The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-13
SPELLING MADE EASY,
A Skeptic OF the Theory OF the
Reform Expresses His
Views.
Physiological Reformers Fave
Failed in Their Frequent and
Vigorous Efforts
. .oO0. 900 WAYS IN Which the Eismsn-
tary Sounds In the Word Scissors
May He Formed.

May He Formed.
It Is a remarkable feature connected with
the various spelling reform movements
that they awe all failed, even that father
ed by the distinguished phonolo2ist, Alex
ander Ellis, and Endorsed by the leaders of
linguistic science-the paleotypewent
the way OF all such schemes and was final
ly rcpudiated by its originator himself.
The fact is, when the people find that a
language needs reforming they reform 1t
themselves, little needing the dictums Of
learned societies in the matter. The Eng
lish language suits the English speaking
races. 1t is adapted to all the requirements
of the most highly cultivated. In the Ian
gua9e of Mark Twain, it is "a language
that can stand the strain when you want %
say something really worth saying" and
the great mass of the people object to pay
ing a 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 lncon-
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, Il medicine, all
are crude and imperfect. Blu violent revo-
lutionary measures are not admissible. I'm
p~rovements must be made slowly. The
laws of natural selection and the survival
of the f1ttest'' operate here as in the rest Of
natures vast domain.
The great error of the spelling reformers
lies in the assumption that spelling is log
ical process. 1t Is really an exercise of the
memory. A word is apprehended as q
~-I1I ~ -, "a n11fa1Afrvr 1f fnIyxysly,o1
joints. When we write q word, we do not
consider it as composed of letters. It is to
us simply the picture of III idea, and the &C
curacy of our spelling depends upon the
vividness of the image in our memory. 1t
is an axiom in psychology that the sim
pier faculties attain a more perfect develop
ment than the complex.
Is it reasonable to suppose that in cases
where the basic faculty Of memory is so
poorly developed hat the subject spells cat
with a k the judgment can have reached
that stage Of perfection which is required
to carry on the processes of inductive and
deductive reasoning in a satisfactory man.
ner?
To illustrate the argument take the word
scissors, which Alexander Ellis has already
made the subject of computation. Ellis
figured out that this word could be spelled
about 5000 different ways. But he admit
ted only such signs for the sounds of the
word as We're consistent with the etymo-
logical analogy. But what does that block
head, the spelling reformer's client, who
cannot recall the way to spell scissors,
know about genealogical analogy? Let
us see in how many ways he would spell
one word according to the ordinary brand
of analogy on tap in his %brainpan seven
days in the week, Sunday included.
The word scissors contains six elementary
sounds-to wit:
S-I-Z-E-R-S.
The first and the last are the simple
ounds of IS" The second Is short Sc" us
heard in thin" The third is the simple
sound of 81" The fourth is the obscure
sound of Sc" the will-o'the-wisp of th-
English language. The fifth is the simple
sound Of "r."
The first and last sounds may be repre-
sented by any of the following letters and
combinations, as will be seen from the ex-
amples given:
By SC, as in scissors. By c, as in circle. By
ce, as in elface. BY ps, as in psalm. By $, as
in single. By see, as in coalesce. By sch. as in
schism. BY Sc, as in cause. BY IS, as in mass.
BY st, as in listen. By sth, as in isthnus. By
sW. as in sword.
AAio ' b SUN boSIi VI IL ways NY
which the sound of s may be represented.
The second sound, THAT of short 81" may
be expressed as follows:
By j, as in scissors. BY al, as in captain. BY
ne, as in Hgean. By g, as in English. By ca,
as in guinea. BY ee, as in been. By eli, as in
surfeit. BY ey, as in monkey. By ia, as in
parliament. BY lie, as in sieve. BY o, as in
women. BY u, nnauthic. By OF, as in tor
toise. By dis, as in chamois. BY u, as in busy
XIV nj a in pJlina1 Rr NV n d II, r1n.,,r d.
y, as in abyss.
This yields a sum total of 10 symbols
which are used to express the sound of
short 81"
Thu third sound, that of simple ''z," may
be expressed as follows:
By Sc, rs in scissors. By c, as in s%ufficinG.
By &c. as in sacrifice. BY CT, as in car. By s,
as il is. BY Sc, as in Chinese. By X, as in
xebec. BY q, as in zodiac. BY re, as in adze,
by III, as in fuzz.
Thus ~ may be represented in 10 differ
ent ways.
The obscure sound of 'e'' may be ex-
pressed as follows:
BY o, as in scissors. By a, as in billiards. BY
sc, as in dimrcsis. BY al, rs in murrain. By q,
as in banner. By ca, as in sergeant. by eli, as
in heifcr. By co, as in leopard. BY eou, as in
righteous. BY Gu, Us in grandeur. BY i, as in
sir. BY ia, as in special. BY 10, as in complex
ion. By OF, as in avoirdupois. BY gu, as in
journal. By u, as in turn. BY ue, as in guess.
By III, as in circuit. By y, as in myrtle.
This gives q total of 10.
The fifth sound, simple r, may be repre-
sented us follows:
By L, as in scissors. By re, as in verdure. By
rh, as in rheum. BY II, as in burr. BY IRE. as
In simarre, By rrh, as in myrrh. By WI, as in
wrong.
Here is a sun total Of seven ways to rep
resent this sound. The sixth sound, that
of IS" we have already considered.
To find the lumber of combinations DOS
sible from this variety of symbols express.
Ing the same sounds we must find the
product OF 12x19xlOx19x7X12. This Yields
a grand total Of 3,G3S, $50 ways in which the
word may be spelt-according to simple
analogy.
Still we are not aware that any consider
able percentage Of people that ever attended
school have any difficulty in spelling the
the word i'll the single way which is cor
rect. No complaints are heard except from
the spelling reforners, pathological anarch-
lists who want to cqualizea all the differences
among words as their political prototypes
strive to do among men.-Pittsburg Dis
patch.
Where He Was.
"How many stories has this buildinptn