Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1866-05-10
fuorrsipoid of the Rspubiioan.l
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I.

l
Yan,uaes IL one Of the browning blessings
!, IA. for upon 1t, 10 its spoken and written
orms. depend, 70 q great ex'en', nov only Vs
"a "a sn;rl,usl growth as individuals, and con-
y. rrsiv Tho progressive civilization OF the Q
VA. sSoooh. 10 50 great degree, are the
ssas., snd svirituai rs well no the physicai
1919. :, ,hs world, corrslatipe, that II 10 often
,,Nss,,s n rot utterly impossible, 70 Determine
~. se,,, srstiye value, influence or priority Of
- ~. .nd therefore II may be wrong IN TINS
,ase' Indeed, discussions OF the co@parauss
values of the various influences produe.Ne OF
bumau progress, rarely avail anything; me re-
nit being rather to distract the ettenuon uom
,sa ,,sins nreseut, ard our active relations
\, IN 800 shan 10 evolve truth. This 10 equally
TINE of the researches Of antiquarians, 90 TAR
a. the results obtained arc TO be measured oy
he onlv true standard their forth % AIDS 10
the development and happiness Of the race
Tbsretore. we, who live in practical age, |
when tn best men and wsmen accept this eri- |
pass by the learned dis
quisitions Of philologista on the origin OF IAN
Quare; leaving them TO decide whetner IL was
the spontaneous offspring OF an inherent pow
or Of the mind, or progressive grown mere
from; while We devote our powers 70 the mere
practical labor Of using this glorious lever for
The ELEVATION of ourselves aud our fellow men.
This 10 the mission Of Life to aeek growth
and happiness through the right use OF all the
powers and faculties Of our nature.
The English language-rich In u' innefi-
lance OF all that is beautiful and valuable IN
those from which it sprung, and the recipient
of an untold wealth OF ornetion and s'rengtn
from the grand intellects that have useo IT.
seems destined to become the universal tongue.
As spoken language tits almost perfect
H. sf. fta apc an
Prof Grimm, celebrated German philologist,
has said oft, "The English language possess
% q power of expression such as never, per-
haps, was attained by any other tongue IL
may call itself Q universal language. In rich-
ness. sound reason, and Aexibility, no modern
tongue can be compared with 1t, not even tne
German" 3. N. Rapp, another noted pniiol
ogist of Germany, after bestowing similar
praise, says, "were not the impeachment OF
ibizarre, antiquatsd photography 10 me way,
he universally of this language womb Dc sui
more apparent" And Sheridan compares our
spelling to "ths darkest hieroglyphics or the
most difficult ciphers ever invented by man"
Still another writer sage, tive violate every
principle of . sound alphabetical system more
outrageously than any other nation whatever
Our characters do not correspond to our artic
ulstions, and our spelling OF words cannot be
matched for irregularity and whimsical Ca
price,"
This is not as d should be; the written fern
OF 8 language capable Of eliciting from foreign
critics, such unstinted praise as we have quo
ted above, should not be SO defective, as, II
any manner, to prevent such glorious consum
alton as would be Its adoption as universe
language. Indeed 1t 10 o matter OF surprise
that q nation Owe speak of Americans) tha
excels In art, science and literature-where, Ii
almost every other respect, invention and I'm
provemsnt keep equal pace with the ever in
orsasing demands Of progressive people
should continue TO clothe its language in
garb that conceals Its beauty causes the was'
of precious years TO every one who unlocks i
mysteries, and is in every respect lacking
the true essentials Of alphabetical and ortiz
graphical representation.
In the formation OF q perfect alphabet
hrst principle to be observed 10, that each oil
mentary sound OF the voice should have o,
sign for its representation, and that this sig
should never be used to represent any 9th,
sound. 10 our language there are about thi
ty four such sounds, while our alphabet Civ
us but twenty six signs. To represent sixte,
vowel sounds, the Roman alphabet gives US b
FIVE signs. Yet this paucity of letters has |,
to SO many combinations thereof (for the re-
resentation of simple sounis) formed witho
any regard to consistency or analogy, that /
number now used to represent the thirty 70
simple elements 10 three hundred, or neal
nine signs for each sound Notwithstanding Il
there is not single element of the langua
possessed OF Uniform and unvarying repr
sentative.
For want Of space, one example Of this i
congruous orthography must suffice to illu
trate the ridiculous results of trayersing I
principle laid down above. The couplet
enough the tough, cough and hiccouJ
plough me through,
Ger LIES dark Tough my course will pu
sue,"
gives seven different sounds to the combin
ton oSgh; while in the word "bought" 1t h
still another value assigned it.
10 consequence of this ever varying value
letters, it reqaires double or treble the tir
to learn 10 read, that would be really nee
uary II we had an alphabet adapted to
wants of our language, not one half Of {
graduates OF Yale or Harvard can spell e
rectly the class of words similar to "quotie
transient and deficient" to Thousands OF ct
dren, this execrable photography is the.."P
asuerum," beyond which they never pass
pArtAke OF the glorious pleasures which
afar in the beautiful valleys acknowledge fir
which this barrier forever separates them
not only wastes the precious time of studel
but useiessiy e1pends their vitality; il not o.
wastes the school fund Of the nation, but
causes the expenditure Of millions of doll
annually, to print books ia this cumberso
orthegraphy, that might be saved for sdu
uonal purposes, by proper spelling.
fhe remedy 10 Phonetic alphabes, cente
ing representative sign for each element
sound OF the voice. There is only one OBJ
tion worthy of any notice, everurged agal
luis ohange In the dress Of the English
guage; that it will obscure the origin or
moiogy of words. This fasr ia wholly grou
less, for the pronunciation will remain
changed; and the general appearance of VIC
remain as nearly the same, that they
readily recognised by one, who for the
una, sees his native tongue in the beaut
garb Of Phonotopy. Etymologists could
serve our present spellings, either in our
netie dictionaries or in separate volumes;
books would still be printed in the old 8
ling, just as the Greek and Latin are retail
But suppose Phonotopy were to obliterate
cry trace of the etymology of our langu
tie benefits which would accrue thereby, VI
compensate ten fold for the loss of what
doubtful advantage we now receive from ETY.
ogical research. Yesterday Is dead to Us fore
its experience alone remains to US; but TO
the living presents ours ever. 1t 10
fault OF portion Of our people to dwell II
past; to idesliEe its glories 10 make demi
OF Its heroes and sages; TO lament the del
eracy Of these latter days, aud to benoan
sad tste-not having lived in the Golden .
What worse than folly To day is the
den Agel To day the highest tide ma Fl
the advancing wave Of civilization and h,
progress is recorded To days philosop
life is superior TO that of any preceding
To day, men, with hearts more inteHt
the salvation-progress Of the race, and
higher and truer appreciation OF the rec
means-nature's lsws--to achieve this .
work, are laboring in greater numbers and
greater zeal than ever beiorel Todays dutis