Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-10-18

SPELLING MADE EASY
a skEprlc ca THE THEORY OF RE-
: FORM vENTilATES HIS VIEWS.

n. show, q ombination Of Over Three
Million ways In Which the Elementary
s.upds which Form the Simple Word
Scissors May He Produced.
II IL 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 tine leaders OF
Guruistic science-the palaotype-went
The way of all such schemes and was nnai-
ly repusiiated by its originator himself
The fact is, when the people find that
language needs reforming they reform u
themselves, little needing the dlctums OF
learned societies in the matter. Inc Fang
lish Language suits the English speaking
races. tits adapted TO all the requirements
of the most highly cultivated. In the IAN
cuage of Mark Twain, it is "a language
that can stand the strain when you want 70
say something really worth saying, ana
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 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, an
are crude and imperfect. But violent reVo-
lutionarv measures are not admissible. I'M
movements must be made slowly. me
laws of natural selection and the survival
of the fittest" operate here As in the rest OF
natures vast domain.
The great error of the spelling reformers
lies in the assumption that spelling isa log
ieal process. 1t is really m exercise of the
memory. \ word is apprehended as a
whole, not as collection of individual
Joints. When we write word, we do not
consider it as composed of letters. IL Is TO
us simply the picture of an idea, and the &C
curacy of or spelling depends upon the
vividuess of the image i'll our memory. IL
is an axiom in psychology that the SIM
pier faculties attain II 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 that the subject spells cat
with a the Judgment can nave reached
that stage of perfection which Is required
10 carry on the processes of lnductive ana
deductive reasoning in satisfactory man
ner?
To illustrate the argument take the word
scissors, which Alexander Ellis has already
made the subject of computation. Elis
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 were consistent with the etymo-
logical analogy. But what does that block
road the smelling reformers client, who
cannot recall the way to spell scissors,
know about chronological analogy? Let
rs GO. in how many WAYS he would spell
10 - oaa,,.Jir,, 70 tho ordinary brand
oiie ~ Co.,, In ~ hrainr.n eaven
Oh aiaiosS oii ,"p IA H
days IN the week, SUNDAY iheiuue"'
The word SCISSORS contains SIN elementary
sounds-to Wit
S-I-H-E-R-s.
The first and the last are the Simple
sounds of IS" The second is short = rs
heard in chin" The third is the simple
sound of ~" The fourth Is the obscure
sound OF &c, the Wlll-o -'he-Wisp Oh w
English language. Inc Hith Is the simple
sound of "r"
The first and last sounds may be repre-
scented bv amy of the following letters and
combinations, rs will be seen from the eH
amplcs given:
Nv So as in scissors. Byc. as in circle. BY
&c, as in elrace. by ps, as in psalm. by :, a.
in single. by scc' as IN coalesce- by sen a. IN
schism ny Sc rs IL cause l'y S. as IN mas
By st, as IN listen. By sti' as IN lsthihus- hy
sw. as in sword.
This gives IA sum total of L. ways by
which the sound of : NAV he represented
M saoord a,,u,d ti,ot of short al y, may
u, ~, 49,, ~ -. "
DC eAPresseu DIS io''o"''
" as IN se.SS"i H. 10y a. T., a. r ~ H.
ae in ,'9 c1n mi Nv er as in been Nv ei as in
.urfeit, By ey. as in monkey BY ia, as in
women. by or, Gnanthic. by o. as IN tor
.oise. BY dis, as in chamois. ny u, as IN busy
BY III, as IN guinea. Ivy ny, us IN piiisuy. by
y as Iii "pSss'
This yields sum total OF ~ symbols
which are used 10 express the SOUND OF
short 4"
The thlrd SOUND, 'h''C OIL simple " may
be expressed as follows:
BY IS, as in scissors. BY {, as in suflicing.
BY &c. as in sacrifice. by e. as IN car by =
as IN Is, 10y ST. US !" linI ~, ny ~ as III
49,. J.. e 49, "5 80
~,
nus may oe iei'eSe'''e" ~ i'''''ie'-
ehs ways
INC "''seo ~ ao''"' VI may W. va
pie99e'' ''9 i'''o"9'
BY o, as in scissors ny a. as IN billiards; by
IT, as III uitIesis. 10y a. as ~ .',,,, an
a. i.jsar H., a9 oe IN laa,,ard ~. oa,' ~ ;r
riohtrons h en ne in random nv nsir,