SR1 drew criticism from both linguists and the public, prompting extensive debate in papers such as The Canberra Times and Sunday Mail. When the Australian Teachers' Federation recommended that schools should teach the reform, several public figures initially supported the proposal but later backtracked following public backlash. SR1 was used to mock the Whitlam government and the Australian Labor Party of which Everingham, the "Minister of Helth", was a member.

Critics described spelling reforms such as SR1 as vandalism of English, stating it would sever etymological roots and semantic links. Some feared SR1 would diminish the beauty, richness and flexibility of English, disconnecting readers from older literature. Others dismissed the reformed spellings as ugly and ridiculous.

SR1 also faced objections from within the spelling reform movement itself. Other spelling reformers disagreed with SR1's approach, claiming that incremental change was insufficient People expressed concern that SR1's implementation could alienate Australia from other English-speaking countries if they refused to partake in the reform, and additionally that spelling words phonetically was impractical given the variation in pronunciation among English speakers worldwide. Lindgren and other reformers were also criticised for being arrogant and imposing.

Outcome

Despite enthusiasm in the 1970s and with many writers and editors voluntarily practising the reform, SR1 ultimately had no long-term success in Australia. It faded from public consciousness over the next few decades and with Lindgren's declining health and death in 1992