New-York tribune., 1888-03-23
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
4 p1vAr. or voIApuK.

-. r,n An AMERICAN LANGUAGE: o9 g. ~
MANIC ENGLISH ~ Ella Aos~
cae9: John AnAsnsss Aca s..~H
sce author Of this queer uttlc book ~-1
k.v. vs,tsd until tho Amencan people n.a a."sSs-
ev,m the sssssa<s Of voaapuk belose nu"As - ~ =.
s-sra ,cv Ian ruaee sf tter dcvttcd hesds =" :.
think he naAts his case much ee'1rs ~ .~-..- .rt
~ dpes not propose another unlvss1 -.-S .r,.r.
uereiy yearas to reconstruct - 49,. I. tsear
rbo.s who hsge grown MP wssn INC -
's.. .,,.t indeed can to their aid Ill toe Snies"
- - ,,nstcs bcfor, entering upon M hosest n
wv A. a. s.eelns by whsf 10 doubtless coassoosh
80 Se.,,ust,yc criticism Of English According
A. ,hts reuouic or Scandinavian person tho soneeo %
SHAKESPEARE and Milton Is the worst s.rs0n sn.s
80 token py baibaliaas who arc also SAWS
:. a.. n~asse OF . conquered people he a&rsas
:. 80 h.rsh aod dsssnant to wound oars accustomed
or,v 10 tho neliAuous and harmonic SOUNDS OF Ssc
man ana Scandinavian. And then, toos It 's not
ottca 10 u ths National speech OF the American
poop,c because there Is Large Teutonic ana scAnu
nayian clement In tho country, which ought 70 %
..co~n,sed In tho language far moro fully than q
present.
In fact Mr.. Mo!es carries this branch Of his argu
~ent go far as 70 suggest doubt whether the Eng
ushspcakiag people of the United States sfo entitled
70 ahy Linguistic representation: fur he UNDERTAKES 70
show that they ale really but minority, far exceeoed
IN numbcrs By the irish aud equally swampod by tho
German and scandinavian elements. 1t u true MI
Ndaces statastics are Of independent kind, owing
ulus or nothing 70 tho labor o1
the Census Bureau But they are none
The los striking and impressive Hs ~ nov
ever very good sort Of fellow, amer AL Somo
critics would have been satisfied with demoisn'ns our
moor language aud have Lott W sprawllng helpless
among shs ruins; but Mr.. Molse has senso Of oo[
CATION lie feels IL his duty to give US substitute
for tho mlserablc argon be he's been constrained 10
destroy, AHA he has, therefore, gone to work ana
evolved what he jocosely terms :" Tho AmeF'ksn Lam
guags" out of his inner consciousness end half dozen
dead ana living tongues. since there Is nothing like
thoroushnszs be has invented q now alphabet ana .
now set of characters which present pleasng COM
tnaiIon of Anglo-Ssxon, scandinavian, Greek, and
what are Obliged to call Moieean nssmuch ~ these
particular fy-trscks the product Of the anthors
own soothing intellect.
Mr.. Molce pays unwilling compliment to Ameri-
can capacity pronering this remarkable concatena-
ton Of phonotcs and reconstructed characters fOr
since he has forgotten to insert alphabet In his
little book, and only condescends to explain small
proportion of his symboic occontrictes, tho task to
which he calls -s adopted oounrymen brstles
with dincutiss such could be faced only by q
people ." whose proud answer to the despot and the
tyrant is that their Is In the scttng sum-" When
tho student has crasped the significance Of the
iodeviiled Greek omegas tho derious Is and Js the
daercsis- haunted naniaca Dis. the letters standing
their heads and all tho othor methods employed TO
make words "pure, selfdeveopcd and self ex-
planning, according TO Creek, German and Irish
modeiss he will find himself in presence of language
not lass expressive and inciigbie than that which
the Moundbuilders may be supposed to have spoken,
though scarcely well entitled 70 10 called Amer
can"
Mr.. Molce seems to have spent great deal of time
upon his impractical, fantastic nd hopeless expert
mont. Had no gwen a small portion of that time to
careful study OF the growth Of language, be would
perhaps, have saved himself the disappointment which
Inevitably awaits him. As It Is, he has wasted much
energy npcn idea which cannot be realized. But
no doubt. like other paradoxers and Ntz-Jamcs
"thc dangers self is lure alono" to him. and tho PAGES
OF his hobby lorse appear to him the smoothest and
most graceful imaginable matter what cold un
feeling world may think say.