The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-11-29

- fEr0yn the Lpndon seWst NY - ~,
The1c remain soma iTnpro yements 70 speIl.
Inc which would be useful II they souiu pe
made. Spelling IL almost as gmculs 10
interfere with as the growth OF Muguage,
concerning the possibility OF maA.ng son,
ecious changes IN which Is there MOI = S.sssr
war waging among philoio sssts Z flooaoy
Il is more BY crude natpr seection ..n
modern spelling has groWn up ou y. OF . WIZ
derness efsanalogies, phonetic Efforts y re
present sound, aud 30 on, than through any
conscious interference Of gsammsf . aII
Grammarfans, as Vaneelas kneHs exn only
se,est The forms which seem the best In
{. s,sspe y and try to give permanencc 70 them.
Even In this PROCESS usage charges, and
.sha pramnsrian has been compared 10 the
barber who shaved so slowly that tue pa.
t,ent,s beard had grown rough on one side
at the moment when It was trimmed on the
other. We zee American efforts 20; intro
dnce g honor - for IS honour being made,
and prebably. most of 10 resist the intrusion.
The difficulty Of reform can scarcely De
shown rnoreSsearly than; by the case Oh class,
zeal Names We oil know that we should
| use k,s la place of c's, for instance, 10 many
ssniiiar Greek names. We know that the
retention OF the diphthong where Engiisn
arops It would save many false quantlsies'
! Vet who dares write Thoukudioe5 Tor Inu-
cydides. or Aischulosfor Aschylus? Ii we:
might prtut EuOoulos instead of Eup1lHs
ne should not hear 1t accented on the mrs.
| syllable in the reading-desk; and II we coulu
only have some generssly.sccepted system ol
accents. 40 one would pain us VIII etspu.
ainas. When ':Stephanas Is the msn We
Know or course q system OF new ietteLs
~ exnress varieties Of sound, SO that We
enujd hage ,ougts and short 20" ana
On on. wos,ld solve the worst part OF the olt'
| 6etlty. but nations, like emperors, are ABOVE
Grammar and will not permit the letters
tbev are used to. scored as the hierogl ypns,
To be jnterfered With by phonetic societles.
! Resides, though new alphabet Wouio make
iearnine to read easier to children, now
about the grown-up people, who woulc ma
| II impossible to 60 to school? NOR could
4 arbitrary shapes be essiiy accepted as suosti
tutes for symbols that 60 back beyond fn 1e
| necian culture, if the recent theories Oh VA:
| Ronee be true, to the hierogiypnicS 81
Egypt. The system OF "conveatlona. VI.
e evslsh the hard "tb." is more plausible al d
noss;hIe. but bow Is their general acce[t-
ance to be secured? We do not press lie
historical objection that philology would lie
haff,ed by the omission Of letters now sounCs
less, like the "gh in daughter and in night,
which are now sounded only in the ScofsD,
dochter and nicht, because the phllologist :
could find the old form of word in dictiona
ries and old books even though it appeared
lin new shape in the daily papers. Phi
Iology would still have all the past OF The
English language through which to trace
Grimm's and other laws. But there would
be great gulf, in outward seeming. between
nre.Victorian and post-Fietorian English !;
and as we are not fond OF revolutionary.
changes, it is probable that the reform of
English spelling will come by degrees, IS
there are already signs of Its doing on the
other side of the Atlantic. ''