Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-09-01
A Statement About Sin1pllfied Spelling.

Much of the opposition which every
forward movement meets is due to
failure to perceive exactly what its
supporters desire. This is the case
with the movement for the simplifl-
cation of English spelling. Many OF
the articles which have appeared in
the newspapers with reference to the
movement. and to the simplfied spell
ing board. reveal serious misconcep-
tons. and In some cases a complete
lack of information. In order to clear
away these MISUNDERSTANDING and to
supply some necessary information, the
board calls attention to the following
facts:
i, The board does not propose any
radical or revolutionary" scheme OF
reform, or any sudden and violent
change of English spelling. Any pro-
posal TO upset suddenly and violently
the accepted spelling of any literary
language is foredoomed to failure. The
board does not intend to advocate any
modification of English spelling that is
not temperate and reasonable. II is not
+ in favor of any freakish photography
of any kind. like the misfit spelling of
Josh Billings" and of the comic
photographers. 1t does not desire to re-
lax the existing rules and analogies OF
English spelling. 1t desires rather to
make them more certain, to extend
them and enforce them, so as to get rid
| of needless exceptions and produce
greater regularity than now exists
2. The boards chief aim, in view OF
| the fact that the English language bids
| fair to become the world language of
| the future, is to arouse wider inter
est in English spelling. and TO call at
tention to it's present chaotic condition
Ia condition far worse than that ex-
listing in any other modern language.
The board believes that when the peo-
l.ple who speak English are fully aware
Iof the many disadvantages of their
present spelling, they will be glad to
help every effort to better it, as it has
been slowly bettered by individual eff
fort in the past.
8. The. board has not vet proposed
any innovation of it's own. 1t has be-
gun by selecting from the several
! thousand words now spelled in two or
more ways. three hundred of the most
common, and it has urged the public
| to adopt, now, the simpler of these
two forms, and thereby establish the
| principle of simplification. 1t believes
that this is natural and easy first
step toward further simplfications,
such as have been proposed and accepts
/ ed from time to time even in the nine
teenth century and within living MEM
Dry Macaulay. for example spelt
phaenonenon, Thackeray CIPHER, and
Parkman engulph, altho everyone now
spells phenomenon, cipher, engulf. So
esthetic and program are now estab-
| lished, and catalog and altho are GER
I tain to win acceptance in the immedi-
/ ate future.
/ 4. But the board will in due time
make suggestions of it's own. 1t will
! propose further simplifications of the
same sort. 1t will advocate the casting
out of certain letters which are not
sounded now, which do not affect the
analogies, and which merely cumber
the orthography This simplifica ton
! by omission is nothing new; it is a
process which has been going on for
centuries and which has given us today
for example, almanac, era, fantasy,
public and wagon. instead Of almanack,
AGRA, phantasie, publick and Wagon,
and, to go a little farther back, bat, Sc,
dim, sum, fish, true, civil, fatal ETC.,
| instead of the Elizabethan bate, settle,
dimlne, summe, fysshe. trewe, ciuill,
fatal, etc. There is nothing radical,
nothing dangerous, in urging the accel-
Grafton of this normal process.
5. The board does not propose to
make or to recommend any change in
the spelling of proper names, especially
of surnanes. That matter is out of its
chosen province. Geogra pllic names of
ten nes1 regulation but there are So
cieties and boards which take care of
| this
s. The board does not pretend TO be
Consistent" in the spelling of it's pubs
| lications For obvious reasons, the spell
/! ing of it's publications Is made to con-
| form to the lists or rules the board may
| have adopted up to the date of issue.
! The spelling will therefore become pro-
gressively simpler, and hence less in-
consistent. The remaining "inconsist-
encies" belong to the old spelling, and
not to the new Until all of the old
spelling is improved some of it will re-
main unimproved.
I. The board can assue all who cher
| ish the sentiment of loyalty to their
mother tongue, that simpliication' of
spelling will not obscure the meaning
or the origin of single word. In this
statement all scholars agree, lexicogra-
pliers and etymologists first of all. The
proposed simplifications will not make
| 1t more difficult for anyone to read the
masterpieces of English literature; and
they will not render useless the books
now in print. But they will save the
| time of all who write and the money of
all who print; and they will make the
language easier for our own children
and for the foreigners who are now
studying it In increasing multitudes all
| over the world.
8. The board begs to remind those
who may be fearful in regard to the
result Of it's recommendations, that
spelling is never stable, and that there