New-York tribune., 1842-02-04
From the Hampshire Gaze.,e.
ENGLISH oRTHOGRAPHY.


r.I-,I.,.-.
.ea. ~
tNJLlSh oi'l flo''eai II !
Mr. BARLEY: cur correspondent ) has bccn
very liberal III beSowins praise on me tor what |
haze done in furnishing the means oi instruction IN
the English language. That his general view OF
the ublcc Is just, there i reason 10 hcncEc ana
tsa source OF pleasure mat nave Deei Inc mum
bic instrument OF good IN one department oil '.aft,'is
Bur il abatcs tins pleasure 10 ind That nluc!l ID
the good have done is to be lost and that turther
effort. TO amend and improve the language are 10
be unayailing. The frs, thirty wears after began
to write for youth. had opposcr OF any con
sequence and my improvements w"r. received ana
adopted. lhc-e have been the means ., stamping
some degree OF uniformity on TIE pronunciation o +
or language ms i visible III Lon. .fe<s i!'o,s !"
the members HAVING received '!.ef 'isi'''ars NJ
>truclinn IN my books.
But within tlc last twenty years 'hi'r .n'"
competitors, who have brought INTO market uiler'
Ing systems. fortified with English ;lnthoritieS
Walker Dictionary. containing Il var1ety oi use
fnl criticisms accompanied with an obsolete or
biography. and Il multitude OF fashionable dandy
i,ms hn been circulated in the United States. and
,runpe,ca a. a standard of orthoc,ly; and many
Smelling Book, on hi. plan have been published
and urgc,i into schools Onc-tllirt Of the State Of
Ncw-York fcllumlcr Walker sinilnencc, and large
par, of tia, State aud of the State OF Massachusetts
are vet under that influence.
But a few wears elapsed b, fore Walkers scheme
Of prounciati,m w:., assaulted h@ British writers
Hi, sound Of shor, and q in eleven thousand sy-
tables was condemned, and hi, uJiiccice, ,aSpereetce,
was declared to be not merely wrong. lut indicroNs
After q few wears another author condemned his
adiuiashun, his compe4jeum, and his ingrejcmt,
affirming such pronunciation, in q solemn discourse,
to be iatoierobic. The same author condemned
his aatshurnl, congratShnlation, and foish"lc"re;
while sill later writer atirms it 70 be cnl@or7tg
and ob<urdHy. Indeed. Walkers pirnchnS tor
pcnlcou$, cu,rhcm for courteous, md ir0Hrherr
Tor frontier i, no more genuine English than it is
the language Of the Chociaws. Yet, probably Il
hundred thousand children in tlli, country are yet
ns,r,,c,cd IN his PRONUNCIATION.
Ono of ,hc o,c,,e,t obstacles 10 the correction
,r ,rrors IN ,nr l,no,occ nroccods from rl,. love
nf cus,n, or fashion or from the influence Of
Hrti.h :n,hori,i,s The people Of this country
,rc Isnoscd 70 ,bink the English understand the
l,npuoro better than any American. Ny re-
searches and nv wish to England have shown this
n he a prea, mistake. Instead Of being in adj
vance of II. in philoloev they arc half century
behind us although on other subjects they have
the advantage of US. But knOw that the Eng
.lish have not thoroughly investigated the origin
and histor,- of their own language. In EtymolO
ca, nol only the English and French, bnr the Ger
man are very far behind llS. he great attention
to the modern sciences has, for half century, alb
sorbnd ali other subjects.
But the English have moi given o Ihclr language
the care and slndv which is importance has ,c-
mandcd This language is 10 be used probably
by more people than any other language on the
globe. and is 10 be the principal instrument for
civizing and cvangclHing the world. In prrpar-
ing li,e language be This instrument, the labors
of the lcxicographry arc far more important than
thc writings Of a Scott or q SoaFhey.
ief how surprisingly has ihis lans,iqse been
corrupted hittot positive evidence before our
eyes, VII" COMO ofli''Sr sf't ,i', A''N'''an 0"-
srtss, oF an American ''cGlslh,li" S''oul' ni'"e
such blndcr as 10 wr'' 'f'ml"f0.1''' M.'n
they mean t0"tro'1fI' "i'" ''oi''i'''' VIZ -
snch e''s'o'i ""r"s s'''n "''' 49, '"'' -
a''rr ,a., as'i ,,.,.,,
Mi'" ",,io", t'e IN''''s'', ', '"'',','o'
p'ole' c"iu pe'i,Sc 'i', >"'' 'D,','i.'''"
ae!-, Is "'S"h""f ana ""tooS, "o''''' 'i'i : '''N
III i'i' P'i,saseS ~ tllai
sense u'tcs''y so''i"'s :" : '''!' > 't'''l''.
ana cot'Hui "Hc'f'erse" ~. mo- ''.''. me-
hundred ana '"e'his years |tiAi viii ! per
n's i'''le cA','o!''i'i'.s i'''.''''' .'' ,.os Gu.
no'i"s asi"'1. 'I'S '''e1l - 'o '''''"''' oi'
W. 1''s .'''1t'ne, t,1 I'.,..-.=.,... ...l
oar n,;.,ka f,, laoJ.,ro,t .;c.,lJ di,tgpr,. ,l,,
cor,m,n version cf the sacred oroclrs and sch
49, ,n;n,o,l,ro.,.n,,;nr ,b. r,c,;.b .bona HIM.
a.. IT,
H., r,., ''''
several ,hcr cornn,ion. ot on: Iancaas. ,n,,st
be- omitted for the sake of broyitv. The. occur
in sncno hooks IN dictionaries T., rrammar..
and in the writings of the most distinguished
scholars. In one of the ablest productions of
,be nrc.ea acI have recently seen IN. po,.e,,-
s;c,I ,yord J{,,n,,oj sor n,,n,,J IN ,;y. ~ .;;>