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

upon two pages Of Worcester's Quartz
Dictionary, and found an average Of 2;
per cent. of such letters silent; from
which he assumed that 20 per cent. o
tie cost Of every book is occasioned By
our vicious system of spelling, and tina
a reformed photography would reduc,
Wcbster's Dictionary from LOO page.
to 800 pages, and the price proportion
ately.
The proposed reform, based upon tho
use Of definite sign for every distinc
sound, and the ri lection of all sign!
which do not fulfill This office, practi
| cally requires the Punishment of at leas
three letters from our present Romano
alphabet, and the addition OF eighteen OIL
twenty new characters Should such {
modification be adopted and agreed upon
the contrast between the old and the new
photography would not be essentially
greater than that of the original text d
| Chaucer or Shakespeare, or Milton, ant
the text of any modern publication.
II is not difficult to form an estimate
OF the practical possibilities Gin this re
| spect, from the experience of the past
In the first edition Of the authorized
version of the English Bible we read
Give care, o we hcauens and ] will
speake," etc. In Tyndale's New Tesla
ment, the pronoun a is spelled in eight
different pays. Shakespeare spelled the
words pilgrim, certata, bl0ct, and dgoih
with the final q. AT more recent
period, at the dictation of Noah Webster
we have changed the spelling of whole
classes Of words, and we no longer write
haa0r with superfluous q, or trufic with
a dnal 4, or hMgeler with an extra /
Webster hoped for and attempted more
radical reforms, and at every step in this
direction was applauded by HE learned
critics Of Europe. Such reforms have
been made, and are now being made, in
the languages Of the European CONT
nent and are sustained by the universe
ties and by public opinion. That which
has been done in the past, or elsewhere,
can certainly be done in the future and
here. There the state lends its influence
taths line Of progress, and here no con.
| dillon to continuous progress really
exists, but the exercise Of competent
authority to give expression 10 Il public
opinion already formed. The tendency
q this opinion is never backward INTO
darkness, but forward into Highland
English speaking peoples need but
slght encouragement, under existing
circumstances, To enable them 10 achieve
agrcalcr advance than Webster dreamed
d or dared 10 suggest, half Il century
ago.
lii d limited degree the proposed re-
form has been practicaliZcd in many Of
The public schools Of the United States
and IN Europe, by phonic method Of
IL, t,,fr ~ "a r1,1.
his method each letter having more
han one sound, IS printed in various
'orms, the number of forms correspond
ing with the number Of essential sounds
while letters silent IN the text are printed
IN hair line type, to denote their oral
usccssncss and insignilicancc. by this
method, the pupil who has learned the
letters Of the alphabet, and thcir rcspec-
tive forms, can pronounce any printed
word in the text without hesitation, even
II he has never before seen tie word, or
Is ignorant Of its meaning. Ii is claimed
by eminent teachers, that this method
saves onc.halt the time usually occupied
by pupils in learning to read and spell
correctly. The diacriiiea marks used
in readers us guide TO the sounds of let
trrs is mn imitation Of this method. I'm
fortunately for both cXpedents, no soon.
er does the pupil leave school than the
facilities there provided hun for the pro.
nunciation of words are necessarily left
behind, and ever after he is doomed to
wreste with his English alphabet with
out the aid of special forms, har-linc
type, or diacritica marks, 10 denote the
special sounds of letters, or to distinguish
the valuable from the worthless The
spelling reform, III lis perfection, means
nothing more, and nothing less, than TO
gcncmlizc and popularizc the principle
of those easy methods Of reading and
spelling, already demonstrated 10 be
wholesome and valuable by practical ap.
plication in the restricted degree stated,
and thus dispensing with that obnoxious
system of English photography described
by Lord Lytton rs u lying, roundabout,
and pul2lr.headed deluson.n