, 1879-02-23

of the Thi1Om prou0 anu plo5per-
GUS home Of the Medlcls, snflnk ttou1 iutsou aa
to fear would meet with luEewarm suppcrt-
SPELLING REFORM. !
Why We Do Not Need Forty OF Moro Let
j.. ters-
70 Tie Editor At The Tribune
CHICAGO, Feb. o3.-The clamor for an aipha- p,
betical representative for every sound kno"n
to the English tongue purports to be based on
the fundamental principle OF phonic represents
tion, viz: each elementary sound shall have
an unvarying symbol, and, conversely, each
symbol shall invariably represent the same
sound. While this is the true theory Of Or
typography, the advocates OF the extended
alphabet under discussion overleap their goal,
and overload their alphabet with represents
tiyes for compound sounds, diphthongs, aud
various notifications and degrees OF tone %.
1t will be shown, further on, what heavy
burden this redundant alphabet becomes.
The sound ch and J arc compound, Qong)
and Qopg) are dlphthongs, while what are
known as the short and long vowel sounds are
merely degrees in Quantity. OF tone, more or
less modified by the consouants Of the word
Now, while I would not advise the rejection
OF all letters thus provided, the argument for
their necessity must fall il it has no other bas;s
than representation Of the elementary sounds
OF the voice. Ii, on the other hand, the theory
includes quantity anl modification OF tones, th.
alphabet must be indefinitely extended TO rep
resent all the degrees, shades, and modlica-
tions incident to assimilation and style.
Doubtless too little attention has been given
to the function of the letter h. 1t is in nnwise
a representative OF q distinct sound, but wher-
ever used indicates some modification Of the
sound OF another letter. It may be said to bear
somewhat the same relation to the other letters
of lie alphabet that the zero or cipher does TO
/ numerals in our notation-nothing sn Itself put
| indicative OF the character OF the accompanying
letter. ......
This force OF h as a modifying power Is per
| haDs never more forcibiy felt than By the
Greek student who attempts TO master tee
| logic of smooth mud rough breathing. At Is
ludicruusIy apparent to us whe1 We near =
| Yorkshircan 'tnattcnpt to MUD is haltehes,
Because this force does not depend on the
| position OF the organs OF speech: 1t enters or
| may enter Into combination with any vowel
sound, both as rough initial to the vocal tone,
rs in haud ho etc, or terminal with consonaEt-
al 9xploslyc power, as in eh oh! csc, in either
| nostion marking q modification of the original
| vowel sound. II the latter position the analo!-y
ri the ciohcr is still further carried out, for as
| the zero IS no longer written where si1nlilcaut
| iouro takes its place, so the h is unwritten
| wnen a consonant follows q short vowel, the
| modification being clearly known from the M
| tnr. ~ rh,. consonant which Is to cut short OF
| aynJode the nrecedinr vowel sound.
F;nurativc}y- then. h isthe zero Of the dlphabet,
/ douhlno. YEA. nnd sometimes tripling, rfe
nowrr of tbt. letter with hicl1 it combines. We
| SANCTION this universal law III the rough OF be,
| .tr where the force Of h Is heard nearly
or quite throughout the vocal sound,
| and We need to acknowledge It III
mower Of q consonanr +or art;cuiared sound
| C;,us a single vnwe} character clearly indicates
| hv nositiou the three phases OF q vocal tone,
W its rouph sound, Is in he, etc., the pure
| tone, as in me, etc., and the short or exploded
| sound, as in ca ETC., and eight vowel charac-
frrs NAV In like manner represent the thirty
rwo Vn.,l sounds Quantity as we'll IS quality
considered} Of our language. The diphtno,;gs,
ione) u ilong), oi, aud ou, also subject to
] t,sis ,.,.m1itviuo furel. of h.
Cnmhni,r With the cousonants we have th-
III, III ~ in 1nisl. Sd itrom and as in tran
sient), zh from aud as in azurc), rn, VII (hw),
ch ftshh gh ii from tzh}, ph u, aud bn, the Int
ter being the ouiy possible consonant combna-
| ton where both the dlgraph anu souno a9e
| Of + uuil being supplied by the latter letter.
| In some Of the other instances, as will lie seen,
the origin OF the sound is not shown IN the
| dgraph, but in every instance, = as III 1us!on'
ets.. executed, thch is still iounc in the comoina-
ton, not necessarily as an element OF thesound,
but to Indicate modified use OF the accom- pauy-
ing letter. Now. what can better nreue 1ne
continuance Of. dlgraph representation than tnls
universal rule holding gooa "1in nds a,r;aTy
aud con5opants, ami tlls estaollsnea auAAla1y
character, meeting all demands, ano never useo
except to indicate modification.
Thus 1t Is eleaf cla1 au .tpnau1s :. to.I -
forty-dve characters IS not loeaca'' II con1a'os
either too few OF too many !etters-
Further, it docs NOT CONFORM 10 Tue RenAus VI
our language. {
| A Chauccr to-day would demand as pefslssr
entity Us 800 years ayo that form Is noI .ne. on'y
property OF written language caitaolc OF lmpsess
t,ls the seuses. Il was master stroke to uni.y
or entirely sever those bothcrng endinggs OF our
ancestral words, which were supposed " be tue