The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-22

Why Mr.. C~arneEie'e Proposal IL NOs Likely
10 Make Much Headway.

/ ~ ~ w -
TO Make Much Headway.
To THE EDIroR or TIE SuS-Sir; Thirty
years ago. as Government examiner In orien-
tai languages. I reduced the Afghan language
to a phonetic system of spelling. and my
Government text books were printed ana
are still printed in this system. ] also en-
ployed a calligraphist to copy nearly all the
eminent Afghan poets, and 10 prepare the
manuscripts according TO this system. These
manuscripts were purchased from me by the
British Museum. / am therefore, as an
Orientalist, much interested in MIR. Andrew
Carne0ie's proposal TO esta blish a phonetic
system of writing the English language. But
i regret to say that very nearly forty years
experience has convinced me. that what was
possible for me to do in an Oriental language
Is absolutely impossible for any one TO attempt
with regard to the English tongue. Ana Tor
this reason: The English language OF to-day
is cosmopolitan. 1t is spoken by men edu-
Gated in the English schools and universities.
by millions of men educated In Coitlnehtai
schools and universities, by several millions
of people educated In the schools and uni
versities of BIRTH h India: and In the United
States there are 80, o0o. 900 OF English speaking
people, some OF whom pronounce English
vowels according to the English method
and others according to that adopted in Con-
t%inental schools. As a boy / was taught TO
pronounce the Latin "moneo." to teach
"moneeo"; but my sons. also educated IN
England, pronounce 1t "monao."
Let me take the English word here, an
adverb slgnifyinG lin this place" Phoneti-
cally this word would be pronounced hare
by the majority Of English speaking people,
who retain the Continental pronunciation or
the letter e.
The difficulty became evident when about
thirty-fve years ago the Government OF India
published an order to regulate the trans
Iteration Of Hlhdustani words. and made It
absolutely necessary for all Government
officials to transliterate according to this
system. under the penalty OF official dis
pleasure. At the very first q difficulty was
presented In spelling the name of Calcutta.
the capital Of India. 1t ought to have been
changed to "Kalikut," as expressing. the
original. This was impossible. and they
tried "Kalkatta." This, however. did not
seem to meet the necessities ~ the case, and
80 the Government allowed an exception to
their phonetic system In spelling such words
as Calcutta and C~awnpore. In the case OF
Lahore. the 'e" Is ON tilted and 1t Is now spelled
Labor. But what Ia most remarkable is the
fact that when distinguished Anslo-Indian
scholars leave India they return in large de-
gree to the old fashioned way OF translitera-
tion. This Is noticeable in a work written by
Sir Alfred Lyall. at one time Vice. Chancellor
]. was an eSSmlner; he Completely Ignores
the Government, phonetic system. l think
l can illustrate the difficulty which is expert
G ish cf s%pi Sed Ct Che s'T Tora dlls 4mit.. in f fhs A ISEk:
sbs 4dRp 5SnSSq Empi1e e q " taIs T9rf fS Ser pSonstIt
q tbe Government q India, T. Amir" This
average American 1t In no way gives the
correct pronunciation. consequently, the old
NAY SIyn OF . spSei ntRssr Il l. 9 az adoPF E sd,} BY ya El5R9bI TN %sn2
OF US az. giving the correct pronunciation
h@ Ths sne nmeef or q v,our" IL an ~instanoe
OF the peryersity Of the literary mind. Our
lor. but this does not express the pronunola-
auently, when the new. edition Of the Amerl-
can, Episcopal Book OF Common Prayer Gas
iished Is I that 9s Sf f tas Gh imSos aIBB%In to a dos ps she
A% SoaS %e eSsts%; of dictionary fame spelled
and omitted the letter u. from honour. But
find our best New York newspapers spell
Toned way, and / have just inspected invita-
tIon cards printed by one of the most fashion
able engrayers in the city. and l find that
quest the honour" OF your company to din
There is a very strong prejudice against
II is called the American Tnyasion." It viii
therefore be impossible even for Mr.. Carnegie
with his enormous wealth to make the Eng
lish universities adopt any crude phonetic
Every oficeT i the British army speaks
Seiors. the speiiIns Of HcolonePss can b given iSe9
for my help, and said he had been a "iutenant"
in the British army. or course his propun-
citation OF the word lieutenant" revealed the
fact that he never could have been an officer
in mt the th,t british df army where the ? pro
At the present time both spelling and pro-
nunclation OF the English Ian guage are mat
tiers of social standing. and environment.
The afty-four Labor member of the House of
Commons are now pIonouncing the English
pronunciation will make no impression on
that of the educated members of the'House.
On the other hand, the pronunciation of men
Of education, like Macaulay, Gladstone,
Salisbury. Rosebery, Balfour and Campbell
Bannerman, makes q very great impression
Of these men even to change the spelling of
the language they speak and write to a GER
tain extent.
There lie another very potent reason why
any reform In spelling organized In America
will be greatly retarded. This L. our present
Set up, and ellectrotyped At the, Norwood
and .throuehout the whole book the English
method Of spelling ia adopted. The publish
ers know full well that II the plates were sent
to En- gland with the reformed system Of
spelling they would be useless. But. as I
have already remarked. the great difficulty
way OF pronouncinK the vowels.
THOMAS p, HUOHPs.