The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-06-13
THE FATHER OF A SPELLING REFORM.

Readers may not he aware that it is tt
| Sir John Cheke that we are indebted fol
| what is probably the earliest propose
| for a reform in English spelling. Si
John Cheke is popularity known chiefly
| by the Well-knoWn lines in Milton's son
net:
''Thy age, like ours, o. soul Of Sir John Cheke
Hated not learning worse than toad or asp,
! When thou taught'st Cambridge and King Ed.
ward Greek"
His life, however, as related by
Strype, has many new features of inter
est from the point of view Of politics
history and theology, and he is good
| example of the way in which the Re1or.
nation movement stimulated mems in.
| tellect on many sides.
His career would doubtless have been
| more generally familiar, had IL not been
| Tor the lamentable apOsJacy with which
| it closed, though in consideration of the
undoubted services which he has rem.
dered to posterlty, we ought not to be
too severe on his memory because, a born
scholar aud recluse, he was not of the
stuff OF which martyrs are made. He de-
voted special thought and attention to
the pronunciation Of Greek and Latin,
Wnicn had fallen 80 far as the former
was pronounced AZ AID into an indistin-
guishable chaos, wholly arbitrary and
Illogical, and which he contributed to-
ward placing on sounder and more
reasonable basis.
With regard to the reform of English
spelling, he was less successful, but
readers VINO have not met win the
record OF his life may perhaps be inter
ested to have. in Strype's words, a
statement OF the proposals which he
brought forward, and compare them
with those Of the spelling retormers OF
more than three hundred years later:
"And whereas the writing aud spelling
of our English tongue was in those times
very bad, even scholars themselves tax
ing little heed how they spelt, Gas ap.
pears both by the manuscripts ana books
then printed,) he endeaYored the COR
recting and regulating thereof in these
respects following: l. He would have
none of the letter put TO the
end OF words, as needless and un-
expressive Of any sounds, as In these
words, eXcus, civ, deceiv, prals, COM
man, unless where 1t is sounded, and
then to be writ with a double e, as in
necessitee. 2. Where the letter a was
sounded long, he would have 1t writ
with a double a, in distinction from
short, as i'll maad, staat, daar. 3. When
lue lGLbel was SOuuuGu lOER, 10 De
writ with a double i, as in desijr, lii.
4. He wholly threw the letter out OF
the alphabet, as useless, ana supplied it
ever with i, as mi, sal, avail. 5. U long he
wrote with a long stroke over it, as in
presum. 8. The rest Of the long VOW
els he would have TO be written with
double letters, as weer, theer (and
sometimes thear), moo, noon, adoo, noof,
loov, 10 avoid an z at the end. 7. Letters
without sound he threw out, ana in
these words, frutes, void, faut, dout,
again for against, hole, meen for mean.
s. Changed the spelling iu some words,
to make tlem the better expressive o,
the sounds, as in gud, britiI, praisabil,
sutferabll." The question OF spelling
reioIm has not progressed much since
Cheke's lime, and modern reformers can
scarcely nope to have an advocate OF
their views 80 taVorabIy placed tor their
enforcement as was Edwards Vps Sec
retary vi state.-[Spectator.