The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1880-05-22


toned, can be made TO tell their own his.
tory as well as that Of the people who en-
ployed them. The alphabels Of western
Europe are the lineal descendants Of that |
Of Rome. Our capital letters are identical
with those inscribed on the monuments Of |
the Eternal City, aud we eau trace by the
help Of contemporaneOus documents the |
successive changes which have transform
ed these capitals into the smaller type Of
printing press or the letters Of our running.
hand.
But in borrowing or deriving IN alpha
bot from another people one great difficulty
has always TO be encountered. The pro
nuneiation Of no two peoples Is exactly
the same, nay, generally speaking, it diff
fers very widely. Consequently the sounds
attached by the one people 70 the letters
Of their alphabet will not in oil cases agree
with those attached to the same letters by
the other. twill often happen, moreover,
that sounds will be wanting in one Ian
guage which are common In another. In
borrowing an alphabet, therefore, il will
be necessary to do mere than simply trans
fer H. il must be adapted, Just as the pro-
nunciation OF French words like Paris or
Aarseilles has been adapted to the genius
OF English pronunciation New sounds
have TO be given to the old letters, new
letters have to be invented or formed out
Of old ones, while some Of the old letters
may be dropped altogether. 1t Is not Of.
ten, however, that an alphabet has been
adopted and adapted in 50 scientific man
ner as to make it express even approx
mately all the varieties Of sound peculiar
to the language Of the borrowers. Cen
orally speaking, the adaptation has been
of a rough'andready kind, and those who
use it have been contented IL the words
they utter are made fairly intelligible when
written in il. Often, too, the alphabet
has not been consciously and deliberately
introduced among an illiterate people or q
race which has hitherto employed differ
ent mode Of writing Most OF our west
European alphabets have gradually grown
into what they are through the slowly.
working force Of time and circumstances
and the successive attempts Of individuals
to improve them. We cannot say, for in-
stance, with any real truth, that our Eng.
lish alphabet has been borrowed aud adap.
ted in the same sense in which il has IL
self been borrowed and adapted for repre-.
senting the sounds Of Polynesian dialect
From the time that 1t was FIRST introduced
into these islands under the form of the
so called Anglo-Saxon alphabet, il has had
a continuous history, history Of slow and
sometimes almost imperceptible change
and Development, which, IL allowed to have
gone on without check aud hindrance
would have resulted In n tolerably service.
able instrument for representing sud re.
cording our words But unfortunately it.
natural development was suddenly checked
nearly four hundred years ago by the TO-
yentiou Of printing. The necessities oI
the printing-press stereotyped the alpha
bet and spelling Of the time with al theil
imperfeetions, and, what is more, sterro
typed the pronunciation Of words which
that spelling endeavored to symbolic. Il
was in vain that healthy spirit of inde
pendenee long continued TO prevail among
that large section Of educated EuglishmsI
who were neither printers, authors, no
sehoolmasters, aud that as late as the ent
Of the last century Il was considered n,
disgrace for q cultivated member of tht
aristoeracy to spell in any way be nigh
think fit. We have only to examine N,
original manuscripts left by some of th,
most distinguished EnsIishmen Of III,
eighteenth century to discover that the,
were still able to assert the liberty Of pri
vate spelling against the tyranny of tn,
printing-press.
For language aud its pronunciation
must change from generation to generation
in spite Of all the efforts Of printers an,
pedants TO put them into a straight waist
coat. We have only to use our ears 1,
perceive that the pronunciation Of cult
waited English Is even at the present mo
ment slowly, but surely, undergoing alter
alton. wonder how many here thi
evening still cling like myself to the Oh
pronunciation Of either and neither, ant
and have not yet passed over the ever
multiplying camp Of those who change th,
pure vowel Of the FIRST syllable into a diph
thong, or agree with the poet laureate il
acccnting contemplate and refiiaue after tn,
fashion Of our grandfather2 So long a,
language lives it mast grow and chang,
like living organism, snd until this fac
Is Recognized by schooImasters, cur boy,
viii never realize the true nature of ths
language they speak aud the grammar
. Il IL -