Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-06-01
REFORM IN spEILixG.

Ing. itc does not tnlllk tnt tHaub' van
be wrought in a few months, but trusts
that II will gradually come about. As a
starter he has advised his teachers to
1 begin the use OF the twelve words recon-
mcndod by the National Educational AS
ISOLATION. These words. with their modi-
| fed orthography. are MS follows:
program. programme.
| tho. though.
| .altho. although.
| ihoro. thorough.
thorofare, thoroughfare
thru. through.
| thruout throughout.
I oatalog. catalogue.
prOlog. prologue.
dccalog, dccaiogue.
demagog. demag0gue.
pcdagog, pedagogue.
Professor Andrews believes that after
the Chicago children have gotten tho
roughly familiar with the phonetic spell
ing Of these twelve words they will have
adopted also some Of the $500 reformed
words" arranged by the American Philo-
logical Association. And when that time
comes our novels and literature will look
IKE the printed essays OF MoZis Addums
or Josh Billings. and dictionaries will be
practically useless. except for definitions.
The complete plan Of the system con-
templates a change I'm which one word
out Of every ten in an ordinary compost
ton will be spelled in a new way. Here
is an Illustration Of what we may see n
few years hence:
Tha nativ Taft at the fotograf and stuk
his tung at it. althO he thot the f1losofor
was as big Gemagog as the totografer
who wisht the fotograf publisht.
II must not be supposed that the pro-
posed reform is arbitrary or that it leaves
the writer at his own free will to spell
as he pleases. There is system of rules,
and these must be followed strictly The
silent must be dropped when phoneti-
cally used. and the a must be eliminated
from ca in such words as feather and
"1eather." When the letter has the
same sound as the u. IN but" we must
substitute the II therefor. In other words
the time may come when "above" will
appear "abuv." The o will also disappear
IN such words as trouble" and trough"
The sufiixes and ed will be transformed
into It," thus causing looked to be
spelled "lOokt," etc.
There are other changes along the same
lines. though, as is the case with all 0ther
rules. there are many exceptions. Where
the new system would make the word
unacceptable, as nee for knee, the old
spelling will be preserved. and SO also
where the letters are left in strange po-
sitions, as in edg for edge. Among those
who are promoting the system are Pro-
fessor Whitney, of Yale; Professor Child.
Of Harvard; Professor Max Muller, OF
oxford, and Professor Skeat, of Cam
bridge. DR.. Andrews, in discussing his
pans recently said: 1.-THE English is the
worst spelled of all alphabetical lam
guages. 1t is a terror to the young and
in many cases it is terror TO the old
as well"
The Dispatch occupies rather conserva-
tive ground as to this question of spell
ing. We understand, of course, that our
language has undergone many changes
during the past few hundred years. He
who has any doubt upon this point may
readily remove II by referring to any
copy of Shakespeare which is a literal
reproduction of the original foliOs.
1t is we'll that such changes should so
on; but we would prefer that they should
be gradual. We should not like to see our
written or spoken tongue so rapidly revO-
lutionized that parents would not be able
to understand the speech or writings Of
their children.
While we expect changes to be based
upon the phonetic system, we must take
note Of the fact that that system would
rot be thoroughly reliable and uniform.
In different parts of this country there
is marked difference In the pronuncia-
ton of the same words, and if the spell
ing is TO follow the sounds used, we shall |
have "tangle" at once. So we would 90
well to allow time to pass, in which our
pronunciation might approximate uni |
formity nearer than it does now.
Perhaps this assimilation is being made |
more rapidly than we are aware. For |
meTly Worcesters Dictionary was in gem |
cral use IN Virginia but some years ago |
It was dropped from the list of school |
looks selected by the state Board of |
Education. Webster is now the general |
guide TO pronunciation in the schools |
of this country. Even we conservative !
Nirginians are gradually coming into line
with the northern and western people on |
this question.
But enougn We do not contend for an
immovable. inflexible, and non-progres-
sve language, but for such gradual |
in photography as usage and |
good scholarship may warrant. And for |
the present at least. we are quite willing |
for the Chicago schools TO make the ex-
pertinent, while we await results and |
judicial temperament prepare
tory to giving our decision on the merits |
Of the question.