New-York tribune., 1876-01-27
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
LECTURE BY DIR. JOHN A. WEISSE.

| ELEMENTS OF OUR NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
SINCE TIE TIME OF ALFEED- uPhRioMTY OF
ENGLISH OVER OTHER ToNGUEs-CnANGEs IN
SPELLING AND PRONCNCrAroN URGED.
John A. Wcsse. NJ. d.. of this city. lectured last
evening in tho rooms of tho Geographical Society,
Cooper Institute. on "The Origin, Progress, and
Destiny of the English Language" DR.. Wesse has
evO;ed 30 years to the study of the English
language, and earnestly advocates radical phonetic
changes. HIS lecture made up of points Cakcn
from large work in course of preparation, an alb
stract Of mich has received the oommondation of
leading scholars and phologlsts. After DE-. Weisse
had concluded. Peter Cooper made few remarks in
support "f tho views advanced Following is DR..
" risse's lecture in part
divide the progress of the English language into three
perods-,.c Ang,o-Slxon IRON A. ID. 597 10 200:
Franco English period, from ZOO 10 1000,
closing wlti The Ezabothan pcriOd-lnc EhS'Nh period
source Of the EnglIsn Language was Uotho GcImanlc;
for Ango-saxon, handed down to us IN naiacripts
and books. compounl OF Gothic aud German, "nlch
were prmItiycly brought to EurOOo from Central Asia
BY the Coo Germans. and SaAons inentiOhed by
eruio!is AenOphon. and others, several centuries Ie
10 Christ. Tle Ju.os Anses. anu sixons. who went
l. Britain a. u; 41D, came LON ,,. ta.t ,,snis es,w
pathological term. IDiO European languages"
Tne An-iosdN0ns h. tho ru'iEons oi Literature be-
tore french. Italian, spanish, German Ghd written
yestise o National dialect (ovoryDod wisips III iti
at that ttic fact usually overlooked ~ EhqlsI a'd
American writer's Tho Ahsiooa1ons derived ther az
phabet from the l.ohanS ABOUT a. d. o3', "neh htAci,
bert. King OF hont, cmbrc'd Christianity ana pei,aea
"A code ol laws Next followed the potms ot Caedmon
and the yOumnous writii gs of Aimed TIE Gca who
died III 9Ol. After HIM he language declined TIL LOO,
when It began 10 aInaStnato with the riehcu Lac
Anglo vocabulary ;itcr contact O SIX centuries
with Rome and frinco-NOliIan iuio exceeding 100
yrals' hnO"h ony nic per cont Vi uieeA l',u i''hi'
Imagine how tenac.Ousy lat indomltaDlo carp H"'Iu-
GermHnic people miss have clunS 10 ther native tongue
ana customs cOnplcu win ,h1 oiiln' n', III -;
conqured part OF France called 10 NORMANDY married
French women. embraced thcr religion. hdupt, tneif
Language AMI mHHpcrs and bccain0 French within one
~ ali a.i.u,-a tlc sul.neat lis
cOmp pCrd AMI INCONSISTENT, not for wan or 'otarieS
bu Tor want U strictly scientific anaybs ana syhthess
The respective ol the English vocabulary
Anglo-,aSoD, Gothic Danish. swedish, GorInau Dutob,
lce.andlc; eisn. Oic" ah Col lnsi asqu', aud
Portuguese; sanskuE lirbro", and Arabic and
nuNsan Hence. tho LnSish oi to-day Is "a com
pound or - id.om5. ancient ana lhodcih'
dead and living. Acahy all the Groco-Latm are
almost ouruali OF the Ango-oaNOn PARTICLES and
words ot primary necessity. uhdrf In"ad ihe h ooh-
own dialect ami cultivate French. ILe AnsloSaXon
poor and contracted iOr all AnglOfiohch I"pu-
laton, wio mixed tt two ilions ID alc proportions -"
sn,. their progress IN norts, Literature. science art
conne ANA cSIIliiun. 40 they went ON IN pio9r"ss
from Es"crt to 'ico.r iLci ihnhu"tg au'"heu y" ls
pr--rut state OfrAcririct \O"oir ni cohS"hahiS are
icrprsiy IN tue English Language MAJ "a.
dNcrIs ol ihe hI-ld ihd o'u Aoli' can 81 % i'
spcaA 1t wlth cuuiiar i've ease, whlch aISuis wen
for IT, diffusion. Ensish nov The easiest Ian
gancc OF the GrecoLihn with tHe visor "f tae GO,
thutirrIndnlo Tongues, uud be rrady Ior universal
aIOpi'n, % the Eh-t'i!-, Ahlhs Peorvs W"iu a',l @
the pain ph"n0grdphIr German ru'c; b't rs y0H pro-
DTpIOHHft
wlc tie lctr.s or one hOunI, "ncioScf
that ioqur,d ii, and inter the same sond Of lho
same icitrr icters watloY0r you ma tue cttel or
lrtrr, ms pam PhOn"5apmc German Iiii' hh,
been APPLIED 1000 years GFcch ANA lttli not
cui, b, tn- nation, o. continental EITOpc but ot Asia.
Africa. aud South America. We aye told the German
puupsla nic iur wound he ini osobie IA iheiSh IL "
has b. ~ uA,iD.r fur toHrcs ~ Gcriual hicrs' ana
Lain, why should II De Impossible III i."tn7h
or AIS ut,cr lInsuacrt 10 pronounce the same
Litter or lrttrrs differently ~ certain "orI5 or
iu one aud the snne word seems hot ohly
strange but ctprici"us tO unbiased "hsrif r.
lrfpre tie NirtoI1 version OF the BIc 10 ISSUED In
gland .ud AmrII,. ought tO have convention 81 p"'-
,a men letter, ana ~Vtds to aSttr Hs nu't -
the Al l''Il-
iir4 It r.d lvD students are ruiI yea al Yea" 10
simif, tlr JAPANESE characters ~ uS u dlip th'i 10
tht sounds ~ tne tut"l" al iusutErH IT 'llou !I
wa Yesterday considered DIha"us In dctlhS ts' Why
should England aud America call scioihc c"nNcn-
ton 90 naIuorkr ,ttrI- of their ahaD,t win Tue
-1dud. Of tn,Ir i.nguasoi Why should not AL
tAo modern I.tiDns have pnDoiosio congress
To rAt,Ld INTO ~UaSr tAc uuiOlmity We Lave IN
uIatl,uaflc,. chemistry, ami mUhlgi About twenty
m tho, oi harmon Lug letter anG sound by means g." pho-
nr.Ic pn.pct. uuuDr1us from 80 - 10 letters. have
been Proposed uui as such cbdhge nle ~ ''t7' '"bu
non i'm education. writing. reading, literature, anu
,c nee, and dcstroy millions OF property ia tho snap" ot
tyre. printing apparatus. aud books tht "oild pro
t,iurr. IL l.piaciicablc. As wo nud uily IL vowel
Iuost n.Cru shades oI 7ouuI, Mu
propose phonetic English with the present alphabet
with very Lttlc CAan-r 81 cNp'urr. ana INV OWING no
confusion either writing, I,adins, education, htrid-
tuc science, and without interfering Win bOohS no" In
uDIa.4CS.