The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-10-05
SPELLING MADE EASY
A skEPrlc ON THE THEORY OF RE-
FORM veNTlLATEs HIS VIEWS.
He shows a Combination Of Over Three
Million Ways In which the Elementary
Sounds which Form the Simple word
Scissors May 10 Produced.

Sounds which Form the Simple Word
Scissors May 10 Produced.
1t is a remarkable feature connected with
the various spelling reform movements
that they have all failed, even that father
ed by the distinguished phonologist. Alex
ander Ellis, and Endorsed by the leaders Of
linguistic science--the paleotype-ysent
the way Of all such schemes and was final
" repudiated by its originator himself.
The fact is, when the people find that q |
language needs reforming they reform IL
themselves, little needing the dictums OF
learned societies In the matter. Tho Eng |
fish language suits the English speaking |
races. 1t Is adapted to all the requirementsl
of the most highly cultivated. In the Ian
guage Of Mark Twain, 1t is "a language
that can stand the strain when you want to
say something really worth saying" and
the great mass Of the people object to pay
ing q doctor bill where there is no disease
That is why spelling reform has not sue
ceeded.
Every one admits that the English Ian
guage contains irregularities and incon-
sistencies. So does every other language.
So does the constitution OF the vast body OF
human society. Nothing is free from them.
Our laws, our theology, our medicine, all
are crude and imperfect. But violent revo-
Ilutionary measures are not admissible. I'm
provements must be made slowly. Tie
laws of natural selection and the survival
Of the fittest" operate here as in the rest Of
natures vast domain.
, The great crror of the spelling retormers
lies In the assumption that spelling Is n log
. Iical process. 1t is really an exercise of the
A ar1 90 hat DIAL no a
whole, not as collection Of individual
Joints. When we write a word, we do not
consider it as composed of letters. 1t is tc
- us simply the picture of an idea, and the &C
Il curacy of our spelling depends upon tn,
yividness of the image in our memory, i
is an axiom in psychology that the sim
pl pier faculties attain a more perfect develop
r meut than the complex.
Is 1t reasonable to suppose that in case'
: where the basic faculty of memory is 81
poorly developed that the subject spells ca
n with k the Judgment can have reaches
that stage of perfection which is required
:, 10 carry on the processes of inductive ant
NJ deductiye reasoning in a satisfactory man
lnerp
:. To illustrate the argument take the wor,
~ . scissors, which Alexander Ellis has alread
Il. made the subject of computation. Eli
figured out that this word could be spelle,
n, about 8 1000 different ways. But he admit
he ted only such signs for the sounds Of tn
It. word as were consistent with the etymc
y logical analogy. But what does that block
. head, the. spelling reformer's client, VIII
c, cannot recall the way to spell scissor
~ know about chronological analogy? lie
81 us see in how many ways he would spe
to one word according to the ordinary bran
Of analogy on tap In his brainpan seve
cr days in the week, Sunday included.
81 The word scissors contains six elementar
w sounds-to wit:
10 S-I-Z-E-R-S.
s. The first and the last are the simp,
" sounds of IS" The second is short 81" 1
heard in thin" The third Is the simp
eu sound of w." The fourth is the obscul
,er sound of "e," the will-o'-the-wisp OF Il
TT English language. The fifth is the simp
~ sound of "r."
= The first and last sounds may be repr
:. scented by any OF the following letters al
Nv. combinations, as will be seen from the e
.rt. amples given:
~ BY SC, as in scissors. By C, as In circle.
ndlce, as in efface. BY ps, rs in psalm. By S,
in single. By see, as in coalesce. BY sch, as
ind schisn. BY Sc, as in cause. By S. as in ma
lily By st, as in listen. BY sth, as in isthmus.
NY sw. as in sword.
This gives O sum total of 10 ways
her which the sound of may be represented.
re- r.. The second sound, that of short 81" mi
be expressed as follows:
- By !, as in scissors: By al, as in captain:
)nlt2s IN guinea. ny &c, MS IN ureits NY oi' M
ing Isurfeit By ely, as in monkey. BY Ia, as
the parliament. by lie, rs in sieve. BY o, as
I'M women By On, enanthic. BY oil, us In Il
loise BY dis, as in chamois. By u, as in bu
BY nj. as in guinea. BY ny, as in plaguy.
" as in abyss.
This Yields a sum total of 10 symb
owe which are used to express the sound
,r short 81" 4-
oan The third sound, that of simple ~ N
he expressed as follows:
u. By So, as in scissors. By c, as In suffici
- BY ce, us in sacrifice. BY CT, AS in car. b
re as in is. BY Sc, as In Chinese. BY X, as
xebec BY q, as in zodiac. By re, as in ad
With BY ~, as In fu2z.
re, Thus ~" may be represented in 10 did
ent ways.
= The obscure sound of "en may be
pressed rs follows:
BY o, as IN scissors. By a, as in billiards.
aud ae, MS in dimresis. by al, rs in murrain.
t''iN' as in banner By Gu, as in sergeant. BY Ell
In heifor BY co, us in leopard. By ecu, q
righteous. BY Gu, as in grandeur. BY |, q
sir. BY Ia, as in special. By 10, as in comp
ion. By OF, as in ayoirdupois. BY on, a
journal. Byu, as in turn. by ue, as in gu
at By nj. as in circuit By y, as in myrtle.
This gives total Of 10.
The fifth sound, simple r, may be re
sented as follows:
Byr, as in scissors. BY re, as in verdure.
Incl fh s as m sh' Ru RIB as in myrrh By VIZ
.eed. wrong.
Here is sum total of seven ways to
resent this sound The sixth sound,
of IS" we have already considered.
lN To find the number of combinations
'lA5 sible from this variety of symbols exp
ing the same sounds we must find
- product of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. This y
grand total of 1898, $50 ways in which
,klt word may be spelt-according TO sir
analogy.
Still we are not aware that any cons
m n able percentage OF people that ever atte
school have any difficulty in spellinl
@ the word in the single way which is
rect No complaints are heard except
owing the spelling reformers, pathological an
eya =, lists who want to equaizea the differ
/. uites. among words as their political proto
eils on strive to do among men.-Pittsburg
Farior patch =.
herein
@ TWO HOMES WRECKED.
aqrs. Dsbson's Death Succeeded by
Cozsy's Confession of Guilt.
. CAMDEN, n. J., Oct. Mrs. Clara
IT, tbs Dobson, wife of DIR. A. L. Dob'
prominent physician OF this city, di
tba bnma NJ her father hero vest