The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-09-08

pfcTiorta Fsa fERs WRITE
MOST INTERESTING cpMMu.
flIcATIoN 10 NEW
YORK PAPER.

" I.
ANY one who wants some valuable
Information on the subject Of spelling
reform win do wen to read the fol.
lowing communication to the Nav
York Times
m your issue of Aug. 20 appears
the stat cement: '''The publishers Of
ygehstersa Dict tonary announced yes
tesday through II. Curtis Rowley, their
srteasurar. that no attempt would be
made al present to observe in Web:
stara dictionary the rules for spell.
Ing adopted BY President Roosevelt"
Inaamuchs as this is an incorrect
statement OF an informal conversation
held with q local reporter, and will,
fear. lead to erroneous differences
~ 3your readers, we venture to state
: 10 You more specifically the present
feeling of the publishers of Websters
dictionary regarding the subject OF
spelling reform"
AS has been stated in some of your.
articles spelling reform is not new
sngject, but has been argued for and
urged by scores and hundreds for
scores and hundreds Of years. The
spoken Language is bound to vary.
Fashion In speech shanges class Of
words as fashion in dress changes
thagcut OF a coat. When the spoken
tongue becomes widely different from
the written record then comes the
need5ofsa change, and with the neel
comes ultimately the change itself.
The language of to-day differs SO wide
nv from that OF Chaucer that it is
dihicult for the ordinary man to COM
prehend this great poet, while even
Milton and Shakespeare usually ap.
pear in texts with modernized spell.
Ing. It Is reasonable to suppose, then,
that changes will continue. and, ap.
parently. changes will result from the
present widespread agitation OF the
snbject.
The position of dictionary publish.
fers at such time Of change is one
OF peculiar difficulty All who remem'
3 Der or have seen the literature rela.
tive to the spelling agitation that
swaept over the country in the tifties
sand sixties will appreciate how much
Webster's Dictionaries have done In
4 forwarding stmpliaed spellings. To
them are due. in large measure, the
Z changes from COLOUR to- Color"
entire to center the dropping OF
the double letter in words like "trav.
cling, the elisfon Of the "e." from
tJubgment," the use Of "ize" in place
of Else" in many words from The
Greek, &C. These changes have be.
come. characteristic Of Amrican spell
j ing, and many of them. notably those
!: in. "ize," are now the accepted forms
in Muray's Oxford English Dictionary.
we mention these facts because they
seem to us to indicate that Webster
!. has always been leader in the move
ment Of spelling reform.
This position the publishers Of
webster hope still to maintain, and
n trust that their support of all the eff.
forts to simplify and make consistent
English spelling will be taken for
granted. The following facts show
that this position has been consistent
~ maintained:
B AS a result of recent spelling re-
form agitation the publishers some
J. years ago inserted in Webster's Die
/ tionary such of the twelve words reG'
commended by the National Education.
al Association as were not already In
Guided Some of these forms were
not new and had been the Websterfar
preference for long time. Othe'5
were inserted as soon as usage SEEM
ed to indicate that they were not
merely ephemeral spellings, but were
destined to persist for some time.
With reference to the 800 words
now presented for occupation by the
Simplified Spelling Board. some ISL
are already authorized by the latest
edition OF. Webster, and of these los
are, and have long been, the preferred
Wabsterian forms. With a very few
exceptions. all of the remaining forms
4 are already given in separate list IN
Webster's international Dictionary
where they can be readily consulted
y and used. So fast as these or other
forms receive the sanction of con-
siderable body of respectable usage
they will be entered in the vocabulary
proper,
81 The only basis for authority In IAN
j guage Is the usage Of intelligent, ed
ucated people, and any dictionary that
looks for reputation as a STANDARD
4 must faithfully reflect such usage. The
fact that certain forms are recon-
mended by small group of men, even
n .if they be leaders in linguistic study
!. Is. to our mind, hardly sufficient war
80 -. .IS,tto,oru,o rwfrrSr1 +E,aso