The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-17
The Spelling Of Geographic Namts.

Any one who uses an atlas often has oc-
casion to deplore the confusion In the SPELL
ing OF place names. Many causes contribute
to this lack Of uniformity. In the uncivil-
lied parts OF the world place names are at
the mercy of every traveller. SpEKE and
STANLEY introduced US to Uganda. but every
white man who has lived in the country
says the name is properly Bugapda- Such
instances may DO multiplied by thousands.
The greatest confusion has arisen from the
fact that travellers have used variety
OF systems Of photography to repre-
sent the sounds OF place names. Each
nation. too. has spelled foreign geographic
names in accordance with the photographic
rules OF its own language. Indexed aliases
are great convenience: but the student Is
much perplexed when he reads. for instance.
OF the important Russian city Of Kief and
then looks for it vainly in his index. where.
as In some OF the best German aliases. the
name appears as Kijew A comparison OF
atlas indices clearly reveals tho confusion
| OF geographic spellings and the need for re-
| form.
The evil is particularly glazing when the
| fact appears. us it has on the maps Of our
| own scientific bureaus. that these sources
| Of exact information hopelessly disagree as
| to the spelling Of place names within our
| own domain. 1t was with q view chiefly to
reconciling these discrepancies on our own
official maps OF our own country that the
Board on Geographic Names was organized
in Washington over a year ago.s
The geographers Of the leading nations
are now striving to secure some approx
nation to uniformity in the spelling Of
| place names. The desired reform was the
subject of earnest attention at tho meeting
in August last Of the International Geo
graphical Congress. Tho Royal Geogrnph-
lcal Society OF England Is leading In the
movement. The Board on Geographic
Names has adopted a system Of spelling in
Royal Geographical Society. The geogra-
piers Of France and Germany have. since
the meeting OF the Berne Congress. formu-
lated systems Of photography for foreign
words. which In many details agree with
the English system. Spain is also
working. practically. on the same lines
The rules suggested by the Royal
Geographical Society have been ap.
piled on all the recent official charts
and maps OF Great Britain, and the
Colonial ONCE has requested the colonies
to carry out the system in respect to names
OF native origin. Our own Board says that
all the chart and map producing countries
arc now practically in accord in their rules
for geographic nomenclature. Tho rules
may not. however. be carried out immcdi
ately in all cases. The French hydrog
rapher. for instance. in reply to the ques
ton why the French charts did not conform
to their published rules In the spelling Of
Tongking, said the copper plates had beer
engraved prior to the adoption Of the system
| and hence the change could not Immediately
be enforced. Our Board on Geographic
Names has thus far attempted to covel
more ground than the authorities OF othel
nations. While giving particular attention
| to securing uniformity in tho spelling o.
place names in our own country. 1t has for
mulated rules and data for application K
Russian. Greek. Japanese, Corean. Malay
and Chinese names.
Tho rules adopted by the Royal Geograph
heal Society are. in the main. the basis o.
tho work now doing IN the various coun
tries. 1.-The object aimed at" says the
Council Of that society. WAS to provide q
system which should be simple enough fol
|
minimum OF trouble. and at the same
time would afford an approximation to the
sound OF place name such as q native
might recognize" The rules. and illustra,
tlons showing their application. do not AL
an average newspaper column, The broad
features Of the system are:
"vowels pronounced a. In italian and consonant
as In English. Every letter Is pronounced Only on
accent is used-she acute. to denote the syllable o,
which stress u laid No change made in the orthog
raphy Of foreign names In countries which Roman
letters; neither Is change made in the spelling OF
In languages not written In Roman characters which
have become by long familiar English readers
thus Calcutta Ceebes Mecca &c, retained In thei
present form. Tho true sound Of the word as LOCALLY
pronounced staken as the basis OF spelling"
The United States Board on Geographic
Names. while approving the system o
spelling reform now employed in England
has adopted certain other principles for IT.
guidance. 1t suggests. for instance. tina
| within the United States the spelling AM