The Iuka vidette., 1894-11-08
CHANGES IN SPELLING.
They Are Numerous In English and Seem to
Come by Accident.

They Are Numerous In English and Seem Il
Come by Accident.
Much is said and written about the
desirability of reform in the spelling
of words; but few persons are aware OF
the great though gradual changes
which have been made already. "Uto-
pia," by Sir Thomas More, was origi-
nally printed in Latin in 1915, and was
translated into Englyshe by Raphe
Robynson, Citizen and Goldsmythe, of
London" and was Imprinted at Lon
don by Abraham Wele, dwelling in
Paul's churcheyarde at the sygne of
the Lambe, Ammo, 155l." A second
English edition was published in 1856,
and the writer has before him a fac.
simle copy of this second edition; and
in this we can see how the English Ian
guage was spelled 1888 years ago.
Opening the book at haphazard, we
find on page AZ, 337 words of which Ill
are of different spelling to that of the
present time. On page SO there are 359
words, of which 123 are different, and
on page rs there are 355 words, and of
these 1872 are different. Looking to sec
what these differences arc, we find
there is no j, but is used instead of It.
as periurie (periury), Judgment (judg-
ment, iorney tourney Then we see
that Y is very often used instead of i,
as bynge (being), standynge, hys, wyse.
Yet i is also largely used, the same as
it is now; as side, him, this. Some
times 1t takes the place of Y, as tiyan-
nye; and we also find used instead of
til, as ye for the, and yat for that. And
then lie often takes the place of Y at
the end of works, as perfectlie, dewtie,
cite
Next we find IL instead of V, as diurs
for divers, soeuer for soever, seruice
for service: and then, at the commence
ment of words, we have V instead of u,
as vse for use, vnto for unto, and vnder
for under. 1t may be borne in mind
that in the familiar letter w, we see
that was the original form of the let
ter IL. But in this book we do not find
taking the place of in the middle of
words, and we often find in its pres
ent form at the beginning of words, as
in vertues. vices and victory.
Many words which now end in II have
in this book only single !, as al, full and
small On the other hand, there are
many words with II where we now have
only a single !, as several for several
apparel, natural. Many words which
we spell with three letters have five in
this book. as budde, farrc and hydde
for hid. We see also that is often
placed at the end of words in which we
now consider it unnecessary. as in
fishe, herbe, meatc. On the contrary.
it Is often let off from words in which
we now use it, as els, ther privat
In numerous words in which we now
double the consonat. this book has only
single one, as maner, medic, sor
row. Single o is used in such words as
blodshed, roted or vol, while 90 is
found in doc, gooten and woorke. We
notice also that p follows in such words
as condempned and solempne. We also
find many compound words which are
absolete; for instance, as-muche, as
wei and shal-be, while many words
which we compound are in this book
found separate, as in dede, an other
where as. We also note that au is fire
quently placed where we are now salts
fed with a: for instance, dangerous
perchaunce and pleasant.
1t may be further noted that in this
book there is no uniformity in the
spelling, as the same words are spelled
in two or three different ways. as bi-
cause, bvcause and becs use, beutie,
bewtie and bewtye; deWcie and dewty;
foles and fooles; helth, healthe and
health; hollye and holly; yf and if;
lytle and little; myles and miles; pryde
and pride; syl1nes, sycknes and sick
ness; whyche and whiche: wyffe and
wife; wyll and will. The name of the
printer is in twoplaces Wele, and in a
third place Weale. boston Transcript.