New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
SPELLING LANGUAGE S5

The announcement that committee Of experts
IN the use OF English had securd the financial
support OF Andrew Carnegie fr a campaign TO
simplify the spelling Of the lanelage has stirred
Up a great deal Of comment not only in this
country, but n England. In he latter country
some writer's. judged from he comments as
signed 70 them have the opinion that I'm taking
UP the project Of supervising "Londonese" the
Americans are twisting the ions tail. Algernon
Charles swinburne has beer quoted as declaring
II "A monstrous barbaroIs absurdity" while
h Rider Haggard said, according to the inter
viewers. that the language Of Shakespeare is
good enough for me" one Of the members Of
me Simplihed Spelling Board considers that
America is the lion, and England the tail In
this matter England, ha,ing less than half of
the population Of the Unied States. will have TO
be wagged by the authorities Of the United
States. ne declares.
The members of the Supplied Spelling Board
do not Intend TO have is reform laughed out Of
court with 'immezuraN reprooh and inexting-
gWlshabl latter" the extreme reformers Of
other days would have put It, They have taken
leaf out Of the books of former efforts and
reached the conclusion that discretion is the
better part. While declaring that phonetic
spelling Is the ideal form, they say that It is
probably not attainable a system, and are
starting with something which they hope viii
There are. they say. many thousands Of words
for which there are two accepted speIrngs, such
as centre and center. and traveller and traveller,
and authorities differ as TO which is better. One
Of these ought 10 be stamped with authorita-
tive seal which viii make It legal tender" To
this extent, they argue, the language is in
fluid state They viii attempt TO solidify it in
the better form There are many other words
which leading English writers of this and other
ho--a lint hoy- Of
ceived common acceptance. They are # the kind
that approach the phonetic form, and at the
same time are shorter than the words in common
usage. There are also words containing diph-
thongs. which might be shortened by reducing the
diphthong 10 a single letter. Again there are
words containing silent letters which might
with profit and without violence, they say be
dropped. In other words. modification and not
innovation IS to be the watchword. No new
alpha bet IS proposed.
STARTING THE CAMPAIGN.
In the course Of a few weeks the board VIII
send out a preliminary list of three hundred
"simplifed" words the first step. This will
be sent to writer's educators. editors. publishers
and parents. Possibly many as a hundred
thousand copies Of this first effort toward max
ing English the world language viii be dis
tributed An attempt VIII be made especially to
reach parents who are interested in the progress
Of their children at school and have discovered
that one Of the drawbacks is the difficulty the
latter have il spelling. If this step produces
results" then the next viii be decided upon'
but until the character Il the reception OF the
r7-esenr list is determined advance viii be
made The board does not intend TO go any
faster than its work is absorbed. but by means OF
yar7rb1ets addresses, etc, II viii endeavor to
make this process Of absorption rapid one.
The following are the recommendations the
list viii contain:
Thar ed" and "sed" be replaced by 't'' in
such words as the following;
addressed saarest s S5TFsa 6i'e Contest
missed mist S~e5 fTt
tllshe5 busat crossed eIost ,
That "er~ be adopted wherever "re" is now
,,zea IN such words as ~accoutre," centre"
"calibre"
That -" be dropped from such words as &C
Acknowledgement and abridgement and they be
written acknowledgement" and "abridgment.'
That the diphthongs &c and oe be reduced
r. The following manner:
55e55aevai medieval lrsophagus esoPhagus
rasr real
That the final 'ue" be dropped in such WoIus
&c catalogue" and "decalogue," the final 'te.
., suoh words as cigarette" "coquette' ana
..,r,eIet,e" the final me in programme" and
.,g-ar7r1e" and the final &c" where not needed
.o- Guidance in pronunciation IN such words as
D5ey,e1o-e % ..antipyrine." "glycerne." axe and
''vyoe"
That the ~" be considered bad form IN such
--o~5e as ,,ardour" 'laurnour' and honour"
That ~" be used instead OF IS" in such words
ss advertise" ''braise" and "apprise." and that