This system was proposed in 1946 by Dolton Edwards in the Astounding Science Fiction magazine. He proposed that changes to spelling be introduced gradually, one or two per year during a "National Easy Language Week".
In the first year he would substitute 's' instead of 'c' where a 'c' was used to represent an 's' sound - so that, for example, 'cent' would be changed to 'sent'.
In the second year he would substitute 'k' instead of 'c' where a 'c' was used to represent the 'k' sound - so that, for example, 'cat' would become 'kat'.
In the third year, 'ph' would be replaced by 'f'.
In the fourth year, "unnecessary" double letters would be eliminated - so that, for example, 'spelling' would become 'speling'.
In the fifth year the long 'i' sound as in 'time' and 'by' would be spelt 'ai'; and long 'a' as in 'fate' would be spelt 'ei'. (These changes were considered to be consistent with the fact that these sounds are diphthongs - two sounds joined together - but the choice of his new representations is difficult to understand).
The next year trailing 'e' letters would be eliminated - so that 'mate' would become 'meit', and 'time' would become 'taim'. Also, 'th' would be replaced by 'c', since 'c' was no longer needed for anything else.
The next year 'y' would be eliminated, so that 'really' would become 'reali'.
And in the following year the letter 'y' would be used to represent the sound 'sh'.
So after about 10 years we could write:
"Cer wud bi no mor uv ces teribli trublsum difikultis, wic no tu leters usd to indikeit ce seim nois, and laikwais no tu noises riten wic ce seim leter. Even Mr. Yaw, wi beliv, wud be hapi in ce noleg cat his drims fainali keim tru."
(The reference to Mr. Shaw is to G.B. Shaw - see the following section).
It is clear that apart from the fact that this system retains many inconsistencies, its main drawback is the introduction of too many unnecessary changes. A lot of the suggested changes are a result of an attempt to shorten the written words - for example by using single letters to represent the 'th' and 'sh' sounds.
But the real value of a consistent spelling system is that children can learn
it more easily. The idea of shortening the written words does not confer great
advantages - especially if it requires using symbols that would not otherwise be
needed.
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