, 1870-04-24

| Peat5 ANAe A6t~SH4EG{t kod WOULD p6
atzsas.- Right Of w1oug w1s = n,atter Of m
onsoe1n 70 haE, ~ 1t. A to most wpnen, from
go gans1A want Of anything Ike ACCURACY In
tneaf education What other people do-8en-
tccl people being always subaudita-istho Tule
i've and quick Of observation, ii often atauds
! lean upone
q It possible to awaken desire for =
better md more stringent authority 7-thatis
the drat question. Ii The majority OF c1sea,
He fear not. Modern ideas Of education,
| while enla5giug somewhAt the messure Of in
| attuation for women, Been to tend towards
reducing that of men to the sauas limit Ac-
eusase scasols.siip i day by day falling into
| for the Means Of making money. Tue univar
| mites arc called upon, not to pio~, but to SOW ;
not to prepare 5onng men foI self-cu1tiyaiion
and enlightenment, but to send them out
Immediately to bring their superficial acquire
menta 70 market; and rough sud ready meth
COS viii te increasingly acceptable. Dean
Swift 5ustay observes that "0ne Cause that
hath nximed our language il foolish opinion
that We ought to spell exactly ~ VIC speak.'
10 adopt this is q rule would be at once to
break down all landmarks, and throw the his
tory Of The English tongue to the dogs; bat
no power On earth can prevent its being donp
to q certain extent. No man Of cult
vated mind can lire thirty or forty years IN the
world without observing the alterations which
are always gradually but pe1sstcntly creeping
tnto phraseolog5 and pronunciation and we
ehali doubtless continue TO modify our spelling
Accol1llngly. AZ We have dnno hitherto Ii some
csses it IL tie pronunciation which adapts it.
self to the spelling. as We see IN the growing
inclination to pronounce er ur, instead OF aE
Ike our fozcfAthe1u, wlo made pe1sou parsop,
merchant narchAnt. This fashion We atitl re--
tain in Hartfordrhire, DARBY. probably in the
next generation to be ca1lad Durby and uurts,
change which has already taken place in Jer-
sey, called JArsey century ago by all, III it il
aa s1aa ty..9 BY Tany y seaf,sng men Agsin tho hury
more to the curtsiling, not only Of sentences,
but OF word8. Through and though, for ex-
ample, are not uucomInonly written thro', tho;
the next step will be to leave out the apoet,>'-
Rsn Rs aa %a tSsa s s. a.vsa t. ps &
later.
The difficulty Of preserving the boundaries
OF language like ours, spreading ererv day
among new peoples and under new conditions
Of Life, il almost insurmountable, The time
vii como, very Ikaly, when the languages
spoken by the Inhabitants Of North A1ne.ica,
the Austtaixaian countries, and others Of our
stock, will diner from that OF tic Unltod King
dom, as Spanish, Portuguese. and Italian do
from each other and from their paront Latin.
be made to check the license Of ncologism and
neog11phS; and in these days, when mere
utility ia more regarded than graco Or beauty
OF style, ne may be thankful that sHeA An as-
eoclatiou A. the Pathological Society e1ists to
undertake this sort Of literary work On
whst principle they wi1l proceed to form any
thing Ike consistent system Of otthagraphy,
We are, however. at ioss to anticipate.
Modern English may be said to have CON-
neuced its formation in the fourteenth centn-
~, In ita long eourae it has drawn to itself,
~ BELTS the commercial nation Of which it ia
tho exponent. supplies from al peoples and
all countries. These It las adapted and re-
moulded to it's use, giving them i new form,
IA Shakespeare did with the stories OF rlutarch |
and boccaecio; and discrepancies have
s%ib1s % 70 set i'd Of now. In vorda of |
unquestionable Greek descent, which we have |
long Assin1ilzted aud made our own-like I
fancy, fame, frenzy, fantaatic-He have. Tor |
Example, talenf as the representative Of rhiiu |
the original while in those Of lster introauc- |
ton, especially If they he technical terma, wo /
tticl to the parent form, and use pl- as in /
ply nc, Plkenology, photograph. To call upon
us at this tino Of day to recur to chronological
rules, and spell the former worda phansy,
sailin6. They, and many others, must abide |
with us in the fosm given them when they |
were natutalized- Etyuaolog3 cannot, there
sote. be set up As nn nnerring guide and \ last
appeal in al cases; and, even it could, there
would remsin the question how far wo must
A[4UouAb &0HA4A9 k4a 6NA4[G Ap1IID ucLillI& 1
on the true one. No khilologist Of modern \
tlmea regards Greek as 4 root language. |
How much further back into the Aryau or /
Semitic families should we hare to 50 for our
authority, while the luckless word waited for |
it's Englah clothing, like poor Marie Antoinotte.
with bare shoulders, till tho right L
lady Of the court arrived to give her Ier
shift On the other hand, ~ it can ueYer |
be certain th&t everybody is OF the aamo 4
opinion as to the notation Of sound. the pho |
netic principle cannot suffice us. even il there
were not graver objections to its adoption.
All We cap hope for is \ to]erablF fair COM /
promise between theory and practice.
We have noble Inheritance in literature
now Eve centuries old, comprising writer's ~
great as any the world has seen, ia 4 language /
which has grown unaeg their auspices into one |
a.uong modern tongues for Sigos,
richness and variety, simple in construction,
tuneful and Manageable from its diversity Of
aeceut. Dy Ill uaeans lot us do oor best en-
aeavor to keep this well OF English undetlled.
1t has been too long and too entirely neglect
I'd; its hedge has bcen taken away, and its
vail broken down, and It ID getting choked |
with bslats. Let us fence it and gather out
tl.c stones thereof, and make il dow hash.
II is stream, not tank. Adaptability II
one Of it's best characteristics, and that which
mskes English a living. not dead, Language.
Only let us watch orer ita sssuraa and keen /
Is embankmepse, as far rs in lis lies, in rcpalt.