Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-02-07

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legislature. by virtue OF which this re-
port is made.
SPELLING REFORM.
In comparison with the photography
Of most Of the modern languages, That of
our own language is discreditably dis.
cordant, disorganized, and deficient In
the Geographic languages characteristic
Of people Of less advanced civilization,
the pupil is at least permitted the aid of
Il certain degree of correspondence he.
twcenthe tn ought expressed and its writ.
ten symbol. TO this extent he has the
advantage Of the pupil in our own
sch OILS, who is left no alternative but to
mcmoriZe the awkward and manifold de-
vices and combinations by which the
sounds Of our spoken language are com
mlttcd to paper Nor is the task I'M
posed upon the English pupil ever com
Dleted Years Of study in school, sup.
pcmcntcd by years Of patient care and
attention in business or professional
life, rarely ensures perfect results in this
practically important department Of per
sona education The aggregate loss
from this cause, in the results Of human
effort and cnterp Use, cannot be oycr-csti
mated or sufficiently deplored. Tho
difficulties which invest this question, re
late almost exclusively 70 the vowGls Of
tho alphabet and in the use Of silent and
supernumerary letters. In our written
words, the vowel has ut least six
sounds, three, ! two, . four, u four
making nineteen distinct sounds for six
letters. II we add the number Of sounds
expressed by combinations Of vowels, w
shall find that we have not less than
twenty-four sounds in AL, for which oul
alphabet provides but six signs. In D
paper once presented To the British par
lament by Edmund Burke, it was claim
ed that not less than nine different mean
ings, or sounds, could be found in Eng
plish words for the one letter n, while
Tie abuses Of lie five remaining vowcls
we're declared 70 be equally various and
unnatural. Sounds not represented by
any letter Ofthc alphabet are expressed
BY So many different methods as the in
pcnnily Of man can invent, and by com
binnti0ns which no rule will explain
and which no degree Of patience and per
severance ii study can thoroughly and
satisfactorily interpret.
IN lis dictionary, Noah Webster ut
tempted 10 Indicate the pronunciation
OF English words by Il system Of diacril.
ical marks applied 10 yowcls, thereby
virtually multiplying the number Ct
vowels belonging 10 the alphabet, and 10
TINT extent recognizing the principe
sought to be practicalizcd by the adY).
Gates ~ orthographical reform insomc
or i'll OF the readers adopted for Use In
our public schools similar cXpodicnt
~ rcsored 10, by way Of relieving pupils
from some part Of The burden Of learning
to read and spell by means of signs
otherwise almost wholly illogical and a'-
bitrary. In IL limited way, these devices
seem to modify, but not "a remove the
obsCurity ana confusion. The first les
son the child learns from his spelling
book, under ordinary circumstances, IS,
that to reason is crime. lie fnts, hOr
example, that the ltltcra has one mem
my in the word fate, but another in FIST,
another In fail and another NJ far; mat
tho letter Is NOT sufficiently signitird by
the use Of The letter itself but by u null
titudinous and disheartcning combna.
tion OF signs, as illustrated in the words
otre bio,c, d0or, .toe scr, doHh, bGhl, Wal,
Ye0AlttH, r0Hlt. and sroH; that the letter
d in the words d0He, coHiG, san etc. Is not
D mt all; that the sound Of j IL spelled
without the use of that letter in such
words as In, baH bW my and 3Ye. and
that when that letter is actually employ.
cd to express II sound, il often means
something wholly different from itself.
M in the words IL, Tin, and II.
In his efforts TO eOnstruc combinations
of letters, the pupil fares no better The
letters a. in .jW are not the same in Sfd ;
the letters ~ in people are something Use
in gcomdn, and something clso in gigon
while oUgh means in doUgh, 90 in
hoah, N in toHM, dHf in d0agh, and on
in pioUgh The methods of expressing
! the sounds ofc AM Of pronouncing tai
letter, in the words btlierc, rffciw, recent
coaecdl, increase, coRcGdt, ploccd, pGolk,
and Slcefc, are necessarily I'm incXplicalle
puzzle 10 any child or man. The Two
letters a. form one Of the most frtducd
combinations III our Ems lish words. bit
they have one sound in The word hfdll
another in bcda, another in htud. anothur
IN hCdFf, and another ia rent II isnllcgcl
by one author that the sound of M in tm
word ShdR occurs in over 5000 EngliA
words, aud Is represented in - diil'rrcn.
ways. Some years since, u record was
, Kept IN one " the post OIL es in this
i state 81 The various combinations oi
letters rcsortcd 70 for spelling the word
Chtcdg0, or letters addressed Ia that city
and The total number vas lound to Be not
less than eighteen or twenty; but Tic
most interesting fact about the matter i
that the erroneous spellings, phonically
considered, generally cxcclled The a.
proved photography. Prof Wm. r. Har
ris, the distinguished superintendent ~
public schools for the city Of ST. Louis
i our authority for the statement that
the word scissors can Dc spelled III man,
! thousand ways, and have Romantic III
nlogicS to authorize each spelling.
Examples Of these difficulties and dis
cordanrcs might he multiplied indcfn
itcly; they extend 70 al phases ana com
plicatiuns Of the system The pupil
readily realizes that he Is "a spcn ~
sight and not by sound that the sign,
ot sounds are comparafivcly meaningless,
and worthless; that III can write nc
: sound with ecr ainty of accuracy, until
lie has seen Il written that liz can pro
nounce 10 word with certainty 81 accur
aey, until lie haS heard II pronounced
: that lie cannot hope t. become a.ter oi
The language until he has conquered the
: dictionary Of words piecr.meal, and he