The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-10-21


this was new thing, IL no SUCH pairs
of words existed now. But the eng
fish language at the present time has
hundreds OF words different In mean
ing and alike in spelling; and, there
is no confusion wnateyer in actual
practice. Neither in speech nor in
writing is there any confusion in the
four meanings, when | write: "A fast
man rarely lasts, or the fast horse
is tied fast" There is a ''scuttle" OF
coal, 'scuttle" on the roof, the crabs
'scuttle" away, and the pirates scut-
tie ship.
The second objection is that by
striking out needless letters We shall
hide the history of the word This is
known as the genealogical objection.
The first answer to that is that the.
present spelling in great many cases
suggests a false origin. In rhyme"
the III suggests that rhyme" is de-
rived from the Greek and has cOnnec-
ton with "rythm." In island the IS
suggests that island" is, in some
way, derived either from the Latin or
the French. In tongue" the "ue"
and in comptroller" the mp sug-
gest that the word is from the French.
Other false derivations can be seen in
debt" delight" 'aghast, and
''neighbor.'
But even If all the accepted spell
ings of the present time told the truth,
and nothing but the truth, in regard
to the origin of words, that would be
no reason for retaining a needless let
for h OF Of hn sch lo.a
guage has been worked out-by scholars
You will find it in Skeat's Etymologl
cal Dictionary of the English language
One would suppose from the stress on
this objection, that the striking out OF
| needless letters would Immediately
destroy all the books of the past in
which the history of those words has
been recorded. Furthermore it is not
any part of the function of spelling to
represent the. sound of the word.
There are perhaps hundred and thir-
ty millions of people now using the
English language. or these few
| hundred thousand million or two
if you. want me, to admit as much
have a scholarly requirement with
other languages and are interested in
the derivation Of words. Are We to
burden a hundred and twenty-five mil,
lion who can get more accurate infOr-
nation better from books?
And / ought to say also that this
genealogical objection is never urged
by the real scholars. Prof Skeat, the
editor of the chronological Dictionary
DR.. Murray and DR.. Bradley, the edi
tor of the Oxford Dictionary, and the
editors of the three American diction
} aries are all members of the Simpli
fed Board They know that the OBJ
ject of spelling is to represent the
sounds as simply and satisfactorily az
possible and not to give information
or misinfOrmation about the origin
of the word. 1t is the half-educateC
man who wants this. He likes to be
able to guess at the derivation, and he
, is willing to put burden on the res
: of us to crafty this WhimSy h
seems to think that a word looks pref
tier because these needless letters are
preserved. .o;.
Not lnnoVators.
There is a third objection of FL
more weight This is the plea tina
any change of amy kind is confusing
: that the one thing we want is some
thing fixed, final and indisputable
The force of that objection is some
what lost when we consider that Their,
is not now any fixed photography G
the English language, and that thert
! never has been. The list of alterna
tive spellings at the end OF every die
l tiOnary will show that. Year afte
year the spelling of English does Inc
: prove; it does become simpler; need
less letters are cast out. What WI
propose to do as have said, is to &C
celerate the process What those wbC
urge this their objection propose to dc
is to stop it. They have had the trou
bic of learning the complicated alb
surdities of our photography and the.
want to take the profit from their Ia
r Dor. They also want to impose tina
: labor upon future generations Tha
seems 10 me singularly un-Americal
= argument
Those who want to stop the car O
progress ARE the innovators;" the,
are asking something new. We ar
not We who are urging simplifiet
I spelling. are urging a process natura
9 to the English language, long estat
? lished and certain to continue. The,
;. ask that the irresistible flow of tn
English language, which has sprea
: abroad through al, the seven seas
, shall be damned once for all. The,
: ask that the English language shal
! abdicate its right to better it's orthoa
: raphy.
o Help the Children.
h Are you going to join the party O
inertia and to say Let bad enoug
/ alone or are you going to join us an
!, lend hand? You teachers know be-
n ter than anybody else how great /
the waste of time by the present COZ
/ dition. Help us then for the sake @
c the foreigner in this country, and W
t have millions of them and are likel
t to have millions more So long as h