Editing Novial (section)

==Criticism==
As Jespersen relates in his autobiography, in 1934 he proposed an orthographic reform to Novial, which displeased a part of the users. Jespersen abandoned the essential principle of ''one sound, one letter'' :<ref>Jespersen, Otto (1995 [1938]). ''A linguist’s life: an English translation of Otto Jerpersen’s autobiography'' [''En Sprogmands Levned''] ''with notes, photos and a bibliography''. Edited by Arne Juul, Hans F. Nielsen, Jørgen Erik Nielsen. Odense: Odense University Press. {{ISBN|87-7838-132-0}}.</ref>

{{quotation|I proposed some not inconsiderable amendments, especially by introducing an "orthographic" Novial alongside the original phonetically written language. (...) Thus the sound [k], besides being represented by the letters ''k'' and ''q'' and the first part of ''x'', also acquired the new sign ''c'' (before ''a, o, u'' and consonants), a practice with which nearly all Europeans, Americans, and Australians are familiar from childhood. (...) I know that this orthographic form has displeased several of Novial's old and faithful friends, but it is my impression that many others have applauded it.|Otto Jespersen (1995 [1938], pp. 227–8)}}

Some of Jespersen's colleagues among philologists jokingly referred to Novial as ''Jesperanto'', combining his surname with [[Esperanto]], the prototypical auxiliary language.