1 1 50 — A — B _ Nffl |nM4 *ri D & ►»l-< KM to ■-■[ ^sggtsA J > , > > , J > > » > ' ' , , J > > t t * * > , > > > > > , i J » > > > i J > * ► i ■» i « > 1 -» * ' ' » * J » * ^ * » • • • * ». • * - * . « • • • • c OPYRIGIIT, I 9°5» BY Uenn Pitman. Krehbiel in • •j&£ s - Cincinnati, •OHto.WS.A. • • • • •• • t m pa* • • • • * • • • • -•« IIS ' p 51 ■--43S 11 "' m mm '■'-■f\vs '■■^fkU LAA/^AA.AAA^/.A/^A/AA^ ^u»-^v<» S*i — *™*nr i" i ', Co €H.C.3}arrts, Csqr. Commissioner of Ebucation, U. 5.H. whose intelligent bevotion anb practical abmintstratfon have been an ever-present stimulus to the Granb Hrmv. of Hmerican teachers, in securing the most efficient metbobs of Ebucational draining for the nineteen million cbilbren who attcnb the public Schools, Gbis plea, for the removal of a grave obstruction to ebucational progress, is respectfully bebicateb, bv_ one whose sirt\>-nine vcars of practical erperiment anb active propaganbism , have onlv. beepencb his conviction of the great abvantages, Ebucational , fTDoral, political anb Economic that woulb attcnb the adoption of a simple anb scientific representation of the "national language. • - 1 \ - V>~ 1 w ■S3 £31 m ~4 WL X^Sr^-vf 45226? mm^ -l=^fe,:4r^^ A pra for Aipbabrttr IRrfurnt So profound is the ignorance that generally prevails, respecting our language,— spoken, written" and printed,— its nature, its benef- icent uses, its vast capabilities and ultimate destiny, and more especially as to the defects of its present representation, that no wonder many otherwise intelligent people question the prudence and good sense of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, in giving one hundred thousand dollars in furtherance of an investigation of the matter, with a view to a Reform of exist- ing methods. Those who have given most attention to this question know that it is one which vitally concerns the nineteen mill- ion children and youth who are to day re- ceiving instruction in our public, parochial, and private schools: that it is a question of "education or no education" for tens of thou- sands of our American youth; that it is a question of saving r or wasting, at least two years in the educational life of every English speaking child; that it is a question on which mainly rests the Americanizing of the tens of thousands of foreigners who are yearly landing on our shores; that it is a question of the privilege of possessing the finest lan- guage of any European tongue, and the dis- grace of tolerating the very worst spelling; that it is a matter which will help if adopted, and hinder if rejected, in the progress of the four hundred millions of Chinese and Japan- G0K. Xks .pOrifci HOP* A,,; Cbc Enc^clopacbia JBritanntca cites as tbe 1 :tum of philologists, that a true alphabet of |/ inguage. must contain TLcttcrs. corrcsponb-f to tbe number of its elementary Sounbs.tl ,'v^r" ese, whose advancement to day is handicapt by their semi-barbarous ideographic method of writing and printing; that it is a matter of vital importance in all missionary efforts, to advance those who are still in the rear in hu- man development; that it is a question invol- ving the suppression or development of the reasoning and moral faculties of every child who is taught to read, in that instead of find- ing letters and words subject to law and order, the child's reason and sense of right have to give place to the dictum of the teach- er, whose instructions of to-day are contra- dictions of what he taught yesterday, to be again contradicted by the instructions of to- morrow; that it is a question involving the ultimate riddance of an anomaly the exist- ence of which often subjects even men of cul- ture to humiliation, because they can not re- member the way in which a word is spelled, not having the time or inclination to master all of the two hundred and fifty thousand orthographic variants, which an eminent au- thority declares to be the result of ignorance or chance; and finally, it is a question whose solution offers the sole remedy for diminish- ing dialects, false pronunciations and sloven- ly enunciation of our language, and bringing about a more correct, better-modulated and more pleasing utterance of our native tongue. Mr. Carnegie's convictions on this subject, T^S^gg^ygj. g^^5^s^-« ;K«L ?2frf ttbe printcb page can onls be safb to be I perfect, wben tbe signs tbat meet tbe e\>e, cor- j responb to tbe sounbs tbat appeal to tbe ear,i " y yy- >yyyy ''yy ay and the generous action he has taken, will tend to bring the subject of alphabetic reform more prominently before the thinking por- tion of the American people, and help them to realize the beneficial and far-reaching ad- vantages, individual and national, that would result from a simple and scientific method of representing speech;-a consummation most earnestly desired by the teachers of the land, and as earnestly hoped for, by the wise and practical Franklin, whose convictions of the desirability and necessity of an alphabetic re- form were summed up in the positive assur- ance that, sooner or later, "it must"be brought about. The use of letters is to represent the sounds of speech, just as figures are employed to re- present numerical values. People realize the necessity of assigning to figures a fixed and definite value; that each figure must repre- sent one and always the same value, and if it were proposed, say, for the sake of saving its cost, to dispense with the figure 8, and to represent the value of that numeral by other figures, such as 1-7, 2-6, 3-5,4-4, 7-1, 6-2, or 5-3, and that some special one of these combina- tions should be employed, according as it pre- ceded, or followed, certain other figures, the proposition would, seemingly, be so absurd as to be undeserving of a moments thought. Yet this is exactly what we do with letters! :-----■--. — "^1 I -^ttCa.:: S?S9S <3fc" n ,ta'f & # ^■i &**?■ 4511 'iff* ceacbcrs contcnlTtbatTbe employment ofl? 1 | consistent pbonctic alphabet woulb save fuU\> | two \>ears in tbe eoucational career of ever\> | English- speaking cbilb . We teach a child that a certain letter, o, has the sound of owe, but when the child begins to read or spell words containing that sound, it finds that instead of uniformly spelling the sound owe with the letter o, it has to use oe if the word is doe; ow, if the word is low; oa, if the word is boat; ow, for know; but wo, for sword; ough, for though; eau, for beau; oo, for brooch; ew, for sew; but ewe, for sewed; ol, for yolk; owa, for towards; ot, for depot; og, for oglio; or o-e, as in bone; or oah, as in Pharoah! and as the child proceeds with its studies, it will find that modern custom has other odd and strange ways of representing this sound, as in Soane, Bordeaux, Know.les, Cockburn! If it were not a "fashion" to spell words in this way, it would seem incredible that such unreasoning confusion could be al- lowed to perplex and hinder children, in their very first efforts to'learn things!' The puzzle begins with the first letter of the alphabet; its sound is as variously represented as o. and every other letter of the alphabet is subject to some unexplainable vagaries. If a child is taught that a stands for the sound in mating, what reason can be given for expecting it to spell and write this sound with ai, in gain; ei, in veil; ey, in they; ea, in great; eigh,in weigh; eighe, in weighed; ay, in play; aye, in played; ai-e, in pained; aigh, in straight; ao, in gaol; au, in gauging; au-e, in gauged; a-ue mmmm Each letter of the "Roman alphabet , tbeoreP (calls, stanbs for one ano always tbe same I sounb , whereas tbe 26 letters are useb , in 1 spelling , w(tb _642 oiff£rent^ianificattonsi If in plague; e-e in there, ah, in dahlia; and aa in Aaron? Words like trait, when retaining its French pronunciation, and halfpenny, if allowed its English pronunciation, give other ways of spelling the sound of a. Practical teachers, some time ago, made the discovery that the spelling furnishes no key to the pro- nunciation of words; so the child is hurried to simple sentences. Take the following, for an example. "Does Tom wear his new shoes when he goes to town?" The more thought- ful the child, the more likely would it be to read what it sees on the printed page, and the result would be, Does Tom wear his new shuz when he guz to town? When corrected, the child might try another solution of the orthoepic enigma. If told that shoes spells shooz. it reads, Dooz Tom wear his new shoes when he gooz to town? But if goes is goze, why may not the child insist on read- ing the English of the book, which would be. Doze Tom wear his new shoze when he goes to town? To the adult, whose twenty or forty years' experience may have made an absurd custom seem "natural," the child's unusual English may seem simply ridiculous, but there is a very sober side to this question, and our Plea will fail in its grave intent, if the perplexity and waste of time incidental to our custom- ary spelling are not realized as a great im- mMmmMm fr:/M MitUlMLmm iSS« V -. . y»yAy .t^ -• " <* : ? ^g^f -•*.- ^. igg^ij Each sounb of tbe language, theoretically is represented b? a letter in tbe alphabet. WeJ/ bave 40 sounbs In tbe language, anb but 2(?1| letters to represent tbem.' pediment in every child's early instruction. We have a smile of contempt for the Chinese, who can not see the absurdity of a pig- tail, or the deformity of a woman's club-foot, but do we not cling to a mere "fashion" in the use of letters that is almost as absurd.? $be un*Hlpbabetfc "Representation of English. Our language claims to be alphabetically represented. Things and ideas are pictured to the eye by means of words, consisting of letters, that, professedly, represent their ele- mentary sounds. The Chinese still use an I- deographic method of writing and printing. Their complex signs are, to a great extent, abbreviated outlines of ancient pictures, and each sign stands for a thought, a thing, or a name. Each sign, therefore, has to be separ- ately learned, and a new thought or thing, added to the language, necessitates the in- vention of a new sign for its representation. The superiority of the alphabetic method is apparent, in that new words, new thoughts, inventions or names, may be added to the language without increasing the complexity of its representation. Electricity, and its var- ied uses, are said to have added four thousand new words to the language, without adding a single new letter to the alphabet. It is only in theory, however, that our lan- guage can be said to be Alphabetic, the strict Zbe spelling of Sbahespcarc's ba\T Differed | vvibcl\> from ours, but IDr. H. 3. Ellis shows | tbat it accorbcb with tbe speech of tbc pcriob 1 nearer tban our s pelling boes toour speech *'""'^r^ ' JJS' ' "< iff meaning of which is, that each elementary sound of speech is represented by an appro- priate sign, which is never used for any other than its own particular sound, -in the same way that figures are used, where a given nu- meral stands for one and always the same number. But such is the force of habit, that the eye, accustomed for years to scan the print- ed page, fails to realize how widely most words contradict the alphabetic theory. A few words, like so, no, me, mild, bold, etc. are alphabetically represented, but there are only about one hundred such words in the lan- guage; all the rest are spelled in one way and pronounced in another; while other words, of frequent occurrence, are represented by letters not one of which is heard in the spoken word! Words like is, as, of, eyes, they, shoes, shew, cough, etc., must seem uninteresting puzzles to the child when the teacher pronounces them! The child thinks and the phonographer knows that i-s, spells ice, and a-s, spells ace, while e-y-e-s, spells something that only the necromancer could pronounce! A word that appeals to the eye. if correctly represented, reaches the mind as directly as the same word, if spoken, appeals to the mind through the ear. Intelligent teachers condemn meth- ods of instruction that encourage arbitrary memorising on the part of the young, when a rigid exercise of the reasoning faculty ought ||^^g§^gg|v^glsllgggf|c g aj^s^^^^^ $ *>U J lAif ^Cbc Icarneo English philologist, JSlsbop tblc-j l|vrall,8a^8r®ur orthography te a mass of anom-f JJalles, tbc result of Ignorance anb chance:* h lll M ffi HB.MM iTnTntrr— J ^ to be insisted on. But what is the conscien- tious teacher to do with our present lawless representation of thought, as it appears on the printed page? The child under his charge "musflearn to read. It is the most element- ary, the most necessary, the most important art it will ever have to acquire. It is the key to all knowlege. The teacher •"must" teach, and the child "must" learn how speech is pic- tured to the eye. The average reader may think the task is an easy one. The thought- ful reader will know that an easy and truthful representation of spoken language has never yet been attained, though six thousand years may have been spent in the effort. It is the riddle of the ages, and to-day r the unhappy in- structor of the young, has to solve the pro- blem, how twenty-six letters can be made to consistently represent the forty sounds of our daily speech! If the teacher begins in or- thodox fashion, teaching the alphabet with the historical names of the letters, he will speedily arrive at simple words. Now word- building, with a scientific alphabet, is as easy as speaking. But not so as things are. The teacher says, "double-you-e," what does that spell?" The child is unable to answer. The teacher tries another word; "te-aitch-e-wye," "What does that spell?" The sounds that reach the child's ear suggest no word, and there- fore it is mute. The teacher tries another * A Ht is possible to so visualise speech, bie un-| varying Xcttcrs, that it shall be as reliable ano j truthful as figures, that never var^, never lie! WMfflMmMIk mmwiML word, "aitch-e-double -you; now what does it spell?*' These "spellings" are supposed to con- vey to the child's ear the sounds of the spok- en word: but they do not. Some teachers ac- tually think that when they say, te-aitch-e- wye, that this combination of sounds con- veys to the child's ear the two vocal elements that are heard when we say "they." The teach- er might be surprised to be told that the con- ventional spelling of this word, by naming the letters, conveys no more information to to the child's ear, as to the real sound of the word, than had he said "Timbuctoo, what does that spell?"and then waited for the ex- pected answer! A capable and honest teacher once gave an explanation of the orthograph- ic difficulty, thus,"We tell a child that te-owe spells too, though we know it does not, and we have simply to humbug the child to make him believe it!" Is not this pitiful stupidity to which we are, in a measure, compelled to resort, a most ignoble concession to an anti- quated alphabet? A child's first steps on the road to learning, one would think, should be tenderly guarded from varying, misleading and literary-lying pit-falls. H scientific use of tbc letters of tbe IRoman alphabet makes rcaoing cas\>: anb tbc employ- ment of tbe familiar forms, makes tbc transi- tion to tbe orbfnar? printco pace quite eas?. _^- .j-r — — ^ — ■-■- - - ■-- -^ e — -" H Scientific Blpbabct bascb on tbc IRoman Xctters. Is it not possible to make Letters as truth- ful and reliable as Figures? Is it not possible and entirely reasonable, to say, that a given Letter shall always stand for a given Sound, and that a given sound shall always be re- presented by one and the same sign? This is Alphabetic Reform, and is all that is needed to remove one of the most formidable hin- drances to human progress. To accomplish this great work, we have, first, to find what are the elements of our daily speech; then we have to find the most suitable signs for their uniform representation. What signs or let- ters, are best adapted to become pictures of sounds? Fortunately, this question has been settled by two thousand years of use, on the part of the leading races on earth. For dis- tinctness, symetry and beauty, there is no alphabet of signs that can be compared with the Roman forms. Only by trying to invent new letters on Romanic lines, can one rightly appreciate the difficulty, the seeming impossi- bility, of adding new letters to the present al- phabet, that shall accord with the distinct and simple beauty of the Roman forms. And no wonder, when we have, in every printing office, ready for scientific use, to-day, the ev- olutionary results of three thousand years of : - -rf 1 ■- -a! J (rag? *'^,-r letters mm ?kl'V sboulo be* as J ? as reliable Ha ': Hi! ^ «5 |feanb trutbfuG$ffi § 9 i J]#7 as jfiourcs. "V If V If ^^^^S^^^s^^^^sx^^^^x^. jfrom tbe ver\> beginning English bas been striving to make Us ortbograpby. represent its pronunciation more anb more. WIMMMmMMlMJM. mmm mmm experiment and improvement, on the part of the cloistered scribes and artists, who have, bit by bit, in line, curve and serif, perfected the crude forms which the legendary Cad- mus stole from the Egyptians to trade to the early Greeks. The contemplated reform of English or- thography is, strictly speaking, an alphabetic Restoration, in giving to each letter its right- ful power, and observing the rule of never in- terfering with the representative value of a single letter. This simple rule of sense and justice, will bring Order out of Chaos, and make the acquirement of reading and spell- ing the simplest and easiest, instead of be- ing, as at present, one of the most difficult of human attainments. It is quite possible to make a scientific use of the present alphabet, by giving to each let- ter, as its uniform value, the sound for which it most commonly stands, and never using a letter for other than its own particular sound. The deficiency of vowel representation in the present alphabet, could be made up by using a few well-understood diacritic marks, and supplying suggestive digraphs for the simple vowels heard in alms, all, ooze; sounds for which the Roman alphabet provides no signs. A child could readily be taught that the letter a. stood for the sound in mat, cat, matting, etc. , and that a, thus marked, was the sign 8 1 v^X 5&C *>> mMtW % ,«..<% vggjg.'gi^^gjgg.-^.'oi: ■g^-y.'ggg^'^ £s«?3£e " Xlbe present spelling establishes a barrier I against tbe most important agent of clvillsa-l/ tton anb Cbristiani^ation of tbe vvorloV /Hon. B. B. White. %%.1D: for the sound in mate, mating, dating, etc. ; and that o, stood for the sound in not, cot, etc. , while 5, represented the sound in post, cold, etc. The thousand and one contradic- tions of the present spelling, would thus not be forced upon the child at its very earliest start in school-life. By the common-sense, unvarying use of letters, we should mete out only the measure of justice to the very young child, that we accord to older students in the use of arithmetical, algebraic, chemical, and musical signs, all of which are certain and unvarying in their use and meaning. A true alphabet, on the theory here suggested, which provided for all the forty sounds of English speech, would put the child in possession of the Key to the correct pronunciation of every word in the language. Hlpbabctic IRestoration. As an educational necessity, no scheme, however scientific, no alphabetic reform, tho professedly complete, is worthy of considera- tion, that does not lead to a recognition and speedy use of the existing literature. A hun- dred years' experimenting have been needed to bring spelling reformers to accept this self- evident verity, and to admit that the world- wide-accepted, tho imperfect Roman alpha- bet, contains the elements of its own evolu- tionary regeneration. And how self-evident &M \ B nolisb u& m 4 - '- Hi bas tbc mfcst#tt $ \ m fez r®»{ (yorst OrtbOGrapb/e; 1 l * Pa ilfe 7 m$ •jEufopcan tonouc.^ ML lIS are the steps to be taken! The Roman alpha- bet contains signs for five vowels, and in- stead of giving them eighty-four different sig- nifications, as we do at present, suppose we use these vowel signs for their most usual powers, thus, a e i o u as in mat, met mit, not, nut. When the vowels are long, let them be diacritically marked, thus, a e T 6 u cls in ale, eel, isle, old pure. For the three long vowels heard in English speech, but for which no signs are provided, let them be represented by the suggestive di- graphs, thus, aa au oo asiiv alms, all, ooze. The u. in put, pull, etc. , as distinct from the u, in but, mud, is marked by the breve, thus, put, pull, etc. When digraphs are used to represent sim- ple sounds, they are introduced thus, r~\ y—\ ^">> aa au oo They should, of course, be pronounced by the teacher as simple sounds, and must nev- er reach the child's ear as double-a, double-o. The four diphthongal glides in speech are, I oi ow u as in ice, oil, owl, pure. Speech anb 1Rumbcrs| ^Xcttcra anb JFiaurcs/f Uf the worb scissors were spcUcb bp the let Iters uscb for tbc same sounbs in other worbs.I . it woulb make 81,997,920 justifiable wa^s in I which the woib mipbt be spedeb. The glides i and u, are, for theoretical as well as practical reasons, best represented by single letters. The diphthong heard in eye, time, my, etc. , is variously pronounced by different branches of the English-speaking race. It is heard as a glide, from, approxi- mately, the vowel positions, indicated by a-i uh-i e-i au-i ask, it; earth.it; ell, it; on, it. "ACas in"taim", (time) of the Standard Dic- tionary, is as unsatisfactory as Sir Isaac Pit- man's'' teim"(time)"mei"(my) etc. Till unity of pronunciation is attained, the representa- tion of this diphthong by a single letter, will generally be deemed most satisfactory. The coalescents w and y, will retain their initial power. The aspirate, or breathing, h, differs from all other elements of speech, in that it has no definite sound of its own, but is heard as am audible expiration, through the position of the vowel or coalescent it precedes; hence, the aspirate in heel, hall, hoot, wheel, hew, is as unlike as are the sounds e,au, oo, w, y; the aspirate, tho initial, is not heard till after the mouth is in position to pronounce the vowel or coalescent that follows it. All the consonants of the Roman alphabet, except k, q. and x, (which are duplicates of other letters,) are used to represent the sounds for which they are most frequently used. m\ The present Vowel signs, unmarked , will represent their brief and most usual powers; a e 1 o u as in mat, met, mit, not. nut. The brief u, in put, took, will be marked u, thus, put, tuc, pul, buc, etc. The three Simple, Long Vowels, -that are now without letters,-as heard in alms , tall , ooze , are represented by digraphs, thus, aa au oo ^•^//paam, faathur, Saul, faul, room, toom The two Diphthongal Glides, heard in boil , and bound , are uniformly represented thus, 01 ow as in toil, boi, roial; cow, town, lowd. The Coalescing Vowels, w, and y, as in well, yell, etc. will retain their present, usual powers. The Aspirate, h, will uniformly precede its following vowel, thus, he, hel, hwel, hwil. The Simple Consonant sounds, heard in chin, thin, thine, rush, rouge, sing, will continue to be represented by digraphs, ch th th sh zh ng thus chin, thin, thin, rush, roozh, sing. (vocal k,) as in gai J- ,1 jay; g< gay- Other Consonants have their usual powers. >««W4yJM^^«^^o<}afi»ivfiA9oa u(.«w»vwuwkv.iititf ! **hS ,4^*5^^ i^St.lloab "WUcbster. p Zbe Sounbs of English Speech, fn orberl\> sequence, constitute zones sh // shall zh » vision Uiquibs. 1 as in lull r as in roar "fflasals. m asin maim n asm nine ngasfn sing m Un tbe no-bistant future, tbe Rlpbabetic TRe- ; formers wtllranh among tbe worlb's ebfefest f/ ^benefactors, in tbat tbc^ bavc bclpcb in remov>-f ing one great binbrancc to general ebucation. |\ HI? No one can successfully teach English.-and reading is but speaking from a book, -with- out some knowlege of the simple phenomena by which expired breath becomes intelligible speech. Breathing consists of inhaling air, then expiring it, from the lungs, as breath; but the terms breath and breathing, as ap- plied to speech, refer only to expired breath- A person in health will breathe inaudibly, whether breath passes through the mouth or nose. With a little effort, however, breath can be made audible, as when we breathe on a frosted window, when the passage of the air through the mouth is heard as a whisper. When we thus breathe, the muscles of the mouth are relaxed; the open passage of the mouth assumes no definite position; but if we attempt to pronounce a simple vowel, say e, immediately the mouth does assume a def- inite position; the muscles of the tongue be- coming somewhat rigid. It will thus be evi- dent that the quality of the sound produced, is due to the shape of the aperture through which the expired breath is forced. This is still more evident if all the simple long vow- els are distinctly whispered, say, each one three times, e, a, aa, au, 6, oo; it will then be clearly perceived, that to the more or less op- en cavity of the mouth, and to the position of the tongue, are due the peculiar quality of the resulting sound. Whispered elements, spasms wj Even 3a pan |> «.r "?.- Is realising Jfuiures arc symbols of numerical power*. Xettcrs are symbols of sounds: one sboulb be as unvarying as tbe otber. ,\ Scientific alphabet. L however, constitute but one phase of human speech; its chief characteristic is its vocaliza- tion. If the former experiment be repeated, of audibly breathing through a relaxed posi- tion of the mouth, and now, instead of sim- ply breathing, suppose a slight groan, grunt, or, with closed lips, a moan is made, a dis- tinct vocal murmur is heard, due to the vi- bration of the vocal cords, as the breath pass- es them in its passage from the lungs to the mouth. It is the vibration of these delicate ligaments, that are attached to the edges of the glotis, the opening at the top of the wind- pipe, that gives speech its vocal resonance; that prolongs a spoken sound, till it becomes song; that enables us to speak, to sing, to shout, to groan, scream or moan, with a wide range of pitch, softness, or violence. No part of man's physical organism pre- sents a greater marvel, than do these dimin- utive ligaments; not more than seven-eighths of an inch in length, yet giving the human voice a range of rarely less than three oc- taves, that can not be imitated, in pitch, by any human ingenuity, with vibratory strings, that are less than from ten to forty times the length of the human cords; that can not be imitated for sweetness and purity of tone by any instrument of human construction: nor has man ever made an instrument of such marvelous carrying power, like the soprano %l ^^O^O '<> O O <> o o <> o. 3t is time that tbc hesitating, time-wasting Iperpteiittcs of children over their spcfltng ant reabing sboulb cease: IPbonetic spelling wi(( rsave all their troubles anb tears. '^Vo'ic? 1 ^^ O O <> <>J> V% '"V W> Wo f<> ,.!<►" W . Is psos^rrbss, which is justif icb b\>f fps, in psalm; o, tn women; 35,(11 bii53i £rrb, fij. XBtace are 81.977.919 othei strength'n. A precise, phonetic representation of these words,- a spelling that would repre- sent deliberate utterance, -would seem to re- quire the retention of the preceding vowel, e. otherwise there would be no difference in the spelling of the words light-ning and light-en- ing, and strength-en-ing would be reduced to strength-ning. The proper enunciation of the brief vowels is as important to the singer as to the speak- er. A prevailing fault, even among singers who have received special vocal training, is that they rarely pronounce the brief vowels with any degree of accuracy; but substitute for each and all, the vocal murmur, u. The long vowels, in English words, can be sung as clearly and sweetly, as when they occur in Italian words, but the more frequently oc- curring brief vowels in English, present a difficulty which care and training will alone overcome. That the vocal murmur is com- monly used in speech and song, in place of the proper vowel, will be questioned only by those who confound u, with u, as in but, up, son, etc. or with u r in put, look, etc. Each of the vowels in these words requires a definite and somewhat rigid position of the mouth, for its utterance; but u,-it may be well to re- peat, -is the symbol of the neutral vocal, the sound that is produced when the muscles of the mouth are in a relaxed and lazy attitude; ■hu^a. i ^^j^^^g^jg^-* jkr •^ "£be English language baa a great future, but tbere must be harmony between tbe Spo-fl ken ano tbe Tldritten woib.^Cbarles Sumner. 11 <*•■ ^'ffl^,lga^^^^?^^r M^^< m when, therefore, any definite sound could not possibly be produced. Cbe Consonants of English Speech. The articulations of English speech, called Consonants, are explosions or emissions of breath or voice, due to actual contact of the vocal organs; or to modified, mouth obstruc- tion. Unlike the vowels, which are unob- structed, resonant, song-like Sounds, the ar- ticulations might be called noises, seeing that p, is but a puff; s, a hiss; z, a buzz; f, one of many fricatives; r, a trill; and m, and n, but nasal murmurs, or moans. The symbol p, represents a Poistion of the lips, rather than a Sound, for it has no existence till the lips are separated to allow of the utterance of the vowel that follows it, as in pay, paw, etc. If the word rope , be deliberately pronounced, and the lips allowed to remain closed for an instant, there is silence instead of sound, and it is only when the lips are separated with a puff, that the articulation p, is heard. If the word rope, be again pronounced, and while the lips are closed, if an effort be made to vo- calize the final puff, p, the word robe will be the result. This experiment illustrates the fact that b, is but a vocalized p; as p, is but a whispered b. In like manner a hiss, sym- bolized by s, is an Amission of breath, which being obstructed by the tongue, against the jfroin Bcnn pitman, (Erecting. HIS PLEA will probably reach some who have never seriously considered how great a hindrance to general education and advancing civilization is the imper- fect Alphabet yet used for the representa- tion of the English language. The practi- cal Franklin said " English is the gate- way to all knowledge." Why then should we make it difficult for all, and impossible for some to enter this gateway ? We un- questionably do this by trj-ing to make twenty-three letters represent the fort}' sounds of English speech. (K, q, and x, are but duplicates of other letters.) The attempt to do so results in a lawless or- thography, which gives 615 different ways of spelling our forty sounds, while the twenty-six letters of the alphabet are used with not less than 642 different significations. Can we longer treat with uncon- cern the dictum of practical educators, who say that our anomalous orthography wastes two years of every child's educational life, in its attempt to master the arts of reading and spelling? The economic side of this orthographic enigma is not to be overlooked by a practical people. If it costs two dollars a week to feed and clothe the average American child, and if two years are wasted by each of the nineteen million chil- dren who attend school, it means that this nation loses more than five million dollars a day by the use of its antiquated alphabet and gro- tesque spelling. From the beginning of recorded history the representation of thought, by picturing spoken words, has been regarded as a necessary factor of civilization ; but the problem has presented a duplex difficul- ty; first to find what are the elementary Sounds of speech, then to find appropriate Signs for their representation. After six thousand years of experimenting, we have, to-da\', a satisfactory, if not a complete, representation of language, adapted to modern civilization ; first a brief, phonographic S}^stem of shorthand, secondly, a script, or phonetic longhand, third, a phonotypic scheme of printing. It is with the latter, the most important, we are here concerned. Thanks to the efforts and investigations of the past half century, we know enough of what are the elements of speech to correctly picture them to the eye. As to the Signs for typic representation, there is no question that the Roman Let- ters are the clearest and most symmetrical forms ever used by any peo- ple to represent the sounds of language. Numberless and costlv experi- ments have shown that we can not add a single letter to the Roman alphabet without admitting signs that spot the page by their ugliness. Fortunately we do not need to do this. By the simple expedient of dis- pensing with the dot on the t and j, and using this sign for the "macron" mark, to indicate the long vowels, this, together with the use of a few well-understood digraphs, such as ch, th, sh, etc., and using the remaining letters with their most usual powers, we make a rational, easily acquired, and strictly phonetic alphabet, which, when once learned, is an unfailing key to the correct reading and spelling ot every word in the language. It makes an alphabet that is a delight to the child, a boon to the foreigner, while to the philosopher and the phonetician, it seems to be the solution of a problem that has taxed the ingenuity of some of the wisest men for scores of centuries. An essential feature of any scheme of typic representation that is to stand a chance of general acceptance is, that it shall be a safe and easy stepping-stone to an acquaintance with the existing literature. The improvement offered in our Plea certainly answers to this test more completely than any scheme ever before presented, as it shows words almost exactly like those on the Romanic page, save that they are shorn of all useless and misleading letters, while those that meet the eye have an unvarying meaning. I do not wish my Plea to go forth on its mission without its being known that it was never intended as a book to sell. It was prepared as a message to my phonetic, artistic, and social friends, and for Mr. Carnegie's special consideration, in the hope that he would regard it as containing instruction and argument that must precede a general acceptance of Alphabetic Reform. Of course I should be only too will- ing to donate the plates of the booklet and relinquish all rights in them. There were matters connected with speech and its representa- tion that seemed to me had never been presented as fairly and plainlv as they might be, and I thought that the abounding reasons for a more consistent representation of our language, if placed before our friends would, more than ever, induce them to help by their pen and means to tree the children of the English-speaking race from the time-and- tem per- wasting tyranny of our conventional spelling. To this end I bought type, and learned the trick of setting and distributing it. I made the illustrations, (which have a meaning apart from their decorative effect land did the printing — eight lines at one time — by means of a The decorative features of this Plea illustrate our theory that the Stem and the Leaf form the basis of all true Decoration, that is not literal, his- toric, or symbolic. The Leaf in its further development becomes bract, tendril, hud, blossom, berry and fruit, all of which are included in deco- rative designs. Another theory we taught during our twenty years' instruc- tion at the Cincinnati Art Academy was that the Fine Arts, hitherto im- perfectly classified, consisted b f Language, the fine formation of thought in words; Oratory, the tine vocal delivery of words; Music, or tone expression of emotion; Musical Rendition, by voice or instrument; Sculpture, realiza- tion of thought or incident in form ; Painting, delineation on surface; struction ; Decoration; Fine human Conduct. For these and other Art teachings John Ruskin wrote "I am grateful to you. - ' 15. P. planer and a paper folder, at my own home. The page thus prepared was photographed to half its size and etched on a zinc plate by the photo-engravers. It was necessar}' that I should do my own type-set- ting that I might diacritically mark the vowels, to give them their def- inite meaning. The text of the Plea, and especially the scrolled head- ings, to each page will furnish arguments for alphabetic reform, of which I trust my friends will avail themselves in preparing short articles for the press. If they desire an extra copy of the Plea for loan- ing, or for presentation to some teacher, it will be but fair if they send an equivalent of their labor for mine, in the shape of twenty-five cents worth of coin or stamps. There is a decided awakening, especially on the part of teachers, in favor of alphabetic reform, but we need not look for books to be pre- pared till a demand for them is created. That is the work of to-day. It may be a hundred years before the London Times and the New York Herald will favor a rational spelling. That need not concern us; but with earnest and intelligent propagandism we may greatly shorten the time. The work of to-day is the dissemination of correct ideas of language representation, and in that work every earnest phonetician should assist by his voice, his pen and his [example; to wit : let him write program prolog tho thorofare catalog demagog altho thru decalog pedagog thoro thruout He will find himself in goodly company, in doing this, for a host of leading scholars, presidents of universities, learned scientists, professors, and celebrities of literary standing have pledged themselves to drive home this narrow wedge of consistency. If you consent to help in this measure of phonetic reform, pray write to Dr. Charles P. G. Scott, Yonkers, N. Y. (one of the editors of the Century Diction- ary), and he will gladly send you explanatory papers that may make you willing and anxious to " sign the pledge." Then strengthen your convictions of what ought to be done by mastering the phonetic long- hand alphabet, and while your use of it may, at first, somewhat puzzle your friends, the telling of the truth — on paper — will be to phonog- raphers and non-phonographers a new delight and an abiding satis- faction. Phoneticians, as a rule, are so firmty grounded in the belief as to the sufficiency and completeness of an English alphabet of just forty sounds, that we feel a reluctance in intimating that two additional ones are fairly entitled to recognition in a professedly complete Eng- lish alphabet. The first is the so-called neutral vowel, heard in the French article le, and in the English words (i) earth, firm, serve, birth, (2) further, purchase, burn, surmount. American phoneticians write all these words with the same vowel, namely the u in but. English pho- neticians write the first words with the e in met, and the latter with the // in but. Both practises are unsatisfactory, for neither is right. The letter needed to correctly express these words represents the neutral vocal, full}- explained in our Plea. Americans and English pronount e these words alike. The Scotch, only, give the e (met) sound in such words as earth, earn, etc.. If the neutral vowel were recog- nized it would unify the representations of this class of words. The second sound which seems to demand recognition in a com- pute alphabet, is a medial a, as heard in half, cart, far% shaft, etc. The sound that good usage favors in these words is longer and more open than the vowel in hat, sat, etc., and briefer, and less open, than the vowel in alms, father. English phoneticians write these words with the brief/*; Americans, as a rule, write them with the long vowel. The medial vowel seems to be needed for their correct expression. These, perhaps, are matters to be thought about, rather than discussed at the present time, but we should be much pleased to re- ceive the views of our friends as to whether we have or have not, with respect to the best use of the dot, solved, — as some practical printers have said, — the last phonot)'pic difficulty in a rational representation of the English language. Farewell. Sept. 15, 1905. We lately delivered a lecture in the Amphitheater at Chautauqua, X. V., on Alphabetic Reform. The day after the following resolution was unanimously passed : WHEREAS, The English language is at present written with an alphabet that does not provide for a full and correct representation of the sounds of speech, and consequently the spelling of words presents perplexing and time-wasting difficulties which every child encounters in its first educational efforts; and WHEREAS, The forms of letters in general use are wholly satisfactorv ; and WHEREAS, A strictly phonetic and rational scheme of representing speech is possible, by an improved marking of the vowels, wherein a simple dot, removed from the letters i and j, is employed for diacritically marking the long vowels of the language, that being the only variation from the conventional printing now in use; and WHEREAS, By consequence an acquaintance with the new and correct method leads to the easy reading of the ordinary printed literature, therefore Resolved, That we heartily recommend the trial of this phonetic scheme in elementary books for the young. 01 I ! » & ■-A /ff- -p" ^. iy » * Che foremost art of life,- the feast thought Urt, least apprecfateb or stubfeb, anb the most ibuseb-,is Hrticulate Speech. H IRefonn ir fspeeeb is a crying neeb (n our Qbublic Schools.^ o £> 1> lower gum and teeth, results in a hiss; bul.if the breath, thus obstructed, be vocalized, it becomes a buzz, whose symbol is z. Thus the Explodents p, t. ch, c, gutteral, are the whispered or breath sounds of b, d, j, g; as these sounds are the Vocalized utterances of the former Whispered sounds. A group of articulations, differing from the explodents, in that their sounds may be continued as long as the breath lasts, and hence are called Continuants, are f, th, s, sh. These signs represent the whispered utterances of v, th, (asinthy,) z, zh. The 16 articulations thus far named, are the only ones that occur in En- glish speech as pairs: the remaining conso- nants, 1, r, m, n, ng, are all vocals. If the proposed Alphabetic Reform had no other educational value, than to direct atten- tion to the elementary sounds of our native tongue, with a view to their study and prac- tise, as they are employed in words, so as to attain ease and accuracy in their use, it cer- tainly would be a matter of special interest to every advocate of intellectual progress. It is a fact, to be noted with regret, that Speech is the one study most generally neglected. It is supposed to come "by nature," but it does not. Speech, to be correct, easy, and agreea- ble, comes- as does good singing- only with study aud patient drill. It would be well if people recognized the fact, that correct and V| TEbe awakening of Rsfa is a momentous fact. # If Commerce, anb the English language, will bejf ftbe great factors of progress; bence tbe neces|| If sit? for its logical visual IRepresentation. mmw *£3§£5**»^ftfES »CXI m m <*r?j OS &£ pleasant speech, and still more, an effective utterance of words, is to be regarded as an art, like singing; and all know that skill in singing, comes only from long-continued, in- telligent practise. The vocal organ is a di- vinely-constructed, mechanical instrument, and a knowledge of its capacity, and the effi- cient management of its resources, are only attained on the conditions that attend the mastery of any human instrument. Articu- late speech has hitherto been regarded, main- ly as a means of communication with our fellow creatures, and the prevalence of high- pitch, monotonous, nasal and qneruious tones among women, and metalic, un-modulated. and un-musical tones among men; adding to this, the careless and slovenly articulation usually heard from both sexes, have led to the general belief, that the prevailing speech was the utterance ol normal English, where- as those who have made a study of phonetic drill, know that it should be regarded as an ear-torturing perversion of our noble tongue, for which our Public Schools should be held responsible. The infinite possibilities of the vocal art, as an esthetic delight, giving plea- sure to ourselves as well as to others, seem to have been unthought of! Speech, as a fine art, must satisfy the emo- tional as well as the intellectual feelings of a cultured hearer. To be instructive as well as y/itu to n<; hand i ■fu'lin'ohvii aC gen- Tally and lament- iliij neqiedecLou the nUlitij tc v/uak&t- cj/oih mth q I o refill j eteoe aaid amvuwu, a iid nc aco/jjifiliJi itu wit ynenedj&cieLW i Zbe rarest quality among all classes of spea^l ■ers, is the clear, intelligible oeli?er\> of worbs,— f jtbat wbicn ought to bs characteristic of ever\> | ebjioite^jjej^oji^JP^ ill pleasing, it must, in no way, give offense. It must satisfy the Emotional feelings, by hav- ing respect for each of the following essentials It must have a Satisfactory quality of Tone, The right Pitch, A pleasing Modulation, The correct Time, The appropriate Force. To satisfy the intellectual feeling, speech must have Precise and clear Articulation, Traditionally-correct Pronunciation. That which is to be Sung, must also be Said; but only those who have acquired the ability to read English correctly, will be able to effectively sing it. The whispered conso- nants present a special difficulty to the sing- er. They can not possibly be Sung, for you can not give sonority to a whisper: we can sing only Sounds. The terminal whispers in such words, as life, hope , etc., or still more puzzling, words terminating with double and treble whispers, like lifts , shafts , etc., these words contain breath articulations, that can only be articulated , and speaker and singer alike, will overcome the difficulty, and satis- fy listeners, only by persistent and long con- tinued practise. [•: i J.&; Jbose only, wbo bave mabe a stubylrf tbc cT^ f entente of speech, anb bave bab special voice I I training, know bow urgent is tbc nccb for ma-f | JmiQvocaJJmiyuaoe^^ 1 %=# \ £r S?l ¥ letters sboulb as relial as iJFiijurci M k h*« \ m out the greater audibility of terminating a syllable with an open-mouth vowel, rather than with a more or less closed-mouth con- sonant, whispered or voiced. Among the essentials of a modern educa- tion, such as is supposed to be provided for in our Public School scheme of instruction, we might reasonably conclude that speaking and reading one's native language, would be accorded a first place, from its prime impor- tance. Humiliating, then, is the confession, that our children, after years of attendance at the Primary, Intermediate, and the High- Schools, leave them without even knowing what are the elementary sounds of their mo- ther tongue; without having received any sys- tematic vocal drill, worthy of the name, and without having acquired anything approach- ing that correct and pleasing habit of speech which is supposed to be the distinguishing mark of the educated. The habitual speech of our young people, as a rule, is character- ized by a sing-song, indistinct, slovenly, and a more or less inaccurate utterance of words, that one might expect to hear, only from the illiterate. A reform in this essential of edu- cation, must begin with the "recognition and use of a complete alphabet, and a rational spelling, which is the visible picturing of the spoken words, and to which the vocal organs will, instinctively, give an audible utterance, ■*&■' (li s. * ; g^^g^^^.^S:^gS-.g'gg^j % lEncjlisb ,-tbc newest, most comprehensive anbj? V most expressive of all spohen toiijjncs.-is dab.f/ |fas yet, in cbilbisb motley. Does it not beservejj /fto be garbcb in true Hlpbabctic bignftv.? %>M * i% ! as true to tbe ^ as tbe\> are, vv wben spoken, W4r)^f^- clear to tbe Ear. S^? « without even the suggestion of doubt or dif- ficulty. Thus reading, when it is a vocal in- terpretation of unvarying and reliable signs, will be shorn of all its difficulties; and as the signs that meet the eye give the true pronun- ciation, more attention will be given to artic- ulation, tone, pitch, inflection, syllabification and modulation, -all essentials to good read- ing and speaking, -which, if observed, make vocal utterance an art, instructive to the stu- dent and a pleasure to the listener. The teacher who does not insist on the hab- it of properly syllabizing words, will be like- ly to hear from his pupils such vulgarisms as, reg-lur for reg-u-lar lit-rul forlit-ur-al in-trest >, in-tur-est sep-rat „ sep-ur-at sing glur« sing-gu-lar dif-runs •. dif-ur-ens sal-ri // . sal-ar-i purs-nul „ pur-sun al vowlz " vow-elz nash-nul „ nash-on-al pur-tic-lur for par-tic-u-lar It has been urged that a strictly accurate and syllabized utterance of words, if taught to the young, might give them an affected and pedantic style of speech. So it might, if they always remained half-taught and inex- pert; but the adult, who has been properly taught and trained, will speak correctly and without a tinge of affectation. By way of comparison with the prevailing untutored, and therefore defective speech, it jggg^gJ89fegbgE^S^®3^jiB5 Hfter six tbousano \>ears of experiment with 5 ! | the problem of Xanguage representation, we at | length know what are the sounbs of speech 1 ' anb how to mak e a ration al, complete Al phabe t 1 may be well to instance a case, where words "fitly spoken',' was a charm that years have not effaced. It must have been thirty years ago. T'was late in the evening, after theater hours; I had to leave some copy for the Cincinnati Com- mercial. Entering the editor's room, I found a group of gentlemen listening to the talk of one of their number, who. perched on the cor- ner of the office table, was narrating some professional experiences in an amusing way. Mr. Halstead had turned round from his desk and was leaning back in his chair, enjoying the talk. I, too, became an interested listen- er, not so much for what was said, as for the unusual way in which the speaker said it. I was puzzled in deciding whether the speaker was an Englishman, or an American, for he did not betray the peculiarities of either na- tionality. His talk was free and easy, but in tone, pitch, modulation, accentuation and pronunciation, it plainly told it was the re- sult of much intelligent training. It was an instance of good English, without the least suggestion of affectation or pedantry. Was he a great traveller, and had he made it his hobby to avoid the vocal peculiarities of ev- ery body else? After a quarter of an hour's chat, still talking, he slid from the table and sauntered into the street. Directly he left, I said to Mr. Halstead, Who is that gentle- 452 [CboiUjb tbc tOUgb COUgb Jnj the effect of no biccougb ploucjb inc tbrougb, giving eachpt\ (O'er life's oarh loiujb thtserenoughs g course fl'll still pursue. a uniform sound\ '<>70^-lj.^ '"<> Engl isb - tbe noblest' tongue bas tbe worst ortbograpb^ of an^ ^mooern speech. man? "Why don't you know Joe Jefferson?" was the reply. I knew old Rip Van Winkle, and his pathetic strain of speech, but the fin- ished, modern talk of the wide-awake gen- tleman, in ordinary street costume, was a surprise and a delight. Admirable and effective as was the utter- ance of Mr. Jefferson, I felt it was the result of artistic rather than of scientific vocal train- ing. The instance I now relate, shows what intelligent training will do, when it is prac- tise, based on phonetic science. Prof. Alex- ander Melville Bell, the venerable father of Alex. Graham Bell, of Telephone fame, is a practical as well as a theoretic phonetician. His work "The Principles of Speech and Elo- cution',' published in 1849, was the first reli- able treatise on English elementary sounds, that recognized a definite position of the vo- cal organs, as a basic principle in determin- ing the nature and quality of any given ele- mentary sound. For more than half a centu- ry Prof. Bell has been a recognized authority on phonetic analysis and correct vocal usage. His auditory development is in advance of the age. His speech is perfection; his theo- ries are the despair of ordinary phoneticians. The fine way in which Prof. Bell illustrates his vocal theories, is shown in the following extract, taken from my work on the Life and Labors of Sir Isaac Pitman." ©nl? when children arclauijbt that et>en> let- It ter used in a printed word, stands for a sound, I to be pronounced, can \vc crpect to bear tbcm If utter worcs witb any _degrec of correctness^ ■/l//:/, "I retain a vivid remembrance of meeting Mr. Alex. Melville Bell, before leaving Eng- land. I was much struck with the purity and charm of his speech. It was a revelation to me. His utterance seemed to combine the easy, graceful intonation of the talk of a cul- tured actress, with the strength and resonance that should characterize the speech of a man, and though finely modulated, it was without a suggestion of affectation, either as to mat- ter or manner. I had never before, and I do not know that I have since, heard English spoken with the ease and delicate precision that so distinctly marked the speech of Mr. Bell. His clean-cut articulation, his flexibil- ity of voice, and finely modulated utterance of English, was an exemplification of what efficient and long-continued training of the vocal organs will do for human speech-and how charming the result!" The marvelous expressiveness of spoken English, and its power to arouse the deepest feelings of our nature, were never, in my ex- perience, more fully shown, than in an inci- dent attending the delivery of a passage from the stately lines of Shakespeare. As in song, its full charm is heard only when the singer has richness of voice as well as unquestioned skill; and as Wagner had to invent new and more powerful instruments, to give express- ion to his new harmonies, so impressive or o o IRo art of civilisation bas presenteb more"; difficulties of scientific investigation, anb no* 'art bas sbown sucb slow bevelopment, as tbe< alphabetic visualising of Speech. o^o T <> <>^<> m w o solemn thought, demands exceptional vocal capacity, to do it full justice; for the emo- tions are awakened in the degree to which the auditory nerves are affected-all other re- quirements being in accord- by the full, rich and limpid quality of tone in which thought is delivered. Henry Clay must have possest a voice of rare quality; "it was a voice" says Carl Schurz,"to the cadences of which it was a physical delight to listen." The most effect- ive vocal utterances I ever heard, were those of the Shakespearian actor, Barry Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan possessed a commanding per- sonage, a graceful bearing, a mimetic organ- ization, and a voice sufficiently powerful, but of such musical modulation, that it conveyed subtilities and depths of meaning to words, that I had never heard from a speaker before. He was enacting the part of Hamlet, in this city, on his second visit to this country, some thirty years ago. The scene was the prepar- ation for the fencing-bout, before the king and queen, and that ended so tragically. Hamlet, though conscious of his skill, is yet a prey to evil forebodings. He confesses to Horatio; 'Thou wouldst not think how ill all's here, about my heart: but 'tis no matter." Horatio, in his loving solicitude for Ham- let, would have the fencing-bout put off, but Hamlet exclaims; fj ! ^I£^I "Not a whit; we defy augury: there is a spe- cial providence in the fall of a sparrow. l[ it be now, 'tis not to come: if it be not to come, it will be now: if it be not now, yet it will come: cbc IReabfnesft is afl '." This passage, which was uttered amid the breathless stillness of a crowded house, sent a thrill of emotion through the assembly, and when the final admonition was uttered, an audible sigh was the response from the vast audience: and no wonder, for the thought was uttered with a pathos and feeling I nev- er heard equalled, and that gave a deep sol- emnity to our expressive tongue. There is a legend of the elder Keene, the first great realistic tragedian, which teachers of English relate to their pupils, to stimulate them to persevering practise of vocal exercis- es, that on the day when he was to enact the part of Othello, he spent three hours, pacing his room, endeavoring to give the effect of the utmost abject, suffering despair, to the words. Fool, fool, fool! which Othello utters, on discovering the plot by which he has been deceived and led to the terrible crime of kill- ing the innocent Desdemona. There have been preachers, like Whitfield, Edward Irving, and the famed Chrysostom, who, without special training, but possesed of exceptional vocal powers, were able to ar- rf6£.^ mm ML ouse the deepest emotions of great masses of people, but in the case of Whitfield, it is said that the great preacher, in his youth, spent much time in dramatic training, in the hope of becoming an actor. This, however, does not lessen the force of the argument here in- sisted on, namely, that excellence in speech comes only from intelligent, vocal training, and that the correct and pleasing utterance of our native tongue was too important an art of daily life, to be longer neglected in our Public Schools. Even the intelligent may be reminded that it is our privilege to speak an exceptional language, in that it is the newest, and, ety- mologicaliy, the most cosmopolitan of mod- ern tongues. It is a language wholly free from the harsh, unmusical vocals and 'noises' characteristic of other northern tongues, and while it is so comprehensive, as to meet the most exacting intellectual requirements, its vocal range makes it nobly expressive, and capable, -when spoken by one who has mas- tered it,-of awakening the most varied emo- tions of the human heart. It is the language of the most progressive race on earth; it has the richest and most varied literature of any language, living or dead; and its vigor,wealth and fitness, are destined to make it,- in the no very-distant future, -the universal tongue of all civilized peoples. Jl kH&t ,X Hmerfca ts ftftg £cars fn aovancc of lEnglanM Jin its spelling. E. spells cheque, plough, centre |H. prefers check, plow, center, etc.E. spells ho jnour, labour, etc. H. wisely brops the useless u ^ k/ This is the glorious language which intell- igent common-sense demands should be re- lieved of the motley garb that an inefficient alphabet provides, to be furnished with an appropriate, fitting, and reliable scheme of letters, that will make its visual representa- tion a truthful picture of the admirable head and heart-expression it really is. Historical Httonpts at JPhonetic IReform. One of the most interesting and valuable contributions to Language literature that has appeared since Isaac Disraeli published his "Curiosities of [general] Literature", a century ago, is a series of articles that have been giv- en in the" British and Colonial Printer''(Lon- don) by Mr. R. Burch. These articles have given a detailed and singularly impartial ac- count of the manifold attempts which have been made by able statesmen, sapient phil- osophers, learned divines, and by scientific and unscientific enthusiasts, during the past three centuries and a half, to construct such a thought and speech-representation of En- glish, as would be gladly accepted to take the place of the present lawless orthography. These reformers were men of exceptional ability, who being convinced that our ineffi- cient alphabet and contradictory spellings are grave hindrances to mental and moral pro- gress, labored with amazing patience to de- Cbc fact tbafBunbrebs oTtbousanbs^oTSten^ ograpbcrs anb TReportersnow write phonetically | lis strong assurance tbat in tbe nert generation I millions of people will prefer to print truthfully. | vise some new, true, scientific scheme. They failed to recognize that language and its al- phabetic representation, are factors of evolu- tionary growth; as much so, as is the shape of our houses, or the cut of our dress. They can be Improved; they can not be radically Changed. To offer new and hybrid letters to represent familiar sounds, is like asking orientals to build steep roofs to their houses, or for northerners to use flat ones. It needs but little intelligence to see the advantages that would result from making letters uni- form in their values, so that any word, when seen for the first time, could be read as easi- ly as any new combination of figures- Such words as caoutchouc , or kieslguhr , (one of the ingredients in dynamite,) when we first meet with them, make us pause, because every letter employed has varied powers; whereas any combination of figures, say, 46,581, cau- ses no hesitation; a thousand persons seeing this number for the first time, would read it easily and read it alike. There is no reason why letters should not be equally reliable. fortunately, the- familiar letters of the alphabet can be uscb with fircb values , anb cvcrv, sounb of tbe lan- guage can be rcpresentcb bv. these familiar anb wholly satisfactory letters. The reader will be wise if he determines not to let another day pass without acquiring the ability to distinctly repeat the elementary cy/ious, tbatf/ f tbe more stubiousl\> exact be tricb to be, tbe morefl [I lubicrousty absurb became bis pronunciation. sounds -not the misleading names -of the En- glish Alphabet, as given on a preceding page. The difficulty of accurately pronouncing the brief vowels, and of making the whispered and vocalized distinction between the pairs of consonants, will disappear after a few tri- als, if the sounds of the key-words are care- fully noted. The effort will develop a sensu- ous conviction that all these radical elements of the language should be represented by ap- propriate signs, and that a given sign should never be used for other than its own sound. Then will follow the conviction that such words as iz, oy, tho, etc. are far more rea- sonable and truthful, than is, of, though, etc. and very soon, the silly prejudice of the eye, -heretofore trained by a false custom, -will yield to reason, and the accurate picturing of words, will prove an abiding satisfaction to both eye and mind. An intelligent, phonetically- trained com- munity, will undoubtedly lead to more effi- cient language-training in the Public Schools, the time-wasting perplexities of the Spelling Book will no longer plague the young, better English will be heard in our homes and on the streets, and gradually, the printing-press will be influenced by the gentle persuasions of a phonetically-educated community, and will, in time, issue its mandates with not a single phonetic-lie upon the printed page. £bc alphabetic problem has always presented- 1 la bupler bttticult^, 1st. lUbat were tbe scninbsf fto be representee? 2nb.€ofinb sums as unob-f jcctionablc as those the 'Romanic pacje presents.! chc Hlphabctic problem Solvcb. We had supposed that all possible modes of Phonetic representation had been consid- ered, that all possible forms, available for typ- ic use, had been tested, and everything done that human ingenuity could suggest, to make the phonetic representation of words, if not as satisfactory to the eye, as is the Romanic page, yet as unobjectionable as was possible with an extended alphabet. While we knew that the forms of the letters employed were the best, we were conscious that the readers eye that had been trained by the perfect sym- etry of the Roman letters, would be offended with the spotted appearance of the Phonet- ic page, due to the frequent recurrence of the "macron" sign, used to distinguish the long from the brief vowels; when, suddenly, it oc- curred to us, that by dispensing with the dot over the i and j,(a useless appendage, when these letters are used phonetically,) and em- ploying this, the simplest of all forms, instead of the line macron, to distinguish the long vowels, the only objectionable feature of the phonetic page would be removed. A page of this Plea showed by actual count, that while the old style of indicating the i and j, gave for- ty dots, the accurate marking of the phonetic values of all the long vowels, gave but fifty. Abou Ben Adhem. Wbou Pen c ^dhem (ma hiz trib incres!)^^£*& lwoc wun nit from a dep drem ov pes??»##M5 $fnd sau in thi moonlit within hiz room,AM racing it rich and lie a hh in bloom, •*$<«£*& anjel riting in a buc ov gold:^^j*%^iSi^ ■j^cseding pes had mad Ben Adhem bold: t £3Sfc8ai Hind tu thi prezens in thi room he sed^&blh&NNf r^Bwot ritest thou?" Thi vizhon razd its hed,*fc, "And with a luc mad ov aul swet acord.&m&<&4?//& : Ansurd— "Thi namz ov thoz hoo luv thi jLord&§ "And iz min wun?" sed Abou; "Na not so"-££'>e Kephd thi anjel. Abou spoc mor l6,-»y$4&3£&4&&% But chenh stil; and sed, **! pra the then, #&&&§* Rit me az wun that luvz hiz felo merfcfci&&l&& Thi anjel rot and vanisht. ifhi necst nit^WPasW It cam agen with a grat wacening lrt,«i»!8lB«'l8ii-. And shod thi namz hoom luv ov God had blest, And 16! Ben Adhem'z nam led aul thi rest./VD&SE) I 11/ : c< 'ft Mow tii mac Xtf wurtb living!. XEoIb tn Stentific, or troo-2Ufabetic Spelmg. Boo a3 u wub "be bun b't! : TRool3 for IRintentb Scnturi Xtf. )j& «\£ (. p .' . L- s* »N Ty/ «^t les, mboo mor. .(Tlotbles, i^atb mor. ?$$urc les, TRest mor. J }1R tb les. J3Jsj$auc mor. •JtKiun les, rflMa mor. ?tfauc les. ]?$isn mor. ]jprccb Ics, '^frractis mor. jsburc les, jMetp mor. faSneeney/My.ata Convention of OffieialRepi rtcrs) H wurtbi stti3en ov Bew Hampshire, lath selt- brateb tbi wun bunbreb anb fortb anivursan ov bi3 burtb. flfteni frcnb3 ascmblb tii congratutat tfu wurtbi granb-faatbur. £bi incwfctttv irrturviuir, being pre3ent, asct bim til tet tbi secret ov bis long lit. "3 bont no," replib tbi saj,"ccscpt it be tbat 3 tac tbmgs as tba cum!" t'S Jhe new "'in aeron* sldn , a dot, m a Xres the ) b» el (on <>'. %■_ c 1 — 7^> "liiTTT^rTTTT «. 0. SAICi UWTgR DALLAS, TTXa UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES LIBRARY mCOMPL6T6^HPHAB6T #* UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. APR 2 iPfl 1 7 19S7 WIERLIBRART LI0AN3 $&64 w? FOUR WEEKS FROM DATE Of f^EC£JPI |¥9N-RENEWABfcE M^ JAN 2 -19! MAR 1 9 1962 it i APR 1 MW; vc- DEC 18 1964 »t«no|imail|2| P.M. 3141 51 6. & Form L9-25»i-9,'47(A5618)444 w 51 ' : ^SW » dS) AA 000 353 973 1 3 1158 00301 2472 # t\