Simplification makes the language easier to use. It tries to regularise spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. Purification makes the language similar to a version of the language that people think is more pure.
Sometimes language reforms were done to unite the people speaking the language. For this reason, many language reforms happened in 19th century Europe when there was a rise of nationalist movements.
The most common form of language reform involves changing the orthography of words. This is known as spelling reform. The grammar of a language also may be changed to simplify inflection, syntax, vocabulary and word formation. English for example uses many different prefixes that mean "the opposite of", like "un-", "in-/im-", "a(n)-", "de-". A language reform might suggest using only one prefix to mean "the opposite of", for example "un-". On top of this, there are words such as "good" and "bad" that roughly mean the opposite of each other, but would be better (in terms of simplicity) portrayed as "good" and "ungood", so the word "bad" is not part of the language anymore.
Another good example of what language simplification can do is the word "flammable". Flammable means that something can catch fire easily. Originally the word was "inflammable", from Latin "inflammare" - put something on fire. "In-" is also a prefix that can mean "the opposite of", like with "transparent", "intransparent". Today most instructions use "flammable" rather than "inflammable", in order not to confuse people that the "in-" in this case does not mean the opposite of.
Several major world languages have been subject to big spelling reforms: French (in the 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries), Spanish (in the 18th century), Portuguese (in 1910, in Portugal, and in 1946 and 1972, in Brazil), German (in 1901/02 and 1996/98) and Russian (in 1728 and 1919).
Some people feel that it is bad to change a language. They want to keep a language the way it is now, or they want to take back changes to the language that have been done earlier. Sometimes, purism can make a language more complex, because people add false etymologies:
Examples of language reforms are:
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort scale is a scale for measuring wind speeds. It is based on observation rather than accurate measurement. It is the most widely used system to measure wind speed today. The scale was developed in 1805 by Francis Beaufort, an officer of the Royal Navy and first officially used by HMS Beagle.
There are twelve levels, plus 0 for "no wind". From 1946 to 1970, there were also beaufort levels 13 to 17. All of them were labelled as "Hurricane". Because they were only used in special cases, they are no longer in use internationally. China, and Taiwan still use them, because they often have typhoons.
The wave heights given are for waves on the open ocean, not near the shore.
The Douglas Sea Scale and Douglas Wind Scale are similar, but they separate the sea from the wind.
The Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time is a long running fantasy series of novels written by American author Robert Jordan. The first in the series, "The Eye of the World" was published in 1990, and the last, "A Memory of Light", was published in 2009. Jordan died while he was writing the last book, so it was finished by Brandon Sanderson. "A Memory of Light" was split into three parts as the book length was too long.
Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007) was the pen or writing name of the American fantasy author James Oliver Rigney Jr. He was most famous for writing the long, epic fanasy series The Wheel of Time. He died from amyloidosis before he was able to finish the series. The last volume "A Memory of Light" was split into three and was completed by fellow American fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson.
"The Wheel of Time" is an epic fantasy series that centers around Rand al'Thor, a young man destined to be the Dragon Reborn, the savior figure of the story. The Dragon Reborn is prophesied to lead the forces of the Light (the forces of good) to fight the Dark One (the main antagonist) at the Last Battle.
Brian Burke
Brian Thomas Burke (born 25 February 1947) was the 23rd Premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 to 25 February 1988. He was from the Labor Party. He worked as a journalist before becoming a politician. As Premier he was popular at first but later on his government was involved in a number of private companies that failed. He resigned to become an ambassador. During the 1990s he was convicted of committing crimes while he was Premier and spent time in prison.
Ray O'Connor
Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 - 25 February 2013) was the 22nd Premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 until 25 February 1983. He was from the Liberal Party. He became Premier when Charles Court resigned. Later he was convicted of fraud and spent time in prison.
Charles Court
Sir Charles Walter Michael Court (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 8 April 1974 to 25 January 1982. He was from the Liberal Party. He became a politician in 1953. His son, Richard, was also a Premier.
Chang'an
Chang'an was the capital of ancient China of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace"; yet after its fall in the year 23 AD, the old name was restored. During the Ming Dynasty, the name was changed to its present name Xi'an, meaning "Western Peace".
The imperial city of Chang'an during the Han Dynasty was in northwest of today's Xi'an. During the Tang Dynasty, the area to be known as Chang'an included the area inside the Ming Xi'an fortification, plus some small areas to its east and west, and a major part of its southern suburbs. The Tang Chang'an was 8 times the size of the Ming Xi'an. During this time Chang'an was one of the largest and most populous cities in the world. Around 750 A.D. Chang'an was called a "million people's city" in Chinese records, while modern estimates put it at around 800,000–1,000,000 within city walls.
In 710, the grid of Japan's capital city at Heijō-kyō was planned to mirror the grid of Chang'an. In 794, the plan of the new capital at Heian-kyō also mirrored the Chang'an design.
John Tonkin
John Trezise Tonkin (2 February 1902 – 20 October 1995) was the 20th Premier of Western Australia from 3 March 1971 to 8 April 1974. He was from the Labor Party.
He was born in Boulder City in 1902. Educated in local schools Tonkin became a teacher in rural Western Australia. An active member of the Labor Party, he was Prime Minister John Curtin's campaign manager for the 1943 election. He was elected to the Western Australian parliament for the seat of North East Fremantle (1933–1950), and for the seat of Melville (1950–1977). He was a Cabinet Minister (1943–1947), Deputy Premier (1953–1959), Leader of the Opposition (1967–1971 and 1974–1976), and Premier (1971–1974). He retired from parliament in 1977 and died in 1995.
David Brand
Sir David Brand (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was the 19th Premier of Western Australia from 2 April 1959 to 3 March 1971. He was from the Liberal Party.
Albert Hawke
Albert ("Bert") Redvers George Hawke (3 December 1900 – 14 February 1986) was the 18th Premier of Western Australia from 23 February 1953 to 2 April 1959. He was from the Labor Party. His nephew, Bob, became Prime Minister of Australia in the 1980s.
Ross McLarty
Sir Duncan Ross McLarty (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was the 17th Premier of Western Australia from 1 April 1947 to 23 February 1953. He was from the Liberal Party.
Frank Wise
Frank Joseph Scott Wise (30 May 1897 – 29 June 1986) was the 16th Premier of Western Australia from 31 July 1945 to 1 April 1947. He was from the Labor Party.