New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-29

wbIrb sneak seems specially out of place n the
month of n graceful aud cultivated woman but
have head hntg OaST bus
times had Just the same erect on American houleis
But on Whichever side our taste lies, there can DO
litle doubt that tho American uttefance DC IL luI
tan EastAnglian anything else. Is no MODERN
innovation, but has come by genuine tradition from
the seventeenth century.
AMERICAN SPELLING.
II Is otherwise with some pccuarties which con-
Germ not the Natural uttorance OF words To the ear
but their artificial representation to the eye. II
the schOomaser is deadly foe to language, Ing
lish any other, the printer is foe no less deadly
Half the unhisturical spengs which dis1gure our
printed language como from the yagarles oil nan
learned printers which side OF the ocean matters
very little. AS for Latin words, one IL sometimes
tempted to saw lot them spell them they please
but it is hard when 1eutOnic "IIlDe, Woru
which so many Romance languages have borrowed,
is turned into "Thyme," merely because some
printers mind was confused between Lng.i 81
" rhine" and Greek rhy tim" SO with specially
American spellng-fancies If anyone chooses 20
spell words like traveller" with ono u looks
old, but it Is really not worth dlsputlng ABOUT.
Nor is it worth disputng ab0ut " G9lor p OF
"colour'" honor or honour and the IKE. DuI
when it comes to armOr" still more when 1t comes
to ueChbor," ones Latin back in the former case
ones reutonc back ia the other Is put up pa nc
who first wrote armor fancy that aIHnOr was
Latin word like " honor or color by, an
means let a,Raara il anyone chooses, be cut short
into Gm~ 6ut LET be spared Sgch aso it % 10Y
strongly tho dclusiCn OF those who having Latln
tree on the BRAIN. dOled IcutOnlc q" barbour oil ts
asurate Bus tho most unkIndest cut OF All Il when
Od-EuglIsh "nedbgcbar' which, according to Inc
universal rule of the language, becomes IN modern
EnrIlSh "neighhOpT" Is also turned into neigh
barr Did anybody, even printers adIrtohaIye
ma or. really fancy that the last three lcttcIS "l
" neghbOur' had anything IN common with the Iast
ihrre letters OF houOur'i 10 Is surely hardly
nsrdful to say that old ECgsh Is IN nOucrn Ing
ll,h consistently represented by on; " has becomes
house -: stO becomes south ~; " at ' become,
"uut' and "neahgrblir" becomes "nclghD0W.
American printers to, have some odd Way h DINER
matters, specially rs to thelr way "i Hi'hI"t
Wuiis when part O q word has 30 be IN one hue ana
part IN another. Thus nothing Will be divided
not ~ othiug- hd1 dS nDJh-iuE'. rs 81 IT, "''o
the patronvmic cf name NO.h' Yet surely even
o printer must have known that nothing Is
"no-thiuc and hing else. 50 aL1in Know zee
Is divided INTO knoWI edge suggesting rather
tine side Of u hill tuan the occupation or condiii0
OF one who knows 10 is really quite possible
that the may have been thrust INTO "knoWIedge
letter written kuowicee from some thought
of q hdU Anyhow one suspects thii very lew
people know that i''. IN knoWledBe' anu" loch
in " VcdlOck are one and .he same tndlug.
WrdlOck' al least j. safe from bong Wedl-o;k.
because everybody thinks It has something 10 do
with lDcE aud key.
IL wonid be cay ID pile together a far longer ist
OF differences of usage ln matters OF speech between
Eugiaud and America. hut nave perhaps brought
together enough to illustrate my main general posi-
tons. ] have tIlcI TO show that 30. called AmrIt
r9nlsns are not 10 De at once cast aside as many
people in EnCaul are Inclined 10 cnsJ them aside,
If they were necessarily corruptlpns ol tue com
form words to show that ~ is usual IN America
but that 10 Is rot usual in England. Abuses )I ian
guagc undoubtedly arse IN America, just rs they
do I'm England. IL L. hardly worth while trying To
count up and find out ia which country they are
the more common. Possibly the CU-ahrld side OF
the younger English land may win Tor II the urst
place But If so. II merely difference OF degree,
not Of kind = fancy that racial D. American;
hut "s0cloo-y' IS undoubtedly British ON the
oiher hand tie conservative side OF the American
character has led to the survival in America oi
many good Eng sh words and phrases winch have
gone out OF use IA ENGLAND, and winch Ignorant
people therefore mistake Tor American Inventions
I'm other cases. ugIIu, differences or USAGE between
the two countries are fully explained by differences
of circumstances between the two countries In
some cases, agaiu, u,ages winch cannot be called
correct but which diner from mere abuses oi IAN
guagc. have been brought n-In either country
through mistaken anaOgies or other processes OF
that Kind In these different ways there has come
10 be "a certain distinction between the received
British and the received American use OF the com
mon English tongue. distinction which commonly
MAKES IT, easy 10 see nom which side OF the ocean
man comes But there 4, no real difference OK lan-
guagc not even any real difference ul dialect; the
speech OF either SIDE Is understood without an euOr
bv tine mon oi the other side. and the differences
are largely OF kind ~ which Mother usage can be
SAID 10 lbs III itself better or worse than the other