Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1920-05-25


All spellings of English words should be CON
formd to agree with these prncipls of represents.
ton
Words of pure English origin ending in If" or
''fe'' when forming the plural change the "f,
sound to its cognate "v'' and ad subvoca $50.
thievs lives wives leavs havs
knives sheavs STAYS calvs wolvs
A few words Of Romance origin, or words con.
tanning dubl vowel. form the plural by retaining
the f" and adding aspirat $50:
hoofs reefs chiefs griefs
roofs briefs proofs cefs
Nouns ending in o' preceded by consonant
hav usually added ''es'' to form the plural. There
is no good reason for the seq. The better way is
to ad ''s' only:
heros negritos mottos dynamos
potatoes volcanoes pianos solos
negros tomatoes cargos mulattos
The words ''shoe'' and canoe" ar the only
words in which "oe'' sounds like 600 long The
old English word for shoe 'sho'' plural
'shoon' 1t would be better way to spell both
these words with So ''-shoo and canoo.
Words with "ou'' pronounct like 90" long,
where the silent 'u'' is not requir'd to lengthen
the sound of "o'' should drop the ''u''.
mold (moud) mott (moult) moldy (mouldy)
moldering (mouldering) CORD (gourd)
Words spelt 'ea - but pronounc t like short "e'
should drop the "a'' as the characteristic sound
of sea- is long "e'
fether lether neither weher deth weth
ded dred bred breth heth mesure
insted sted REIN ment dremt pleasant
Three common words which begin with "wh"
in which the ''w" is silent, whole, whore,
and "whoop''. hav had the "w'' added since the
early Middl English period, since this letter did
A. %lr +bo%,>o I'd
1t was probably added by later printers die
tionary makers in order to make the words look
like who who's and whom.
Now, take the word "whoe'; the forms
''hoc'', and hal" are both found in Midd
English and the word is closely akin to heal
and hale" If any change is made to correct the
error of the unwarranted "w'' it should combine
the 500 and ''a' of the Middl English forms,
making the modern form ''hoal'' That would
Civ US the derivativs hoalsom'', 'hoay', "hoal-
hearted, etc. The word "hore" is us d thruhout
all the middl period wei as in the older Engo-
Saxon There is nowhere until modern times any
spelling containing the "w' The useless letter
should. therefore, be dropt. "Houp' is the form
of the third word, which appears in all Middl Eng
lsh spengs Why not drop the erratic Wv" and
return to the original and correct method of spell
ing? "War-houp" may not seem quite so blood
curdling as when spelt with "w', but we would
soon becom accustomd to the change, and like it
much better
The digraph "e'. pronounce like long a, occurs
before "l' or 'n'', in such words as vein,
''rein'. "heinus" "veil " "fent' etc.
The digraph 'ei' Pronounce like long e, fol-
lows 'c'' (and IS" in the word ''seiz')
cell ceiling recev deceit roceit conceiv
The digraph 'ie" pronounc't like long follows
all other letter except G.:
belev besege sev relev achiev lief chief
Enroll retains the dub app becaus the sound
is long; "extol' has one 'l'' becaus the sound is
short. All other words should follow this law:
CONTROL enroll extol roll lol
controlling enrolling extolling rolling lolling
controld enrold extolld rold lolld
The adjustment of English written forms to
! the changes that words hav undcrgon in sound
and the correction Of disfgurng errors which hav
crept into usage must be don according to Engllsn
| rules. TO follow English rules implies that we
must know the English value of letters. COntinen
tai powers of letters must not be allowed to usurp
| the peculiar functions of English letters Usage
must be studied, to appreciate just what
| English custom is; and then the English method
| of sound representation must be strictly adhere
| to in all read justments of the outward form OF
words The great object is to keep the Language
purely English while readjusting its forms to keep
| pace with modern spoken English
A careful consideration of these seven studies
will acquaint any fairly good student of English
with the characteristic laws of the English method
of representing the sounds of the human voice
which us'd in speech. and enabl him to follow
with o4@Eo I'm