The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-01-05
SPELLING MADE EASY
a sKEPTlc ON THE THEORY or RE-
( FORM vENTILATES HIS VIEWS.

He shows Combsnation OF over Three
s:iIiion Ways In which the Eiementar,
sounds witch Form the simple Word
scissors May ne Produced.
the various spelling reform movements
that they have all failed. even that father
cd by the distinguished phonologist, Alex
nnder Ellis. and indorsed by the leaders Of
linguistic science--the paleotype--went
the way OF all such schemes and was final
" repudiated by its originator himself.
The fact is, when the people find that a
language needs reforming they reform IL
themselves, little needing the dictums of
learned societies in the matter. The Eng
lish language suits the English speaking
races II is adapted TO all the requirements
of the most highly cultivated. In the Ian
guage of Mark Twain, it 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 Co pay
ing doctor bill where there is no disease
That is why spelling reform has not sue
ceedcd.
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-
lutionary measures are not admissible. I'M
provements must be made slowly. The
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 theassumption that spelling is log
ical process 1t is really an exercise of the
memory. A word Is apprehended as
whole, not as n collection of individual
joints. When we write a word, we do not
consider IL as composed of letters 1t is to
us simply the picture of an idea, and the ac-
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 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 k the Judgment can have reached
that stage of perfection which is required
to carry on the processes of inductive and
deductiye reasoning in a satisfactory man.
ner?
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 were 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 chronological analogya Let
us see in ho- 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.
Theword scissors contains six elementary
sounds-ro wit:
S-I-Z-E-R-S.
The first and the last are the simple
sounds Of IS. The second is short 81. as
heard in thin" The third is the simple
sound OF ''z." The fourth is the obscure
sound of ''e," the will-o'-the-wisp of the
English language. The fifth is the simple
sound Of IT"
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
co. as In efface. BY ps, as in psalm. BY S. 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 isthmus. BY
sw. as in sword.
This gives sum total of 12 ways by |
which the sound of may be represented.
The second sound. that of short 81" may |
be expressed as follows:
Byi. as in scissors BY al. as in captain. By |
aes a. I'm Agcan. Bye, as in English. BY en-, |
rs 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 &c. mnanthic. BY OF. as in tor |
Loise- By ois. as in chamois. BY u. as In busy
BY ui, as IN guinea. BY ny. as in plaguy. BY |
J. as In abyss.
This yields sum total OF 10 symbols
which arc used to express the sound of
short 'si"
The third sound, that of simple "z.n NAV
be expressed as follows:
Byss. as in scissors. BY c, as In sufficinr.
By &C. as In sacrifice Bycz. as In czar. Bys.
Is n is BY Sc. as I'm Chinese. BY x, as in
Kcbec. BY q. as In zodiac. BY 20, as In adze.
By ~. as in fuzz-
Thus az" may be represented in 10 differ
mt ways
The obscure sound Of "e, may be ex-
pressed as folloNK:
BY o. as In scissors BY a. as in billiards. By
.. as in diEresis- BY al. as in mnrrain. BYE
ls In banner. BY ca. as In sergeant. BY eli, as
n hcifer. By co. as in leopard. BY eou. as in
1ghteous- By en-. as in grandeur. Byi as in
ir. BY Ia As In special. b. 10. az in complex
on BY oi. a. In avoirdupois. BY on, as in
ournaL Byu. as IN turn by ne. as in guess.
By al. as in circuit. Byy. as in myrtle.
This gives total Of 10.
The fifth sound, simple r. may be repre-
ented as follows:
BY T. as In scissors. By re. as In verdure. By
h. as in rhcum. By II. az ia hnrr. By rre. as
q simarre. b. rrh. as in rsyrrh. BY W.T.. as in
wrong.
Here is sum total OF seven ways TO rep
esent this sound. The sixth sound, that
Il IS, !" we have already considered.
To find the nuull,or of CON, ,hip.tfcn. -. |