Changes Proposed in Spanish Spelling

Some spelling changes may be coming to the Spanish language — and not everyone is happy about it.

According to articles recently appearing in BBC Mundo, El Universal of Mexico City, Bio-Bio La Radio of Chile, among numerous other sources, the proposed changes are subject to ratification later this month in Guadalajara, Mexico. The changes have become a hot topic of debate across the Spanish-speaking world, with critics claiming decrying the loss of the traditional rules. As one Twitter user, Ricardo Ortiz, put it today in the ongoing debate on that social network, "Aora ke la #RAE elimina reglas ansestrales dejemos de preokuparnos por la forma de eskrivir: todo sera correto en el futuro." Loosely translated: "Nou that the Academi iz gitting ridd of tradishonal rools lets kwit worying about hou to right: Awl wil be write in the fuchure."

Among the planned changes:

The ch and ll would no longer be considered separate letters of the alphabet, giving it 27 letters (the English alphabet plus ñ). The names of some letters would also be clarified or changed: B would become be, v would become uve, and y would become ye instead of i griega.Orthographic accents could be dropped in words such as sólo (alone) as an adverb, truhán (rogue) and guión (hyphen or movie script).Ex would be considered a prefix that can be attached to words: Thus "ex-president" would become expresidente rather than ex presidente. However, if ex refers to a two-or-more-word phrase, it would be retained separately: ex ministro de defensa (former defense minister). The same would go for pro and anti.Use of the q would be dropped in words of foreign origin: Iraq would become Irak (it's already spelled that way in some areas), quórum would become cuórum, and Qatar would become Catar.

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