CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924026632301 __ ^^^^COfnell University Library PE 1151.M87 1896 Syslem of phonoscript and phonotypy 3 1924 026 632 301 SYSTEM PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. CHARLES MORRELL, A-utbor of "A System of Phonic Writing,''' *'A System of Pho- nography", "A System of Thoroughfare Terming and . House Numlaering," etc. FOURTH EDITION. CHICAGO: F»HONIC INSTITUTE. 1896. Price Twenty-Mve Cents. SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. BY CHARLES MORRELL, Author of "A System of Phonic Writing," "A System of Pho nography", "A System of Thoroughfare Terming arid House Numbering," etc. FOURTH EDITION. CHICAGO: PHONIC institute;. 1896. , , , ; Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the year 1896, by CHAKLES MORBELL, In the Office of the Librarian of Congr,ess, at Washington, D. C. AIJi BIGHTS RBSERVEO. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1885, by CHABLES MOBBELL, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1894, by CHABLES MOBBELL, In the OfSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, by CHABLES MOBBELL, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. THIS VOLTTMK IS BESPECTFUIXT DEDICATED, BT THE AT7TH0B, TO THE MEMBEBSOF THE AMERICAN SPELLING REFORM ASSOCIATION; PREFACE. Phonetic writing consists of three kinds: Phono- script, Phonotypy and Phonography. The first is written with script or cursive letters like those of ordinary longhand; the second with Roman or uncial letters such as are now printed, and the third with single line letters as in shorthand, the spell- ing in all three being the same. Phonography is divided into two kinds, one written with and the other without connective vowels. An edition of each — a complete one of the former and a synopsis of the. latter — has already been issued and an improved one will soon follow. The Phonoscript and Phonotypy herewith are self-explaining. They are accordingly offered to the reader with- out further remark. The manner of pairing the vowel sounds as exhibited -in this work was first published in November, 1890, in the scheme of connective vowel phonography above mentioned, entitled "A System of Phonic Writing." In July, 1891, the first edition of the present work appeared, and in October, 1894, a second one was issued greatly enlarged over the first; both presenting the vowels the same as in the "System of Phonic Writing." After issuing the second edition the author made the discovery hereafter explained, of the proper FBEFACE. positions of Towel approximation, and thus was enabled to demonstrate the correctness of his arrangement of the vowel sounds by the physi- ological method. A third edition was accordingly issued (April, 1895,) in which these sounds were paired the same as before. The order of the vowel scale, however, was readjusted to conform to that of the newly discovered positions. Before the discovery above mentioned was made a new uncial letter had been obtained for the vowel "oo" as in "ooze" to correspond with the cursive form previously employed to represent the vowel as in "art." After the discovery a cursive letter was added to represent the vowel as in "ask." These letters were incorporated in the third edi- tion. In consequence of these changes ' 'x" was there employed to represent the vowel as in "art" instead of "oo" as in "ooze" as in the fornier edi- tions. The third edition was also larger than the others. In the present edition the only changes made from the third — aside from some slight verbal alterations and the addition of a few explanatory pages and exercises at the end — are the abolish- ment of the capital print forms "U" and "E" and the employment of the letter "x" to represent the vowel in "ask" instead of that in "art," and the letter which represented the former, namely, the vowel in "ask" to represent the latter. These two letters thus exchange representations. This is done for convenience both in writing and read- ing, since the vowel in "ask" in words other than PEKPACK. monosyllables occurs mostly at or near the end; whereas the vowel in "art" in such words happens mostly in the middle or beginning. Consequently "x" is a better letter to represent the former than the latter since it is more easily written and read (consisting as it does of two separate strokes) at or near the end of words than in the middle; the reverse being true of the letter representing the vowel in "art." Again, by so employing "x" the writing preserves an analogy to the present spelling in which this letter occurs most fre- quently in similar positions. Lastly, the system as here finally completed resembles the present writing and printing more closely, and is thus more easily mastered, than any other purely phonetic scheme ever given to the public. The first section of the Introduction following is almost the same as the whole introduction to the "System of Phonic Writing" above mentioned. The article following the Introduction entitled "The Spiriti, or Breathings" is taken from the same work, and is given here for the purpose of explaining the nature of the breathings, the true relation between which, as considered by the Greeks, the author believes he is the first to dis- cover. The author, some five or six years before he pub- lished any work on phonetic writing, conceived the idea of deriving the new letters needed in the spelling reform from the Greek alphabet. Since then, in perfecting the system of phonoscript and phonotypy following, he has examined all the al- 8 FBEFACB. phabets in every language, both ancient and mod- ern, that were accessible; an(^ has consulted or read in full, many works and treatises on phonetics and language, including those of Dr. E. G. Latham, Dr. A. J. Ellis and Prof. Max Muller; and also numerous tricts and pamphlets published by Mr. (now Sir) Isaac Pitman. Of all the works thus read and consulted, however, he wishes to express his greatest indebtedness to those of Dr. B. G. Latham, and particularly to his "A Defense of Phonetic Spelling ; Drawn from a History of the English Alphabet and Orthography, with a Eemedy for their Defects." This wonderful book is now out of pl-int, but should not be^. In it its great author glances through the past and coming centnries as if ther were crystal. INTEODUCTION. The number of vowels ia this work is not so great as that usually adopted in other systems of phonetic writing. Neither is their classification the same. Thus the sound of "i" in "ice" is con- sidered a vowel, and the vowel sounds in the words "is, ell, Uz, ask, at, odd; and eyes, eel, ooze, art, ate, ode," are regarded respectively, as the' short and long mates of each other. The diphthongs also are fewer and with the exception of " oi " and " ou '' are changed. The combination represented by " u " or "eau"in "tube" or "beauty" is not considered a diph- thong, but instead is regarded as simply the long sound of "u" modifiei^by the consonant "y." The combination represented by "u, eau, you, hue," etc., in "tube, beauty, you, hue" and similar words is probably no more of a diphthong than that represented by "woo, hwoo," etc., in "woo, hwoo, wound;" since in the first case "u," etc., is the sound of the vow^l "u (oo)" after the consonant "y", and in the seconid it is the same sound after the consonant "w". Also the consonant "y", in such words as "tube, beauty, you, hue", is of the same principle 'as the consonant "w" in such words and syllables as "twit, buoy (pronounced bwoi), woo, hwoo". The combination represented by "u" in "tube," » 10 INTBODUCTIOlf. not being considered a diphthong, but simply the long sound of "u" modified by the consonant "j", as just said, the latter and the preceding "t" are regarded as a double consonant, and the word spelled with "y," as in "tyoob" (tyube), in the same manner as tweed, which is spelled with "w" and not with "oo" (u) as in "too-eed" (tweed). The same rule applies to the other words above, or of their class, as for instance, in "pueblo," which is sometimes pronounced "pweblo." How- ever, all who prefer can write this combination "iu (ioo)" at the middle and end of words and "yu (yoo)" at the beginning. But in the former case it should, perhaps, be written only after certain lingual consonants, as for instance, "s, z, 1, ch, j, th, dh." After all other consonants "yu (yoo)" should be written. But as the reason ioT this may not at first be apparent, the attention of the reader is invited to the following: In speech "w" cohsists partly of a sound re- sembling the vowel "oo" as in "ooze" and "y" partly of one resembling "i"asin "it;" and the construction of both might be represented as in the examples "oo(w)arm, i(y)ore," and "too(w)eej^, ti(y)oob." Thus the consonant parts of "w" and "y" are medial and are made between say "oo"or "i"and a following vowel ; "w" being formed by the lips and "y" by the tongue. From the nature of their con- struction the vowel part of "w" and "y" is some- times more prominent in enunciation than the consonant part and vice versa. Strictly speaking, therefore, if the "i" part of the semi- vowel or seqii- INTBODUCTION. H consonant "y" is written after seine consonants, *'t" for instance, the "y" part should be written after others, "b" for instance. The reason "i" is uttered in some connections — say with certain lingual consonants— as for example after "t" is be- cause "y" is not so prominent in such positions, being divided as it were with the "t" sound, the latter and "y" being both made with the tongue; but the "y" sound is there nevertheless. The same reasoning applies to "y" after "b," etc. There "V being articulated by the lips, the tongue has full swing, so to speak, to utter the "y" and consequently the full sound of the latter is produced without any division. The same thing occurs in the case of "w" — which is a labial — after "p, b," etc.j and "t, d," etc. Ac- cordingly the sounds of "pw, bw," etc., as in "pueblo, buoy", are not so distinct or frequent as those of "tw, dw'", etc., as in "twig, dwell"; the tendency heing to eliminate the "oo" or "w" sound aften the "p, b" series. The same tendency exists as to "y" after the "t, d" series and should be encouraged rather than restrained; which latter is being done when "i" is inserted before "oo" in such words. Thus "tube," etc., ought to be pronounced "toob," etc., the same as "buoy" is sometimes pronounced "boi." This, however, does not apply to "y" after the "p,b" series and «'w" after the "t, d" series. Consequently the words **beauty" and "tooit (twit)" should be spelled with the "y" and "w" since tjiis is the ■ natural method. That is the "w" and "j" 12 INTRODUCTION. sounds — and consequently the letters "w" and "y" — should be used or abolished altogether without any makeshifts such as "oo" or "i" being employed in their place either in utterance or writing. In other words nature should be fol- lowed regardless of theory; and when a sound is diflBcult to rftter or interferes with another the unnecessary one should be abolished. Or to state the cause rather than the effect, articulations and semi-articulations or approximations and semi- approximations should not be permitted to inter- fere with each other. If the ''y" sound were omitted after lijaguals, de- rivative words would preserve the forms of their primitives; as in 'introdoos (-us), introduction." It is the opinion of the'author, therefore, that the pronunciation . of "yu" or "iu" has been over- done, especially in the third and following sylla- bles of words, and that in the future the "y" sound before long "u" will and should be to a great ex- tent eliminated. Accordingly the word "new" is spelled "nn" instead of "nyQ" or "niti" in the fol- lowing examples. Also "lute," etc., should be written "lat," and not "lyat" or "lint." In connection with the view of the combination in "beauty, tube," etc., as above, the reader is re- ferred to Webster's "International Dictionary," ' .1890, "Guide to Pronunciation," sections 131 to 134, which contains the nearest approach to a con- firmation of this view — if it does not altogether confirm it — that the author has yet seen. It is also stated in section 134 that '*The y sound after d or IMTBODUCTION. t3 n is common in England, as in ^we, new, etc., but not in America." In addition it states: "As ex- ceptional, the s in sure, sugar, and their deriva- tives, is entirely displaced by the sJi developed from the y sound, and the vowel is reduced to a simple 00 {food or foot) sound. " The sound represented by "ou, ui" or "oo," as ' in "should, Cruickshank" or "foot, "is regarded as a diphthong, and spelled with the letters "ui." It has always seemed to the author ever since he began to attend to the subject of phonetics that this sound was composed of "oo," as in "ooze" and "i"as in "it," or of a sound between "u" and "oo" in "up" and "ooze" an-d that of "i" in "it." The first hint, outside of the author's own impres- sions, that this sound was a diphthong, was obtained from Worcester's Dictionary about ten years ago. In Webster's " International Dictionary," above mentioned, page 1718, par. 5, under the heading of "Elements of Pronunciation of the Principal Mod- ern Languages of Continental Europe," the follow- ing occurs in regard to the vowel "u:" "Uia most languages is pronounced like the Englieh oo or 00. In French (and in Dutch when it ends a syllable), It may be said to combine the sounds of our oo and long e. If the speaker, after placing his lips in the position for pronouncing oo, endeavors, without momng hislips, to utter the sound of ee. that of the French u will be produced. Or it maybe approximately represented by the English « In fuU, or 00 in good. " Which, to the author's mind, is as much as saying that "u" in "full" or "good" is composed of two sounds. If this is true it is a diphthong. 14 INTBODUCTION. The reader will observe that there is a certain re- semblance between the sounds and spelling of "«i" and "in," each beginning and ending at opposite; ends of the scale. It may be stated that if "iu" is an impure diphthong — that is if it has "y" in it and its construction is "i(y)u" — therefore by a parity of reasoning "ui" is also an impure diph- thong — that is it has *'w" in it and its construc- tion is "u(w)i" — somewhat after the manner of the French "oui." That is "u" in "ui' is a Towel- ized — or semi-vowelized — form of "w;" and "i" in "iu" is likewise a similar form of "y;" the nature of the sounds "w" and "y" necessitating that they have in language both a consonant and a vowel form; in one of which they are semi-conson- ants and in the other semi-vowels. Dr. A. J. Ellis appears to have treated on this point in the "Gen- eral Introduction'*to"Storrsand Smalley's Phonetic Dictionary of the English Language, "sec. 38. In opposition to the above, however, it maly be stated as to "ui" that if it ever had the "w" sound in it, itisnow, perhaps, omitted, and consequently it has grown, so to say, into a pure diphthong. Yet, on the other hand, the same may be claimed for "in"' in regard to the "y" sound. In any event, if "iu" be decided finally to be a diphthong, it will prob- ably turn out that it is like "ui" an infrequent sound, and that there are only a few words, com- paratively speaking, in which it occurs. It will thus be rare in speech and writing, and will not be used after such consonants oA " b " in such words as "beauty." INTEODUOTION. 15 The last section is given for what it is worth. In this system "ui" is considered a diphthong and "in" is not — as stated in the beginning. .The author is strongly opposed to representing any vowel sound when it occurs before "r" in the same syllable by a different character from that which it ordinarily bears; for the reason that the vowel in this situation is not changed but is merely corrupted, so to speak, by the "r.". Thus the vowel "u" in"burr," is nothing more than the vowel "u" in "up" joined to that of the "r" which being an open consonant — the most open one ex- cepting of course tlfe semi-consonants or semi- vowels "w" and "y" — forces every vowel that pre- cedes it in the the same syllable to be formed in the same part of the mouth in which it itself is formed, thus causing it to join with its own sound; the two producing as it were a diphthong. Consequently the syllable is phonetically spelled sufficiently for all practical purposes when the vowel and the following " r" are written. The corrupting influence of the "r" does not extend to so great a degree, if it extends at all, to the diph- thongs, since they can not be uttered so completely in the same syllable with the "r" as can the single vowels; because three sounds-r-two in the diph- thong and one in the "r"— ^re not so easily ut- tered in the "t" chamber as are two sounds. Hence the test as to whether or not any particu- lar sound is a diphthong is to note if it can be uttered in the same syllable with the following "r" as completely as can a single vowel. If it can 16 ISTBODtJCTION. it is not a diphthong. If it can not it is. Ac- cording to this standard "oi, ou" and "ui" are diphthongs, and "i" as in "eyes" is not. In this system "u" in "up" is paired with "qp" in "ooze"^ the former being considered the short sound of the latter. In other systems of phonetic writing the former is regarded as the short sound of "u" in "burr," which latter sound never oc- curs in English except when followed by "r" in the same syllable, though it is claimed that it occurs in some European languages without the "r" after it. This, however, is possibly an error. Also in other systems "ut" — here classed as a diphthong — is considered the short sound of "oo" in "ooze". Consequently the method of pairing "u" in this system is radically different from the other methods just mentioned, though it agrees with the classification of the present spelling, and thus in that particular presents no difficulty in the' transition from the latter to phonetic spelling. Besides it is not so certain that this method of pairing the sounds in "up" and "ooze" is not the correct one. There is quite a number of varieties, so to speak, or shades of the vowel "u" as in "up," the same as there is of the other vowels. But that is no reason why any of these varieties or ahy inter- mediate sound should be the short mate of long "u" any more than short "u" itself should be the proper mate. Thus Dr. A. J. Ellis in his article entitled "Speech-Sounds" in the "EncyclopediSi'^ Britannica," ninth edition, 1887, sec. 4, par. 4,' gives three or four examples of intermediate vowels INTRODUCTION. 17 — musing his system of palaeotype to designate them — some of which examples seem to indicate that there are intermediate vowels between "u" in "up" and "go" in "ooze" used in dialects; and then remarks, the parenthesis being the author's: ' 'The positions for these vowels have not been ascertained. These are only specimens of numerous cases (which occur with the vowels taken altogether.) * * * Hence the positional discrimination breaks down at present. Never- theless it is very good so far as it goes, but must not.be pressed to extremes." Dr. Ellis, however, believed thoroughly in the positional discrimination theory, as can be ascer- tained by consulting the introductory part to Mr. A, M. Bell's work entitled "Visible Speech." All he means here is that it should not be pressed in uncertain cases. To say, then, that any one of the vowels between ,"u" in "up" and "oo" in "ooze" is the mate of the latter rather than "u" in ''up" itself is pushing the positional discrimination to extremes. Again in the dictionary quoted above under the same heading, sec. 141, it is stated that the vowel "u" in "up" js ranked "as a back vowel by Mr. Bell." If thig is the fact, namely, if it is a back vowel — and the author believes it is for reasons which will hereafter appear — it certainly is the short sound, so called, of "oo" in "ooze," if not absolutely at least practically; and "u" in "up" and "oo" in "ooze" are as much mates as any of the other pairs of long and short vowels. THE SPIRITI, OB BEEATHINGS.* ■Jhe sounds, whether whispered or vocal, of every language are produced by the breath passing through the sounding, vowel and articulating or- ganisms, situated in the throat and mouth. A sound can not be made without breath. The breath is of two degrees, either light or heavy, and ■ is called smooth or rough. These are also called spiriti, or breathings. • The Romans called the one spiritus lenis, which means soft or smooth breath, and the other spiritus asper, which means rough ' breath. The light or smooth breath, spiritus lenis, is the breath we breathe every instant of our lives, sleeping or waking, and which is necessary for our existence. The heavy or rough breath, spiritus asper, is the smooth breath, spiritus lenis, made heavy or rough. Sounds are also of two degrees or kinds, either smooth or rough. A smooth' sound is produced by the smooth and a rough sound by the rough breath passing through the sounding organism. The Greeks, in their latest alphabet, had no letter to represent either of these breathings, but indicated them by two different marks, one. of which was placed over every vowel letter that began a word. The Romans had no marks for these breathings, but represented one of them, the spiritus asper, or rough breath, by the letter " h," *The term ''spiriti" is used to indicate the plural in preference to the classical one, "spiritus." 19 20 THE SPIRITI, OR BKKATHIISfGS. The other, the spiritus lenis, they left out of their alphabet altogether. In the Latin language it had no mark or letter of any kind to indicate its existence, the vowel letter itself without a mark standing for the sound produced by the smooth breathing. The Moderns adopted the alphabet of the Eomans, and, accordingly, we have only one breath letter, that of the spiritus asper, or rough breath, which is the letter "h,"and nothing to indicate the existence of -the other, its corres- ponding smooth breath. This has been the cause of great confusion, for the letter "h" has thus been considered a consonant, which it is not. Keither is it a Yowel or sonant; it simply stands for the rough breath. The Greeks, therefore, considered the vowel letters as representing the different souids, and the-smooth and the rough marks as representing the breath, both smooth and rough which created those sounds. The Eomans con- sidered the vowel letters as representing the differ- ent sounds, and the letter "h" not as creating, but as simply making the sound rough. The Greek alphabet was, perhaps, the more philosophic of the two, though the Eoman was the more practicable and legible. This rough or smooth breathing is the connect- ing link, or power, between the consonants and sonants, for the consonants could not accompany the sonants if there was no breath. Again, no language can be properly represented that does not have a sign for each of these spiriti, or breath- ings. Also, both should be represented or both THE SPIEITI, OK BBBATHINGS. 81 not. "The smooth breathing is as much of an existence as the rough. To represent one and not the other is Hable to lead to errors in language and in the interpretation of alphabets, or else prevent them from being understood; for we can not understand any alphabet unless we can perceive the re&son of its formation. Were the alphabet to be represented in a man- ner similar to that of the Greeks (which should not be done), the spiritus lenis, or smooth breath- ing before the first letter "a" in the word "aha," would have a sign or letter to represent it as the spiritus asper or rough breathing before the third , letter "a" has a sign to represent it, which is the letter "h." The Greeks held, and they were cor- rect, from their standpoint and also as far as they went, that the breathing, either smooth or rough, and not the vowel commenced the word and accordingly should be represented. That no word, strictly speaking, commenced with a vowel and could not, but that every word began with either a breathing smooth or rough or a consonant. Hence the marks for the smooth and rough breathings over the first vowels of all, words that did not commence with a consonant. Although the smooth breathing exists it is not ordinarily noticeable to the ear in vocal speech any more than is the wind which makes the voice through a trumpet. We know that the wind or breath makes the voice, but we hear the voice, not the breath. The same reasoning applies to a steam whistle. This wind, breath or steam that we do S8 THB gPnUTI OR EBEATHINOS. w not hear in the voice of this class of instruments corresponds to the spiritus lenis or smooth breath that makes the smooth voice through the human sonant organism and the latter corresponds to the trumpet, whistle or other instrument. The name of the smooth breath letter -f- is Aitch (that is to say + aitch) ; that of the rough breath letter H is Haitch. The sound of the for- mer is a smooth breath sound only,* that of the latter is a rough breath sound only, neither of which is sonant. * The smooth breathing is not silent. It can be heard by lengthening it out before it strikes the whispering or vocal sonant organism, the same as In pronouncing the syllable "ha," the "h" can be lengthened out before it strikes the whispered or vocal "a." Both breathings may also be distinctly heard by pronouncing the syllables "+a" and "ha" and drawing the breath inwardly. A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PIONOTYPY. The English language contains thirty-seven sounds, and is at present repre"feented in the com- mon script and print by twenty -six letters. There are consequently not a sufficient number of letters to represent the sounds. From this cause, and this alone, our spelling seems on the surface to be without system, though it is really much more systematic than at first appears. Not having enough letters, we are forced to resort to combi- nations of two or more to represent sounds which have none. This presents no difficulty in our own language, but words are taken from foreign ones with their native spelling. Now the alphabets which represent these foreign languages also do not have enough letters to represent their sounds, and so the people who write them are forced to resort to combinations, and these are different from our •2S 24 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AKD PHONOTTPY. own. That is to say, a foreigner spells a certain sound in a different way from what we spell it in the Saxon part of our speech. So that these foreign words can almost always be recognized by their spellina. As a result, we have the same sound spelled in as many different ways as there are languages whose words are used in English. There are thus many systems of spelling, and a man to know English as it is written at present must know all these systems. This constitutes the difiScnlty of learning English from books. There is no more difiiculty in learning to speak our language than any other ; perhaps not so much. Therefore a man who can not read has this advantage- at least over one who can, that he hears only one way and pronounces ac- cordingly, and thus soon masters the oral part of English; but the man who reads finds that he must give several sounds to a syllable spelled only one way, as in the words "rove, move, above," and "rough, sough, cough, hiccough, hough, though, thought, through," and one sound to a syllable spelled several different ways, as in the words, " Reid, read, re^d, Swede, Csesar, pique, chief, people, demesne, ccelum," and so becomes confused and does not know what sound to give to a word unless he has a living guide to T;ell him, and although he may learn to read English he rarely learns to talk it. Thus a great deal of our spoken language is a blank to many scholars, and much of our literature to many n-.en and women who can speak English, but not read it, and who A SYSTEM OF PIIONOSCSIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 25 after arriving at a certain age do not care to learn, owing to the difficulty and time required to mas- ter the spellicg. The present spellii^g, therefore, being so complicated, we ought either to spell according to one system, or new letters should be invented and added to our alphabet. It iS reason- able to suppose that we will not 'spell according to one system with the alpliabet as it is at present, because it would be too cumbersome and require too many letters, besides not being sufficiently leg- ible, as cam be seen in any alphabet of digraphs that has yet been offered. If we were to reduce all our spelling to the system used in the Saxon part of English, or adopt one of digraphs, 'either would be better than the present collection of systems, but only to the extent of being reduced to one system. The only improvement then that can be made upon our present spelling is by phonoscript and phonotypy. To obtain this we must add ten new letters to the alphabet and change the mean- ing of three of the old oneSj namely, c, q and x, and take the capital forms e and A to represent the long sounds heard in "eel" and "ale." This would do away with digraphs and combinations, so that each sound would have one letter and no more, and every foreign word that came into the language would retain its original sound or sounds, but be spelled according to phonoscript and phon- otypy, and be more legible than in the present spelling. English could thus be learned from books almost as easily as from speech. The difficulty. . 26 A SYSTEM OF PH0N08CBIPT AND PHONOTTPT. however, of obtaining the additional ten letters at once presents itself. If a person will examine closely a page of common Eoman print he will perceive the simplicity and legibility of the letters, their plainaess and distinctness, without ornament of any kind, either interior or exterior, and their marked difference" of form, so that it is not possi- ble even for an instant ^o mistake one letter for another. The same will be the case, if he takes a page of Latin or G-reek print, whether he under- stands those languages or not. This is -what con- stitutes the legibility of the Greek and Eoman letters; their wonderful difference of form, no two being alike. They are more simple, legible and beautiful than any other letters that ever were invented. If he again looks closely at the letters of our alphabet he will at once see that new ones can not be invented from therti; all the original forms having been exhausted — for, only original forms can be considered — and that each form is now an original in itself and can not be changed into a new one. But when we tui'n to the Greek alphabet we see that this is not the case, and that there are many original forms in it different from our own. Now the alphabet has had additions made to it at different times, so that at present we have more letters in it than at first. The old Greek alpha- bet — said to have been brought by Cadmus from PhcBnicia — ^is generally supposed to have consisted of sixteen or eighteen letters. We now have twenty-six, so that eight or ten new ones have A SYSTEM OF PHOKOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPT. 27 been added in the course of time to the original stock as they were needed. Therefore there is nothing strange or startling in the proposition to ■ add still other letters to the alphabet, especially as reform in our spelling is necessary, and additional letters needed to represent each of the soainds that have been separated and classified in English speech. The Romans having taken their letters from the old Greek alphabet, rejecting the latest one, we should take what letters we need as far as we can obtain them from both. We already have the letter K from the Greeks, and should have several others just as legible and serviceable, both in script and print. The latest Greek alphabet was in use for centuries. It is superior to every alphabet in the number of its original simple forms, and to every one except the Roman in legi- bility. The present Roman alphabet is unques- tionably the most legible ever invented. No other except the Greek even approaches it in this partic- ular, and for this reason it has survived and will surely be adopted to represent the world language of the future. The Greek alphabet thus abound- ing in original, simple forms, is the only proper one from which we should invent new letters. These must be used in script as well as in print, and both still retain as much resemblance to each other as do our. present script and printed forms. The new letters must also have the same kind of an appearance as the old, so as not to be odd or strange. Many of our printed capital letters are really 28 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPT. Greek ones, though called Roman, and were taken from the Greeks just as they are, namely, A, B, E, P, H. I, K, M, N, O, P, Q, S, T, X, Z. Therefore, it is ^t and proper for us to adopt other letters from the Greek alphabet. It is only restflcing them to their original companionship after a long separation, but with the Eoman instead of the Greek dress. The Greek alphabet has about exhausted all the legible forms in na- ture. If the phonoscript and phonotypic alpha- bets on pages 88 and 89 are examined, it will be seen that only five really new forms have been or could be invented, namely, the phonotypic one for long "e,'* the letter in both alphabets for the vowel In "art," the phonotypic forms for "u" as in "ooze," and "th"a8in "thither," and the small script form for long "i" as In "eyes;" and they are only modifications of old forms, viz.: the capital print letter "E," the Greek letter for "ou" resembling the figure eight, the capital "U" and the Greek letters "theta" and "beta; " the capital form for long "1" already having been given the Roman appearance in the Arabic numeral, the square-topped figure three. Some of the old letters now used exclusively as lower or upper case would have to be employed for both, as also would some of the new ones. There is nothing out of place or lacking in taste in this. Caps and small letters have the same form In many instances in the present alpha- bet, namely, c, o, b, v, w, x, z, and they do not seem lack- ing In taste or odd simply because we are accustomed to them. The phonoscript ,and phonotypic alphabets must contain all the letters of the present one, except only the lower eftse print hooded letter "a," whose place should be taken by the Greek form, the upper case print letter "XJ," whose place should be supplied by the lower case "u" made into a capital form; and the print capital "E," which should be exchanged for the phonotypic form for long "e," A SYSTEM OF PHOKOSCKIPT AND PHOKOTtPT. 3S We must not throw out any of the other old letterS;, script or print. They are as perfect as humanity can make, them. 0, q'and x m\ist be retained. These letters are, on the whole, as serviceable and legible in scriptand print as any of the other twenty- three old letters or any hew ones that can be inven- ted. Also the new vowel letiiers, the same as the old, must extend neither above nor below the line, while the most frequently occurring characters, both vowel and consonant, must have the most easily written forms, and as we write and read from left to right all the letters should be made to meet this custom. Accordinglyreversedletters,or those which would naturally be made if we proceeded from right to left, will not do, as they would be against the convenience of the eye and hand in script, where the original of the printed forms of an alphabet must always be found. We must first invent a phono- script, and then from it a phonotypic alphabet, and they must correspond or they will not be adopted by the common consent of the masses. Uncial and cursive letters, that is to say, loosely, print and script, must not be mixed together. Each must be kept separate, the uncial with phonotypic and the cursive with phonoscript letters. Also all the new letters must be capable of being written in script as quickly and as easily as the old and have all their characteristics. Thus will the new alphabets have the sanction of the ages back of them. They will look backward as well as forward. They, will pre- serve the past as well as the future. It should not be the aim of the maker of an alphabet to see how many sounds he can get into 30 A STBTBM OF PHONOBCRIPT AND PHONOTTTT. it, but rather how few consistent with practicality. This seems to have been the aim of the Phoenicians and Greeks, and they were the best alphabet makers that have yet appeared, excepting, of coarse, the Eomans or Etruscans, as to.legibility. When there are "So many sounds and characters so many will be so nearly alike and almost imaginarily distinct that it will not be possible for the average'ear and eye to distinguish them. Many of the letters will be too ornamental and complicated, and, therefore, slow, difficult and uncertain in writing. Thus one letter would often be taken for another in rapid reading, and one sound for another in rapid speaking, and the result would be re-readings and repeatings to the great trouble and loss of time of all concerned . Consequently the sounds may be impracticable as well as the alphabet which repre- sents them. No alphabet, therefore^ must be con- sidered which has not a simple, single and markedly separate form for each sound; nor any system that has so many sounds that it must be repre- sented by complicated letters slow and difficult of execution, or by digraphs. The present Roman script is the swiftest ever invented and it is so simply because there are so few strokes required for each letter. A Frenchman, Italian, Spaniard, Englishman or American writes much swifter and easier than a person whose script differs from the Roman. It is also the most legible. If a compli- cated alphabet were adopted we would be really in a worse condition than with the present collection of spellings, because they only try the brain; A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPT. 31 whereas, the former would not only do that but try the approximating and articulating powers also as well as the hearing, the eyesight and the hand. We must not, therefore, be too phonetic. We must choose the average sound and represent it. Otherwise the language and alphabet will have too many sounds and characters and will surely perish. It is a saying among type founders and printers that "plain type is always as welcome as our daily bread and butter." The letters which represent an universal language should be plain and sim- ple, without ornament. Ornamental or compli- cated body type, therefore, is not to be thought of. Printers and the public would not tolerate . it for a moment in books and newspapers, any more than they do now, and they should not. By adopting a proper phonoscript and phonotypic alphabet, the trade need not throw away a single type letter it now possesses. All that is neces- sary is to add ten new ones. Nothing whatever will be wasted. Nja (Jlie will be mined by having his present type rendered worthless. On the con- trary, phonoscript and phonotypy will render it more valuable by opening up sources of business for the printer and type founder that do not now exist. These trades and all businesses connected with them will be more solidly established than ever from the fact that more people will read and write when such knowledge becomes more avail- able. Your old-time printer will then see that a page of phonoscript or phonotypy is as beautiful 32 A STSTliM OP PH0N08CRIPT AND PHONOTTPY. and mechanically appropriate as any that has ever been set up in the old script or print, and also that it is a far better representation of speech, and, having fewer letters to a word, is more quickly and easily read. There should be only one alphabet in the world. The same primal vowel sounds exist in all lan- guages, and should be represented by the same letters. A simple vowel, consonant or breathing in German or any other language is the same as a simple vowel, consonant or breathing in English — the arrangement of the consonants is different, that is all. In music the same representation suffices for all peoples. This should be the case with language. All phonography is spelled phonetically, and so should script and print. What are called homonyms would not beany more trouble than they are in speech; that is, they would not be any trouble at all. The alphabet was originally introduced by merchant's from Phoenicia. It was largely phonetic. Its improved phonetic form will also be introduced to the world by the merchant class, and it will happen as of old, by commercial correspondence and bills, supplemented by the improved modern methods of phonetic shorthand, the type-writer and account- ing; and, presently, by the printed book, the newspaper and literature. Then will English, freed from its numerous and troublesome spellingsj spread far and wide through every zone — breathing not threatenings and slaughter, but peace and good will toward men. Then will " the whole A StSfBli Ot PHONOSCKiM Atrt) PfiOSfOftt>Y. 33 earth," as at the first, be " of one language and of one speech," and Babel will have fallen forever. The two alphabets here given are as legible as the present script and print. The phonotypic one can be used on the typewriter and for general print- ing and the phonoscript one for accounting and general writing fully as intelligibly as the presiBnt print and script alphabets. Any person who can write can prove this at once with the phonoscript. To adopt phonotypy on the typewriter would re- quire only the addition of new letters — the pres- ent ones would remain. The phonotypic key board would thus not interfere with the present spelling, for it could print either way. As phonetic spelling — namely, one sign only for each sound — is much speedier than the present method,and consequently is employed with much less drudgery,thead vantages to the business world are obvious. The vowel scheme can also be applied to any system of pho- nography or phonetic shorthand, as may be seen by referring to the phonographic vowel arrange- ment or scale, given on page 104; thus rendering the spelling the same in all systems of phonetic writing, whether the characters are the same or not. The names of the old letters in the new alpha- bets are the same as usual, except "g,w,"and "y," which are called respectively, "gay, way" and "yay." The names of the smooth new letter^ are "eng" or "ing" and "aitch;" of the rough ones "ith" or "thee" ("th" being pronounced as "th"in "thin"), "thee" ("th" being pronounced as "th" in "then"). 34 A SYSTEM OF PHOKOSORIPT AND PHONOTYPV. "chay, ish" or "shee, zhee," and "haitch." The vowels and diphthongs are named simply by pro- nouncing them. All the letters except "eng, aitch, haitch" and the vowels and diphthongs may also be simply named by adding after them the "open vowel "e," as "pee, bee, tee, dee, kee, gee,see, zee," etc. The paragraph below in reference to the pho- noscript and phonotypic alphabets contains all the sounds of the English language. In phonotypy or phonoscript — that is to say in phonetic spelling — it contains two hundred and sixty-one letters; in the present spelling there are fifty additional ones or three hundred and eleven. The difference be- tween the speed of the two systems is at once appar- ent either for the compositor, the typewriter or in script handwriting. In the alphabets the letter -f- (Aitch or +3'itch) represents the lene or smooth breathing and is employed iu the place of the apostrophe in words where the aspirate or rough breathing represented by the letter H (Haitch) is omitted, as in "+im," instead of '"im," for "him." The diphthongs being two sounds, are each prop- erly represented by two letters which, are not, therefore, digraphs. In the typewritten example signed "Hickman, Jones & Co.," the "Co." is written and pro- nounced "Ku.," because were phonetic spelling the custom, the short vowels would be spoken and named as sonorously and prolonged as the long ones. Also many vowels both short and long that are now obscure would become distinct. A. SYSTBM OP PH0N08CR1PT AND PHONOTTPT. 35 In the "phonotypic alphabet, given hereafter, the new letters may not have the same finished appearance as the old ones. Any difference in size between the old letters and the models of the new ones given below or any deficiency in accuracy or neatness of form of the latter will be obviated when the new letters are cast by the type founder, so that no letter in the alpha- bet will have a strange appearance when com- pared with any other. The small script long vowel " a," when it oc- curs after such letters as " v, w, o," etc., in which the final connecting line runs horizontally from the top of the letter instead of upward from the bottom as in the case of the script " m," etc., may, if preferred, be made a little higher than the pre- ceding letter in order to produce a more shapely or a larger form. This, however, as said, need not be done unless preferred, since the connecting line in such cases is usually instinctively curved slightly downward before joining the following letter, as will be perceived by writing the words " vary, way " and " oasis " in phonoscript. The connecting line always accommodates it&elf to the following letter in all words, in any event. Thus it runs upward from the bottom of short "e" in the word " em" and horizontally from the top of short "o"in the word "om;"but the legibility of the letter " m" is not thereby impaired. Ordin- arily the small "a" may be made any height prefer^ red, whether the same as the other vowels or higher; this being simply a matter of caligraphic taste. 36 A SYSTEM OP PSOlfOSCBIPT AltD PHONOTTPY. The small script form for the long vowel "u" may, if preferred, be enlarged and used as a capi- tal letter instead of the capital form given in the alphabet. In phonetic spelling when a vowel in a word is apparently neither short nor long it should always or generally be written long. When the vowel is obscure or uncertain Webster's, or Worcester's Dictionary, or some other good authority, should be followed; but no vowel should ever be omitted. Thus such words as "trouble, rebel, spasm, chasm," etc., should be written "trnbel, rebel, spazum, kazum," and not "trubl, rebl, spazm, kazm." The obscure or uncertain vowel sound in each word is there and should be represented by the character of the short or long vowel nearest resembling it. In this connection the "Complete Phonographic Class Book," by Andrews and Boyle, 1848, sec. 51, may be quoted. In considering the natural vowel the authors observe: * "It is heard ia the words parti-ele, fab-le, schis-m, etc. The existence of a vowel sound, in the latter cases, maybe questioned by some, but it is believed that a comparison with the French pronunciation of similar words, in which the vowel is actually excluded or else pronounced slightly at the end of the words, will convince the reader that we often insert the vowel sound, however slight, before the final consonants in this class of words. The natural vowel — sometimes called the neutral or protean vowel — should not, how- ever, be represented by a particular character for the reason that when phonetic spelling comes into vogue pronunciation will be so exact as to practi- A. SYSTEM OF PHONOSCMPT AND PHONOTyPY. 37 cally eliminate this sound, and also for the additi- onal reason that it varies, even when most restric- ted, and cdnsequently can not be represented by one sign. Another reason against omitting the vowel in writing as above is that there would then be no means of deciding whether or not to pronounce it in the middle of words, as in " troubling." Words should be spelled without regard to their supposed beauty of appearance. Spelling words with their proper letters may sometimes produce apparently awkward forms, but it will never pro- duce a more apparently awkward one, script or print, than the word "syzygy" in the present spelling, and when the writing or print becomes familiar, such forms as these — which run alfbve or below the line, or both, or any other fornjis, are never noticed any more than they are now in the present spelling. Their appearance, either in script or print, is not, perhaps, so much awkward in reality as in imagination. The author was taught at school that the word "every" is properly pronounced "evri." It is therefore thus written in the examples. He has also been accustomed to pronouncing the vowel in the word "form" with the long sound. Accor- dingly it is thus written in all the examples follow- ing, no matter what its particular meaning may be. If it is desired at any time to give the finer shades of pronunciation, the marks used io the standard dictionaries can be placed over the dif- 38 A STSTEM OF PHONOSCEIPT AND PHOTTOTTPT. ferent vowels. In phonography extended vowel scales have been devised, which may be used. Such alphabets, however, although very scientific, ■are considered by the author more in the nature of toys than practical and beneficial tools. In fact he believes they are a detriment and hindrance to phonetic spelling, since no merely human being can pronounce the same sentence twice in exactly the same way in a lifetime, any more than he can write his name twice in exactly the same way; though in both instances the sentences and sig- natures can .always be recognized. Thus, in rep- resenting language, latitude must be allowed for the natural flexibility of the organs which produce the sounds. We must not be tpo exact in its rep- resentation, since we cannot be absolutely exact in its utterance. The author 'believeB, therefore, that the present standard dictionaries have too many marked let- ters'in their alphabets — too many fine distinctions, which are not needed. The day should come speedily when the largest dictionary will have only thirty-seven simple letters in its alphabet to indi- cate all the practical sounds of language; relegat- ing all fine distinctions of pronunciation and all marked letters to works on phonetics, elocution, etc. This number, properly used, is sufficient. Any foreign sounds beyond it should be anglicised. The student could then trace the derivation of a word and its present meaning and application, without being perplexed as to the finer shades of modern pronunciation, which in many cases are A SYSTEM OP PHOKOSCRIPT. AND PHONOTTPT. 39 only evidences of supposititious culture or of local or individual taste or caprice. This point is illus- trated in the following from the article entitled "Alphabet" in the "Encyclopedia Britannica:" By an alphabet we mean a list of symbols which rep- resent conventionally to the eye the pounds which are heard in the speech of a nation. An alphabet will there- fore be perfect if 'the number of Its symbols exactly cor- responds to the number of simple sounds which are com- monly distinguishable in the spoken language. In view of the preceding it may be observed that the proposed alphabet on the next page contains too many vowels. In other respects the number of its sounds is the same as that of the phonographic alphabet. The principle of representing the con- sonants is also the same, except that the letters "c" and "k" are employed alternately for the sound of "k" in "catalogue" and "king." It would be better if "c" were employed for "ch" as in "chest;" leaving such words as "catalogue" to be represented by "k" the same as "king" is rep- resented; inasmuch as "ch" is an infrequent sound and "k" a frequent one. Consequently "c" for "k" in the connections it would be forced to assume would be often taken for a vowel in rapid or care- less reading both in script and print. This is one of the reasons why "k" is put after it by the printers; but "c" is never put after "k." It is also a reason why the Greek letter "x" (which the Greeks sometimes used for "ks," but not in their latest alphabet) is employed as in "explain," "ex- tend," etc., since the Eomans made but little use 40 A SYSTEM OP PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. of the letter "k," and would not employ the Greek PROPOSED ALPHABET. Short Vowels. Long Vowels. loacliinef eye, que^n. mashtn, tv, cwtn. eight, fate, play. 6t, «t, pig. faref hear, where, far, bar, hwSr. arm, father, calm, i Arm, f fldher, cflm. nor, fall, ought. nSr, fSl, St. note, pour, token, not, psr, tokn. tawrr, worker, cwrl. bur, worker, curl. r«le, food, rude, rfll, fad, rod. Difthongs. al aisle, pine, eye, I. el oil, bov, avoid. ail, pQm,cu, ol. r eil, bei, aveid. an out, cow, bound. lu tew, mute, duration. aut, cau, baand. fiu, miut, diurSehun. Consonants. h tin, cit^, divide. tin, siti, divaid. pen,»head, ferry, pen, hecf, feri. at, chasm, black, at, cazm, blac. ask, chant, comma, ask, chant, cama. not, was, actor. net, wez, acter. obey, euldgy, propose. ob§, yflloji, propGz. but, enough, nation, but, enufi nSshun. full, book, could., ful, buk, cud. X> pet, cup, pique. pet, cup, ptc, t ^ip, taught, reaci!; d tip, tst, rtact. ch e7iest, louo/i, mB.tc7i. J chest, much, mach. G,k catalogue, sceptic, ^ing. s catoleg, skeptic, king. t /at, itmgh, phytic v fat, laf, Bzic. tb thm, ^Arongh, breajA. thin, thrO, breth. » 60, Taiss, eerene. so, his, sertn. , sh s7ie, v/ishei, ocean. Bht, wisht, Oshan. box, Sought, cub. bsx, bst, cub. <2eflnite, idiot, guartf. definit, idiet, gdrdi j'aw, knowledge, ffem. :5, nelej, jem. give, dog, pro^amme. giv, deg, program, V »at, of, eveij. vat, ©V, evri. Alkthe, thoagh, breathe. dM,dhO, brtdh. SK zone, is, mueic. zon, iz, mluzic. zli composure, occaeion. cempOzhur,eck€zhun ik he, h&W, /mve, ht, hsi, hav. w we, would, woman. wS, wud, wuman. 1 2ive, teague, nobje. llv, Itg, nobl. a- raX, a?^,.co?vect. rat,- Or, correct. y ye, yore, union. yl, yOr, yanynn. m me, came, spasm. mt, k€m, spazm. a no, reign, when. no, r§n, hwen. iig singer, tongine, yonngr, singer, tung, yong. letter "Ksi," because it would not harmonize with A SYSTEM OP PHONOSCKIPT AKD PHONOTYPY. 41 the Boman alphabet. The reader will perceive the difference in legibility between the two letters by writing the following words with "x" and "ks": "ecsplain, ecstendj ecstreme, ecsclude, bocs," etc. Thus "cs" is not so plain as "x" or "ks." Again in "bac, nicel, picel, jacet," "k" is the more legible letter; also in "bacing, tacing, lacing, rocing." In all these words and many others it would continu- ally be taken for a vowel. This objection does not apply to it when used for "oh," Besides when "o" is used for "ch" the writing resembles the present spelling moreihan it does when it is used for "k;"' since the first sound is now always represented by "c" in connection with "])." arid never otherwise. Also "c" is used for "ch" in other languages. Again "c" as a letter for "k" was thoroughly and prac- tically tested in phonotypy, but finally abandoned. There are many other potent reasons for preferring "k," for which both philological and etymological the reader is referred to Dr. Latham's "Defence of Phonetic Spelling" where the matter is treated at length. The authot regards his reasons as in- vincible. A few disconnected extracts, iiowever, are here inserted. "How <5 came to be used in the Latin alphabet to the practical exclusion of ft is a matter connected with the his- tory of the alphabet which need not at present be gone into. We shall best appreciate the full import of the sub- , stitution by seeing what it has led to. "Let us begin with what is a good groundwork in all questions of the kind, provided that we canget it; a fact of Language; of Language itself as opposed to spelling, or the mere representation of Language; a fact in the history 13 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCBIPT AUD PHONOTTPY- of speaking, not merely of writing, a fact appertaining to the real object rather than to the picture of it. Let the language be what it may, it is a fact that wherever we have the sound of the k as in king, it is always likely, sooner or later, to be converted into the sound of the s in ung; OT ■ ii not this exactly, into something, akin to it — into that of the eh in chest, or the j in jest, or something wherein the sound of s or its fellow- sibilant, sh, enters. For what is the oh in chest but tsh and what is the ^' in jes* but daA; and what is sA but* with a modification, ox, eh but a modification of e which is a sonant «? To s, then, In some shape or other every sound of k In existence has a tendency to be reduced. The pro- cess may be slow or it may be quick. IJIiere are words in which it has not yet been completed; there are words in which it has not yet begun; and there are words in which it never may begin; or words which will be sounded with k until the language lo which they belong is extinct. Still there is the tendency; while on the other hand, there are words in which the k may have been changed three thous- and, years ago, .or before the oldest alphabetical record in existence. "The change then, or the tendency towards it, is a fact in language; the representation of it is a fact in ortho- graphy. The two may or may not coincide. If they do not, there is the risk of confusion sooneror later." — Sec. 36.. "Tbere is nothing to fear then, * •* • "It is scarcely necessary to guard the reader against tak- ing the last statement at more than it is worth. It neither states nor hints that c is as good a letter ask. * * * "Such being the results, we infer from them something like conscious contrivance on the part of some one; yet so dark is the history of it that we are almost tempted to look upon it as the growth of language itself, working through some such abstraction as the soul, spirit, or organic force of its orthography: in other words, some such an abstrac- tion as an orthography without orthographists. * » * A BTfeTBM OP PHONOSCEIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 43 " 'Provoke,' etc., has superseded it; so that it and its congeners stand, at the present moment, as monuments of the vitality, usefulness and indispensability of the irre- pressible k. * * * ' 'But this is not all. It is not pretended that the etymo- logical principle is an evil in itself. On the contrary, if out of two ways of spelling a word phonetically, one ■will give us the etymology as well as the sound, the one which does so is the better of the two. # » * "But, even here, there are complications. It is only in the more modern orthography that this uniformity is pre- served. When skeleton was spelt with a c, as it was in the days of men who were scholars as well as anatomists and who knew that it came from the Greek word skeloa, as well as they knew the names of the bones of which it was composed, there was a notable difference between the powers of the first two letters. At that time c was sounded as k; and the foregoing rule was inoperative; or, at least, had a certain exception to it; a fact which makes it no rule at all. However, the men who used the word kept up the connexion with the Greek, not by the means, but Ln spite of the orthography, and now the k has come out in its proper form. The mathematicians heli less closely to the tradition and the etymology: and an isosceles is called an i-sos«eles. triangle. Tet both the name of the triangle, and the name of the bony framework of the body come from the same source. ' It is, probably, by the association of ideas as determined by the identity of subject matter, that s&uU, originally scull, is now spelt with a k. It would be difficult to reduce this to a rule of any practical value. The reason for it — a very different matter — has perhaps been suggested. At any rate it gives us another instance of the irrepressibility of A;.— Sec. 27. "The argument upon this point is simple. Let the ques- tion be one of simply teaching the art of reading; and let k mean k,— • * * nothing beyond, nothing short pf this. Let e be nowhere; either absolutely ejected from 44 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCKIPT AlO) PHONOTYPT. the alphabet, or used with another power. » » • Let can and contrary be spelt like kiU and kettle, as kan a,ud kontrari." — Sec. 30. It will be seen from the above that the sound of "k" is incKned to become that of "b," etc.. in the course of time, and often does become so. This is the case whether in phonetic or in the present spelling; and the absolute change would be liable to occur much more rapidly with "c" than with "k," or if "c" is allowed to be an alternate with "k." Again "k" is the older letter of the two and thus has a prior right to this sound, and therefore should represent it for the etymological reason, if for no other. Accordingly "c" will not do, in the long run, as a letter to represent the sound "k," either in the English or in any other language. It will be observed in the proposed alphabet above that the vowels "a," in "fare," etc., and "u" in "burr," etc., are always written when followed by "r," in the same syllable and never elsewhere. The consonant "r,"then.if these letters did not exist in the above alphabet, would just as readily indicate these sounds if it were written after the vowels "a" in "at" or "u" in "but;" since these vowels and the consonant "r" in the situations there given — the "r" corrupting every vowel after which it is placed in the same syllable — always cause the sounds in consideration; producing in each in- stance a diphthong, as it were, as was stated in the Introduction to this work. As this method is fol- lowed now in writing there is no occasion for in- denting new letters — if such a thing were possible — A SYSTEM OP PHONOSCRtPt AND PHONOTrPY, 45 to indicate "a" and "u" in this connection. Again, the sound of "o " in "nor" is afEected by the "r." Likewise in the word "fall" it is afEected by the "1" to a limited extent, which is a consonant similar in nature, in some respects, to "r." In the case of "o" in "not" and "ought" there is not enough difference to require distinction in practi- cal writing. "U" in "full" and "rule" having been noticed before in the Introduction nothing further need be said regarding these sounds. As to "o" in "obey" and "note" they would be and are practically written and pronounced every day as xell with one letter as they would be with two. But the question of the "u" sound as in "burr," etc., above, was settled nearly fifty years ago, inasmuch as its representation was tried and abandoned both in phonotypy and phonography, as will appear from the following extract taken from a pamphlet entitled "The Vowel Scale of Phonography,"the original of which was published in "The Phonetic Journal" of Septem'ber 10th, 1859. From this it will be perceived that Dr. A. J. Ellis at first favored the insertion of a separate vowel before "r" in such words as "burr," etc. He subsequently, as will presently appear, re- versed his opinion — which being a man of sound common sense as well as profound learning he could readily do when he saw the impracticability of it — and indeed this is almost asserted in the following extract. At a public meeting in England in 1859, in the interest of phonography, a paper was read in which 46 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRlPT AKD PHONOTTPS". its author, E. J. Jones, remarked substantially as follows : "I may say that I think the various changes which have taken place in the system of phonography have been im- provements with the exception of the seven vowel scale which has long since been discontinued to the great joy of many phonographers. For that change I never could see aajgood reasons; I did not like the pronunciations which were encouraged by it, and — " Mr, Pitman then appends the following note. The words "at that time" in parenthesis, are the author's. "For the three years' loss to the Reform, caused by the introduction of the seven vowel scale, in 1844, and its abandonment in 1847, we hold ourselves responsible, but only to this extent, — that we accepted the services which Mr. A. J. Ellis was willing to render to the phonetic system of writing and printing as compensation for what we believed to be a blot upon the system itself. Mr. Ellis heard of the Rsform in August, 1843. An extensive corre- spondence between us immediately commenced, and he contributed regularly to the monthly Phonetic Journal. We carried' on an almost daily epistolary discussion on various points in the embryo phonetic printing alphabet, and particulary on the disturbing influence exercised by r upon the vowels. It was, in particular, one of Mr. Ellis's favorite phonetic ideas (at that time), that the vowels in eur, lurn, surf, should be marked by a different letter ^om that used in cut, bun, sup. In this discussion we stood on the defensive against the attacks of uh. In December. 1843, he made the adoption of the sjpven vowel scale, the condition of his continuing to work for the Reform. * » » "With much regret we accepted the condition, and wrote to say so. * * * The seven vowelscale was then formally in- troduced to the public in the first number of the Phonotypic Journal which commenced its existence as a Vhonotypie A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 47 publication in January, 1844. As soon afterwards as possible the vowel scale of Phonography was made to correspond. The loud and continued dissatisfaction of nearly all the friends of phonetic spelling and the impossi- bility of working the scheme satisfactorily, at length in- duced Mr. Ellis to consent to the rejection of the long vJi, and with the appearance of the eighth edition, containing the old six vowel scale, Phonography sprang into new life. This was in 1847. Thus this phonotypic experiment lasted three years and a quarter. We write this note not to ex- culpate ourselves, and throw on another the blame of that long interruption to the Phonetic Reform, but to acknowl-' edge that it arose from weakness on our part. But it is to be remembered that phonetic writing had then been la use six years, and as a practical reform of our orthog- raphy, had not attracted the serious attention of one literary man of note besides Mr. Ellis." It may be stated that if the vowels were inserted in writing in the same syllable before "r" as pro- posed in the alphabet above, all who would use such spelling — and of course the resulting pronuncia- tion — would in a short time have a prolonged burr or trill sound to their utterance of the "r" that would take a generation to get rid of and would besides hinder their speech, rendering it slow and cumbersome; and when exaggerated become a sep- arate syllable. This tendency exists in all lan- guages in which "r" is used and is a blemish or provincialism wherever found. Accordingly some have such a horror of this burring "t" sound that they eliminate the "r" as much as possible, some- times almost abolishing it altogether; which is just as much of a blemish or provincialism as the other. What is wanted is the clear sound of the 48 A SYSTEM OP PHONOSCRIPT AND PHOSOTYP*- "t" without the burr or the elimination and this can be best obtained and preserved by omitting any sign or letter before the written "r" other than the particular short vowel itself. In phonogitaphy the sound of "a," as in "fare" in the proposed alphabet above is written by some authors with "a" as in "at," but most authors write it with "a" aa in "fate," in either case according to what they understand to be the general pronuncia- tion. The latter method is followed in this work, since the sound of ''a" in "fare," according to the author's practice, and understanding of the general pronunciation — 'V always being in the same syllable as "a" — is simply the sound of "a" in "fate" made in the "r" part of the mouth; that is in the "r" chamber. Nevertheless all who prefer the other pronounciation can write such words with "a" as in "at." Lastly in the proposed alphabet in the "o" series, "not," etc., "nor," etc., constituting the first pair, are really short vowels split in two, as it were; and in the case of the second the short vowels are, so to speak, chipped off the long ones. Such distiilctions are too fine for general practical use inasmuch as the tongue would not in every case be able to utter nor the ear to distinguish them; nor would the masses endeavor to do sq, since they always make it an infrangible rule to talk and listen without efEort. The world hasalways preferred about twelve vowel Bounds and it will be very slow to change to any higher number. Vowel sounds, therefore, can not be split, mutilated or divided up without dan- A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCBIPT AND l>HONOTYPY. 49 ft ger to the existence of any language in which it is ' attempted. Taking evety thing into consideration, therefore, the propbsed alphabet above is redundant in the number of its vowels and also in its use of "c" in "catalogue." An alphabet should not be redun- dant in any particular. Upon this point the opin- ion of Dr. Ellis may be cited. In his article- in the "Britannica" entitled "Speech- Sounds," quoted heretofore in the Introduction, he gives in sec. 1. a list of signs for English whicfi is the same as that used in phonography except that he has separate indications for "r" and "1" final and also for the uncertain vowel sound between "pi, tl, zm" (as in "chazm") etc. In sec. 31 he observes : ' 'Fortunately writing long preceeded phonetic knowledge. The number of distinct sounds in any one language sel- dom exceeds fifty and practically fewer still are needed, for a native needs only a broad hint of the sound to reproduce it.. The signs for English in Art. 1 are rather superabun- dant than deficient." , He had thus reversed his opinion from what it was in 1843. Again in the same section speak- ing of signs for the foundation of an alphabet for scientific purposes, he remarks that "any signs easy to write, and distinct to read without wearying the eye, will suffice." Speaking of scientific phonetic studies, he says: "The use of such phonetic studies is principally philo- logical, a much smaller amount of precision sufficing for all the purposes of ordinary life — understanding speech and speaking intelligibly, writing speech from dictation, and reading what is written. Our scientific knowledge of speech-sounds has really only just commenced and is there- fore extremely incomplete and confined to very fewpeople." He also says of a scientific alphabet containing fO A STSTEM OP PH0N08CRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. • every speech sound of every language: "A uni- versal. alphabet would probably require a thousand cases to be provided for." It may be maintained that an alphabet having fewer than sixteen vowel sounds can not represent foreign languages, savage dialects, etc. But on the other hand it may be demonstrated that other races can not use a greater number of simple vowel sounds — or consonant sounds either — than can those who speak English. .The approximating and articulating organs are the same in all, and there can be no difference in their powers of utter- ance. The same is true of the hearing. Conse- quently the correct phonetic alphabet that is suited to the English speaking races will certainly be suited to all others, whether civilized or savage. It will be found that no race, no matter vyhat its condition, can use more than twelve simple vowel sounds, though it may inflect, shade and emphasize them to almost any degree; but they will be the twelve simple vowel sounds still. In further support of the view that too many sounds should not be in an alphabet, the following from Prof. Max Mailer and Dr. E. G. Latham, in reference to the phonotypic alphabet of Messrs. Pitman and Ellis, is quoted. Aiso the opinion of Mr. Herbert Spencer regarding alphabets which consist partly of digraphs or marked letters to represent single sounds. The italics are the author's. The Pitman and Ellis alphabet has twelve vowels the same as in the alphabets of phonoscript and phonotypy following. The alpha- bets are also the same in other respects with the exception of the systems and the new letters. ' 'What I like in Mr. Pitman's system of spelling is exactly ■what I know has been found fault with by others, namely; that he does not attempt to refine too much, and to express In writing those endless shades of pronunciation, which may be of the greatest interest to the student of acoustics or of A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AKD PHONOTTPY. 51 phonetics, as applied to the study of living dialects, but which, for practical, as well as for scientific philological purposes, must be entirely ignored. Writing was never intended to photograph spoken language; it wss meant to indicate not to paint sounds. If Voltaire says, 'Writing is the painting of the voice', he is right; but when he goes on to Bay , 'The nearer theTesemblancc the better it is,'! am not certain that, as in a picture of a landscape, so in a picture of the voice, pre-Raphselite minuteness may not destroy the very object of the picture. Language deals in broad colors, and writing ought to follow the example of language, which though it allows an endless variety of pronunciation, re- stricts itself for its own purpose — ^for the purpose of ex- pressing thought in all its modifications — to a very limited number of typical vowels and consonants. Out of the large number of sounds, for instance, which have been cata- logued from the various English dialects, tJiose only can be recognised as constituent elements of the language w/ticA in and by their difference from each other convey a difference of meaning. Of such pregnant and thought-conveying vow- els, English possesses no more than twelve. What- ever the minor shades of vowel sounds in English dialects may be, they do not enrich the language, as such; that is, they do not enable the speaker to convey more minute shades of thought than the twelve typical single vowels. Besides, there generally is what the French mighi call a phonetic solidarity ip each dialect. If one vowel changes, the others are apt to follow; and the main object of language remains the same throughout, namely, to pre- vent one word from running into another, and yet to ab- stain from too minute phonetic distinctions, which an ordinary ear might find it diflicult to grasp. * « • ' 'There are, in fact, two branches, or at all events, two quite distinct practical applications of the science of Pho- netics, which, for want of bettep names, I designate as philological and dialectical. There is what may be called a philological study of Phohetica, which is an essential part of the Science of Language, and has for its object to give 52 A SYSTEM OP PHONOBCBIPT AND PHONOTYPT a clear idea of the alphabet, not as written, but as spoken. It treats of the materials out of which, the instruments with which, and the process by which, vowels and conson- ants are formed; and after explaining how certain letters agree, and differ, in their material, in the instruments with which, and the process by whioh they are produced, it en- ables us to understand the causes and the results of what is called Phonetic Change. * * * Though the number of possible sounds may seem infinite, the number of real sounds used in Sanskrit or any other given language for the purpose of expressing different shades of meaning, is very limited. * * * " The dialectical study of Phonetics has larger objects. It wishes to axhaust all possible sounds which can be pro- duced by the vocal organs, little concerned as to whether these sounds occur in any real language or not. It is par- ticularly useful for the purpose of painting, with the utmost accuracy, the actual pronunciation of individuals, and of fixing the faintest shades of dialectic variety. The most marvellous achievement in this branch of applied phonetics may be seen in Mr. Bell's • Visible Speech.' " These two branches of phonetic science, however, should be kept carefully distinct. As the foundation of a practical alphabet, likewise as the only safe foundation for the Science of Language, we want philological or theoretic Phonetics. We want an understanding of * * * gen- eral principles and * » * broad categories of sound; * * * we do not want any of the minute dialectic distinctions which have no grammatical purpose, and are therefore outside the pale of grammatical science. " But when we want to exhaust all possible shades of sound, when we want to photograph the peculiarities of certain dialects, or measure the deviations in the pronun- ciation of individuals by the most minute degrees, we then must avail ourselves of that exquisite artistic machin- ery constructed by Mr. Bell, and handled with so much skill by Mr. A. J. Ellis, though few only will be able to use it with real success. * » * Dialectic Phonetics may A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND "PHONOTYPT. 53 be useful here and there, but they should be kept within their proper sphere; otherwise, I admit as readily as any one else, they obscure rather than reveal the broad and massive colors of sound which language uses for its ordi- nary work. " If we reflect a little, we shall see that the philological conception of a vowel is something totally different from its purely acoustic or dialectic conception. The former Is chiefly concerned with the sphere of possible variation, and the latter with the purely phenomenal indimduality of each vowel. ' * * * " These few illustrations will explain, I hope, the essen- tial difference in the application of phonetics to philology and dialectology, and will show that in the former our brush must, of necessity, be broad, while, in the latter, it must be fine. It is by mixing up two separate lines of research, each highly Important in itself, that so much confusion has of late, been occasioned. The value of purely phonetic observations should on no account be un- derrated; but it is necessary, for that very reason, that dialectical as well as philological phonetics should each be confined to their proper sphere. The philologist has much to learn from the phonetician, but he should never forget that here, as elsewhere, what is broad and typical is as important and as scientifically accurate as what is minute and special. " What is broad and typical is often more accurate even than what is minute and special. It might be possible, for instance, by a photographic process, to represent the e:iact position of the itongue and the inside walls of the mouth while we pronounce the Italian vowel i. But it would be the greatest mistake to suppose that this image gives us the only way in which that vowel is, and can be pro- nounced. Though each individual may have his own way of placing the tongue in pronouncing i, we have only to try the experiment in order to convince ourselves that, with some effort, we may vary that position in many ways and yet produce the sound of i. When, therefore, in my 54 . A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPT. Lectures on the Science of Language, I gave pictures of the positions of the vocal organs required for pronouncing the typical letters of the alphabet, I took great care to make them typical, i. e, to leave them rough sketches rather than minute photographs. I cannot better express what I feel on this point than by quoting the words of Haeckel: ' For didactic purposes, simple schematic figures are far more useful than pictures preserving the greatest faith- fulness to nature and carried out with the greatest accuracy. ' "To return, after this digression, to Mr. Pitman's alphabet, I repeat that it recommends itself to my mind by what others call its inaccuracy. It shows its real and practical wisdom by not attempting to fix any distinctions which are not absolutely necessary." — On Spelling. By Max Mailer. Fortnightly Beview, April, 1876. " It is needless to say that the primary details of the analysis of sounds are complete, and that there is no room whatever for improvement in this matter. Of the rest the reader must judge for himself. * * * He has only to urge three cautions in the criticism of the general char- acter of the alphabet as it is about to be presented to him ; or, rather, he has to repeat (and the caution will bear rep- etition)^— first, the difficulty of improvement ; second, the fact of the alphabet being not only ready-made to his hands, but in actual use ; and third, the simple fact of novelty and unfamiliarity; which has nearly as much to do with what is called the Strangeness of Appearance, as the individual forms of the several new letters themselves." — A Defence of Phonetic Spelling. By R. O. Latham,, M.A., M. D., F. B. 8. Conclusion. (Published by Isaac Pitman, 1872.) "A complete phonetic system of spelling is very desira- ble ; but lam by no means certain that it is desirable to in- troduce a half and half system, since, if established, it would stand in the way of a complete system." — Letter of Berber t Spencer to F. A. Femald,editor of'Our Language " Jaflma/ry, 189S. A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 55 There are, however, other matters to be con- sidered in the proposed alphabet above, and that of Messrs. Pitman and Ellis— which is the one at present used in phonography — besides simply the number of the vowels or the alternate use of "o." These alphabets are substantially the same in the pairing of the vowels except that in the Pitman and Ellis one "u" as in "up" is paired with "o" as in "ode." This was done for practical purposes and not because it was believed that "u" and "o" were mates. This relation between the so-called long and short sounds is founded on what may be ' termed the "positional theory of utterance," wliich is, in brief, that similar sounds will be made by the organs of the month in similar positions. This is a correct theory, but the trouble has here- tofore been that it was often relied on more than the sound itself to determine the exact nature of the latter. The author never believed in the positional theory when pushed to extremes, since it then ceases to be a true and becomes a false guide — not because the theory is false but because the interpretation may be. The positional theory has been denominated "Visible Speech. " A better term, perhaps, would be "Visible Articulation and Approximation . " We understand audible speech, but visible speech is something we do not understand, so to speak. We can not see it. Speech was made for the hearing and not for the eyesight. Where the eyesight can not be used to its full powers, imagina- tion must necessarily play too great a part for 56 A SYSTEM OP PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPT. the experiments to be always relied upon implicitly. 'Nevertheless the positional theory has done great things for the alphabet and is destined to do still greater. Hitherto it has been wrongly applied in consequence of the hidden nature and workings of the approximating organs not being fully consid- ered. It has therefore been relied on in cases where the interpretation necessarily could not be infallible and in consequence all the deductions made from it as to the true pairing of the vowel sounds have been altogether wrong with the excep- tion of the' vowels in "ask" and "art" and these have not been properly classified. The positional, theory, therefore, though a good is a dangerous instrument, so to speak. If properly understood and applied it trues up everything, but if not, it brings about chaos and eventually breaks down. Consequently it should always be employed with the greatest care, making it a rule throughout that where the hearing and the discrimination dis- agree the hearing should invariably be preferred. In consequence of this misapplication of the the- ory the resulting pairing of the vowel sounds has been accepted only by the phoneticians and not by the public at large, since the latter believes in and practices the old vowel scale in which the vowel sounds are paired in the order and as in the words "ask, art; at, ate; ell, eel; is, eyes; odd, ode; Uz, ooze"; and will not countenance a phonetic spelling based upon the Pitman and Ellis one from which that in the proposed alphabet above is derived. The author never believed in the Pitman ^n4 A SYSTEM OP PHON08CRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 57 Ellis scale, though when he first became acquainted with phonography he, of course, wrote it. According!/ when he came to act in earnest on the subject of phonetics he issued all his publications in the old scale, as stated in the Preface, and pre- sently adopted it in his phonographic writing in which the signs were paired for stenographic con- venience the same as in the Pitman and Ellis one yet were hot considered as mates. But neither Mr. Pitman nor Dr. Ellis was the author of the phonographic vowel scale, according to the pamphlet entitled, "The Vowel Scale of Phonography," heretofore quoted, and which "Phonography was first published in 1837, and the scale of Towel sounds was taken from Walker's 'Principles of Pronounciation,' prefixed to his dictionary. This scale proceeds from the closest vowel ee through a graduated opening of the mouth to eh and ah followed by the closely related aw ; then a gradual contraction of the, lips produces 0% and 00." So the scale was accepted as true by them, and has, with perhaps the single exception of the author of this work, been used in phonography and phono typy ever since. When the author began thef preparation of his system of connective vowel phonography termed* " Phonic Writing," he saw that although the pair- ing of the vowels as in the ordinary phonographic scale did well enough as a mere system of machine writing, as it were, in phonoscript, phonotypy and phonography, where only two at a time are paired 58 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTSPY. either with distinct letters or signs in difEereiit positions to the letters, yet it would not work in connective V9wel phonography where" many of the vowel characters must necessarily have similarly formed sign^ He therefore paid no attention to the phonographic scale but allowed his ear and the old scale to be guides, pairing the vowels ac- cordingly, and found that the vowels acted to- gether in harmony from the fact that the eye and the ear were in perfect accord while the system agreed with the old scale. He had at the same time likewise paired the vowels in phonoscript and phonotypy. ' After the second edition of the "Phonoscript and Phonotypy" was issued, the author began a sys- tematic examination of Webster's " International Dictionary " to ascertain if he could anywhere find any authority whatever for his theory of the vowel sounds beyond their, to him, mere resemblance to the ear and working perfectly together in con- nective vowel phonography. He soon came upon the paragraph in refertjnce to the French "u" mentioned in the Introduction to this work, and also thought that certain other paragraphs under the same heading appeared to favor his theory of the vowel sounds in other respects. Thus en- couraged he proceeded to examine the "Guide to Pronunciation " in the same work with the hope that he might find something further to assist him. The great trouble was the sound and sign "a " as in " ate." This vowel always seemed to him to somewhat resemble a sound composed of "&' in A SysfBM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 59 "at" and "i" in "is" or "e" iu ''ease" when uttered by certain Englishmen, or when prolonged by Americans, and he remembered that among the northern nations ^f Europe it was often spelled "ae." In utterance as paired in the phonographic scale with "e" in "et" it did not feel as if it were a narrow approximation, nor did it have a narrow or thinvsoMwrf. Consequently the effect of the pair- ing in both cases was disagreeable. He also remembered that he had noticed that when some individuals pronounced it — especially certain Englishmen — ^the mouth seemed to open wider than when "e" was uttered. In addition as a sign paired with "e" as in "et" it would not work in connective vowel phonography, but was continually conflicting with certain of the other vowels. In the diagram at the foot of page Ivii of the said dictionary the vowels are designated as front and back, and also as high, mid, low, and open- throat. The author was already familiar with the first division, but had hitherto paid little attention to the second. By arranging the vowels in the Pitman and Ellis scale in three series of high, mid and low, according to the diagram — ^putting "a" in "arm" in the low series, since there is no fourth position for vowels in phonography — and putting the macron over the short vowels to represent the long ones, as in the old scale, except "a" as in "arm," which is represented by "a," and letting "ui"' stand for "ui" or "oo," as in "Cruickshank" or "hood," also letting short "o" represent "o" 60 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCEIPT AND PHONOTYPY. in "odd" and "ought," the following arrangement appeared, which was the same as the regular phon- ographic scale, except that "o" became third place, and "ui" and "a" as in '^rule," first place, being transpo$ed, and is also substantially the same as the arrangement in the diagram, except that some of the rowels are omitted : Front. Back. High fig ui Q Mid -( e a u Low ( a a o In connective vowel writing no such division exists. There the vowels are of only two kinds, ranged in two series, as follows^"a," and "I," representing "a" and "i," as in "ask" and "ice" : first series, "i J, e e, n a ' ; second series, "a a, a a, o 0." Each series is written with similarly formed characters graduated in size as nearly as possible according to frequency of utterance, but different from those of the other series, while the short and long mates in each are written with light and heavy signs respectively. Now all the vowels in the first series are allied in sound according to the ear, no matter what the positional theory may be. The same is the case with those in the second series. In addition — which is a tremendous fact and can not be ignored — they work perfectly in connective vowel phonography; whereas, if the positional theory is followed they will not so work. That is, none of the vowels in either series will work with those of the other as may be proved by interchanging ijh^ signs. The con- A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPX AND PHONOTYPY. 61 elusion had therefore long been arrived at that, if the ear and the practice were correct the positional theory as ordinarily applied must be wrong, and that "e" and "s," were not mates or even allied sounds. By comparing the phonographic scale above', in which the vowels are divided into high, mid and low, with the connective vowel scheme, it will be perceived that "i, g" and "ii" range themselves with the first series of the latter, and "a S" and "o" with the second one. Also in connective vowel writing "ui" belongs to the first series. In this manner everything was disposed of in the phonographic scale but the mid vowels. Here was a stumbling block which the author could not get over for a time. But while examining the phonographic scale the thought occurred to him that there might be different degrees of mid, and that "e" might verge toward being a high mid and "a" toward being a low mid. This thought kept recurring to him qnite a number of times before he took any special notice of it. He then placed "e" among the high vowels in the, first series of the connective vowel scheme and "s," among the low ones in the second series. Seasoning in the same manner regarding "vl" and "0"-^which were not considered as mates in the phonographic scale, as stated above — ^the former was placed in the first series and "O" in the second one. There then remained nothing more of the phonographic scale; it having been absorbed in the two series of the connective vowel scheme. Turning to the diagram 62 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCKIPT AND PHONOTYPY. above mentioned, he found that more vowels in the first series were termed high than mid. Likewise in the second series more were low than mid if the open throat vowels, "ft" and "a/' were considered as low. He therefore concluded that all the vowels in the first series were high vowels, and that those in the second were low ones and accord- ingly designated them as such. Kow as in the diagram previously mentioned, " i " and "5" are marked higher in position than "e'*and "u;" and "a" and "a" likewise lower than "a," it was thought there might be different degrees of high and low, and each series was accordingly divided into top, mid and bottom, as follows. f i I top High -/ e S mid / u a bottom f o top Low •< a a mid I ft a bottom Proceeding then to divide the vowels into front and back in each series, "i I, ft a," became front, and "u li, o 0" back; but no place could be found for "e 6" high or a a" low. Presently, however, it was concluded that as there was a mid division in each series between top and bottom, there might likewise be one between front and back. Accord- ingly "e e and a a" were designated as mid vowels between the front and back ones as in the follow- ing: A SYSTEM OF i'HONOSCKIPT AND PHONOTYl'V. 63 fi'orit e s mid ^^"^\ii ti back ^^^0 back a s. mid ( i I top High j e s mid I u Q bottom top Low { a a mid a S, bottom -^-"^^ k a front The author then endeavored to distinguish the short and long vowels by position as narrow and wide or open and close, but could not so distin- guish them. Instead, in every case the short vowels whether front, mid or back were uttered in their proper sections in front of the long ones by a more forward part of the tongue than were the latter. The terms "fore" and "aft" were then given to these vowels. Subsequent experiments, however, seemed to indicate that the short vowels were open and the long ones close — except " i i " and " a a " which still remained fore and aft. Still further experiments seemed to indicate that these four vowels were also open and close, as well as fore and aft but in a reversed manner from the others. That is, the short vowels were close and the long o^es open; whereas in the case of the other vowels the long ones were close and the "short ones open. Conseqijently the term " open " could not be applied to all the short vowels nor the term "close" to all the long ones. The author therefore concluded to retain the terms "fore" and "aft." The reader will observe, right here, that this is 64 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHOHOTYPY. one of the places where the positional theory breaks down if misinterpreted. Thus if the terra "open" were to be applied to "i a" and"close" to "i a" and the sounds rigidly construed therewith in order to conform to «the approximations of the other vowels, we would have the two former classed as long vowels and the two latter as short ones which would be contrary to the hearing. The positional discrimination presents no difficulty, however, if rightly interpreted. Thus the four vowels just considered are all made by the same relative parts of the tongue as the other vowels and in the same ' relative positions though the approximations are of opposite widths. The author then proceeded to divide the vowels both high and low still further into top-summit, or base, top- van, or rear; mid and bottom-sum- mit, base, van, etc., but presently came to the conclusion that there were no intermediate degrees of top, mid and bottom in each series since the vowels of the high series are each strictly confined to their own particular up and down sections which they fill completely from bottom to top; that is to . the roof of the mouth. So there can be no up or down in the high series. The same is the case with the low series except that in it the sections are lengthened. Consequently there could not be any degree up or down between any two vowels of the same series; it was a physical impossibility, since the mouth was not built that way, that is up and Jown, but extended backward and forward. The top, mid and bottom nomen- A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCEIPT AND f HONOTYPY. 65 clature was then -dropped and the van and rear retained. After mdny experiments it was con- cluded that the high vowels do not descend in position backward and then the low ones forward as in the scheme just preoeeding, but that the high short vowels descend from front to back and all the other vowels, both high and low ascend more or less from front to mid and then likewise descend from mid to back. The long vowel "u" is also narrower in utterance than the long vowel " i," but the long vowel "o" is wider than the long vowel " a." The tongue in utterance is raised or rounded upward at the end, middle or back from its ordinary normal position: in the case' of a short vowel being raised flat or concave and in that of a long one being rounded up; the concavity being often athwart the tongue rather than lengthwise with it. Sometimes, however, it is both. When any part of the tongue is raised to a vowel position all the other parts remain more or less normal. The vowel chamber is thus left vacant forward or backward or both according as the vowel in process of utterance is back, front or mid. The action of the tongue — except that it descends from "i" to"e" and ascends from "a" to "a" — is the same in both series with the difference that in the case of thelow vowels the distance between its parts and the roof of the mouth is wider than in that of the high ones. The reader will of course understand that all the extraneous incidents of labialization, lowering or raising of the jaw, etc., need not be entered upon here. By making use of a hand-glass or mirror 66 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPy. the action of the tongue as above described may be easily perceived. The scheme then appeared as follows — placing each series for convenience on a level: Front. Mid. Back, Fore. Aft. Fore. Aft. Pore. Aft. High i I • e S u LoTT k a a a. and each vowel could be easily designated by its location. Thus " e " is high-mid-fore and " a " low-mid-fore; "I " is high-front-aft and "o" low- back-aft, and so on. Each series is divided into' three sections — each containing a fore and aft vowel— or six in all. There are also two sections, one high and one low, to each division, front, mid or back. There are no degrees of sound between any of the sections whether of the same series or otherwise. By using the terms van and rear pre- viously mentioned but only for sounds between fore and aft vowels of the same series and section — since there are no degrees between the sections as just said — two more distinctions may be desig- nated, provided they can always be recognized — many apparent differences being caused simply by a rising or falling inflection of the voice — or twenty-four sounds in all; not counting those made in the " r " chamber or the diphthongs. In writing, these twelve medial sounds may be dis- tinguished by the marks used in the dictionaries, or other marks can be invented. If other terms A BYBTBM OP PHONOBCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 67 are used instead of "fore" and "aft," and "nar- row" and "wide" instead of "high" and "low" the nomenclature can be changed accordingly. The minor shades between each fore and aft vowel and the modifications of each caused by every con- sonant immediately adjoining it in the same syllable, the total of both of which is endless, are not necessary to be specified here. Finally placing the two series side by side in connective vowel phonography the scheme appeared in another point of view: High. Low. Front ( i I fi. a Mid Y. in vogue the new letters were not as simple and facile, and consequently as legible, as the old ones. If they had been, phonetic spelling would, perhaps, now be wholly or mostly employed by all who speak Englisl|. In conclusion the attention of the reader is di- rected to the fact that the above experiments com- prehend only phonotypy^ — nothing being re- corded about phonetic longhand, or phonoscript. It may also be remarked that phonotypy without phonoscript is not suflScient to insure the success of the spelling reform: that the first cannot be adopted without the latter, or even, in the long run, profit- ably considered; inasmuch as it will not be prac- ticable, by reason of the expense, to have two sets of school books, one printed in phonotypy and the other in the present orthography. Again, it will be of little or no final advantage to learn to read in phonetic spelling unless one can also write in it. Consequently learners should employ phon- oscript for private writing or for correspondence with each other; by which means they will soon attain skill in it equal to that possessed in the twenty-six letter writing. Also a Phonoscript Corresponding Society should at once be organized. Besides, in the first stages of the reform, phono- script is of more importance than phonotypy, since most of the persons who would then learn phonetic spelling would be those who could already read romanically and who could therefore learn to read phonotypy in a few minutes, as it were, and who would accordingly care more particularly about A STBTKM.OF' PHONOSCBIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 83 learning to write phonetically in order either to make use of phonetic spelling for their own per- sonal purposes or to teach it to others. The au- thor believes that such a society could be formed if a few phoneticians — or even persons who favor phonetic spelling and care nothing about the details of phonetics — would correspond in it. After once using phonoscript to some extent, he thints the memhers — or any others — would soon cease to care for the old twenty-six letter method, and employ the latter only from necessity. There is nothing to discuss in the matter. A phonetic longhand — phonoseript — already made, is here presented. There is nothing to do but write it. It can be as fluently written as the present twenty-six letter writing. Every per- son who can read and write the one with facil- ity, can read and write the other ; or can almost immediately do so. Accordingly it can go into practical use with little or no difficulty or delay. The author believes that a Phonoscript Society is the best and quickest way to introduce it. Besides, no other way would be so effective as a test of its merits ; and he is perfectly willing to have it made. He is satisfied with it himself, and is con- vinced that others will be as soon as it is properly brought to their attention. The . main object is to be able to handle the spelling reform, and this is best attained by phonoscript. If a local class in phonoscript is started, the rest will almost im- mediately follow, for the learners will soon begin to think in phonoscript (and- also in phonotypy) 84 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCKIPT AND PHONOTYPY. the same as they do in the present system of spell- ing. The instructor of the class should not be too particular at first about accurate spelling and pronunciation. These will come of themselves after a while.* Accordingly, each one, within certain limits, should be permitted to spell pretty much as he or she pleases. Thus words may be written in any qf the following ways until a stand- ard is adopted. Otherwise learners will become discouragedj and quit the system before they have fairly begun it. Addresses by mail, etc., should be written with the twenty-six letter spelling. Sertan, sertAn, serten, sertin, sertun; SQpersEd, siapersEd, syapersEd ; Ordinari, ordinAri, ordineri; LAbor, lAbur, lAber ; Pre'ferans, preferens, preferansj Nasans, nitlsans, nyusans,n — sens,n — suns., etc. ; Biuti, byuti ; hiuman, hyuman. The articles, "a" and " the," and the preposi- tion " to" may be written with either the short or the long vowel. After a Phonoscript Society has been formed, and has, to a certain extent, been in operation, it will be much easier to establish a paper or litera- ture printed in phonotypy than if such were not the case. It will then only be a question of time when the new spelling will come* into general uso; which, when it does — no matter what system is at first adopted, provided the letters are simple and facile — will certainly be a lasting boon to the drudging millions of every tongue. A BT8TEM OP PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPY, 85 NOTE. The remarks on pages 58 and 59 were first pub- lished in the third edition. The following excerpt has since (July, 1896) appeared in print, and closely illustrates the manner of pronouncing the "a" as in "ate" there described. When rapidly pronounced in the manner indicated below, the sound resembles, to the unaccustomed ear, that of "i" as in "eyes." It is not this sound, however, but one of the front or mid low vowels with the vanish upward into one of the high series — usually the affinitive vowel, as explained on pages 67 to 69. The peculiar pronunciation following results from inflecting the vowels, as mentioned in the latter part of the middle section of page 50. "ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE" BY MANY LON- . DONERS. After living awhile in London, writes a correspondent " to the St. Louis Bepublie, an American begins to think that the English language is something like the Christian religion. In each case the fundamental idea may be the same wherever you find it, but the variations on it are bewildering, not to say upsetting. American English is no more like English Xfaglish — as spoken in London — than a Universalist is like a Presbyterian. You are apt to begin finding out the dissimilarity be- tween English as it ought to be spoken and English as it 86 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCEIPT AND PHONOTTPY. is spoken, the first time you go sliopping in London. In traveling it is worse, even when you are undertaking such a sample of a journey as a trip on the underground — or must one say in the underground? Or with the under- ground? At any rate, it is a railroad a little quicker than the 'buses and a Uttle slower than walking, unless you just make connection^. It is like this: You— "A ticket, please." He — "Wot fur?" (He means to what place.) * Tou-^"I want to take the elevated for " He— "Wot s'y, lydy?" (What did you say, lady?) You— "The elevated for " He— "Never 'eared of the nime. Maybe you mean Ele- phant and Castle; that's 'bus line." You — "No; I want a railroad ticket." He — "Oh, rllewy; you mean underground." You (doubtfully, as you look at the long atairs you must climb up to get to the "underground" and hear a train thunder by ovei'head)- ''Well, yes; underground." He— "Whotfur?" You — "Why, to get uptown.'' He (exESperatlngly) — "Were do you want to go? (Im- ploringly.) 'Urry up, lydy, don't tike all-dye." You— "Nottlng Hill." He— "Netting 'ill or Nottlng 'ill Ghyte stytlon?" You (at a venture)-— "Ghyte station, I think." He looks^ at you sourly and you return the look blandly, uncon-' scious that you have, to his face, mimicked his cocknifica- tion of the words gate station. He— "Whatclawss?" You- (like most Americans who are "new" in London)— "First, please." He— "Return ticket?" You — "Return? No; I want to go there." He (sarcastically)— "lynte you nuvver coming back ageyne? If you h'are, don't you want a return?" You — "Oh, a round trip; yes, of course." He — "'Ere you h'are (meaning here is the ticket) and 'ere's your chynge. Mykyste!" This last word translated into American English means make haste. And you, as you frantically sweep an unas- sorted mass of half-crowns, florries, shillings, sixpences and three sorts of coppers into your purse, wish to say that you are making haste. But unconsciously dropping into the Londonese dialect you ejaculate, "I am a-iQyking hyste," A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPT. 87 EEM^EKS ON THE ALPHABETS. The following alphabets are divided into different groups, nam€ly; "p" to "z," "m" to "ng," "r" and "1," "w" and "y," "f" to "q," "i" to "u" and "&" to "o;" the last two forming the high and low vowel Beries as heretofore explained. The alphabets are also arranged in what is called the phonetic order; that is, the letters (or sounds) of each group are placed in the order of the organs by which they are uttered from the lips to the throat. Most of the consonant sounds of human speech are very much alike; thus "p" is like "b," "t" is like "d," etc., except that "b" is a heavier sound than "p," and "d" heavier than "t." Now these and all other consonant sounds in language which are alike are paired; that is, the letters that represent them are placed next to each other, those representing the light sounds being first. There are eight pairs of consonants commencing with "p b" and ending with "sh zh (q)." The consonants are also divided into smooth and rough, because they are made by the smooth and rough breaths respectively. The consonant letters in each smooth and rough division which represent sounds made in the same, or nearly the same, parts of the mouth are placed opposite each other. In the case of the vowels the similar groups are written under one another for convenience of tabulating. If preferred, the letters may be arranged after or under one another in the phonetic order as follows, omitting the diphtjipngs^' 'p" to "z," "f" to "q," "m" to "y," "+,h, i, I, e, e, u, u, h, &, a, a, 0,0." The ten new letters are the consonants in "ring, thirtieth, thither, she," the smooth breathing, and the vowels in "at, eyes, ooze, art" and "ode." By employing the small letter "e," as in "ell," also as a capital, an additional letter is obtained, which added to the ten new letters gives eleven. This added to the twenty-six letters of the present alphabet makes thirty -seven in all, which equals the num- ber of sounds in the English language. For the names of the letters see page 33. A SYSTBM OF PHONOSCKIPT AND PHONOTYPY. THE PHONOSCKIPT ALPHABET. CONSONANTS. 3 it J d. \ \ cU) /t -h -t JOTH. as in peep ti babe if taught tc deed St kick tc gig tt sauce tc zones sc mum tc nun tt ring ee roar tc lull tc we a ye ROUGH. as in fief " Talre " thirtieth " thither " church " judge " she vision f BEBATHINGS. asin+e | -^ J^ s- 4 A, A. as in IB. " ell " Uz " ask '• at " odd VOWELS. J Q £ /ir 8 A 6i as in he as in eyes " eel " ooze " art " ate " ode DIPHTHONGS. at/ as in out | ^ as in oil | ^ as in Cruickshank A SYSTEM OF PH0N08CBIPT AND PHONOTTPY. * THE PHONOTYPIC ALPHABET. CONSONANTS. SMOOTH. ROUGH. P p as in peep F f as in fief B b " babe V V " valve T t " taught 9 9 " thirtieth D d " deed g 9* " thither K k " kick Co " church' G g " gig J j ." judge S 8 " sauce So- " she ' Z z " zones Q q " vision M m " mum N n " nun SI q " ling R r ' ' roar , L 1 " lull W w " we Y y " ye BREATHINGS. + + as in + e | H h -as in he VOWELS. POHE. APT. I i as in is 5 3 as in eyes e e " ell S 5 " eel . U u " JJz U u " ooze X X " ask ^ t " art a a " at A A " ate " odd 6) o " ode DIPHTHONGS. or as in out j oi as in oil | ui as in Cruickshank 90 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCBIPT ANB PHONOTYPY. A. SYSTEM OF PHOJiTOSCRIPT ANI) PHONOTYPY. 91 3 o P9 .« t F^ «> i i^ ^ '^ -^ Z. r^ ^ .'it 5 '^ r w ,^ r2 rQ ^ ^ c, ?*- t_ ° S. ^ "" d J=^ ^ T ;^ ^ 4^ N - g •^3 «' I. I, <^ ::: ^ ^ '-' JO •<- p^ .< 2 s: b ^ J- "d ^ ?- "~ r*; *j & ^ lO ^ N 1 o p •rt £ «-f-i "^ • • ■ l-< » b S n ^ G o • 1— ' o r— 1 • rH , tt, .1-1 5 H M *• Ti «* • rf 3 tn ^ ^ -2 t<^ 4U ^ 3 CD 1 «r-4 In, Si- «* <4a| ♦ l-l 1— t 1 tS ^ • tQ .-3 S 'S 8 ft. Pi K 1:3 — .* o • ■•-.p Z < ^ > a cn. — 2 Co U. ia2 a. — 3 • • 2 < 3 ^ Q^ — . X K Q^ -J 00 «^ r.^ lb :ki: ZS 4 to OCT CD G "^ 2 Q- ti: -D U. 25 »o fiO -^ £■ z to 00 _J ■=1; i a a JO -J OC h- :^ h -X) :^ z5 3 5 h ^ J A System oS' phonoscbIpt Atsri> pabNoiypY. 95 2 *V^°ri^ra^H !< '- ^ R _ H r| ;:; ^ (S I s„ i ^" ^ I « I . ^ ^ H? ^ ° =* • ^ t ^ , J O * — ■ >d[ S- ■ K, ^.•f .,. n In f^ la < ^ c^ •; -^ ^^ "t -^ J «* ^ 96 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCBIPT AND PHONOTYPY. A SYSTEM OF PBONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 97 r 4 s -^ ^ ■^ -V ^^ .•^ ^ A SysSBM Q9 pioSOBOBiPT AND WAoHOV'ffit. ^^a ( -? ^li' ^-^ A SYStEM oe" i?aoN0B6Mpi' lijl) PltOITO*YPy, 69 1 ^ 1 ^ ?4 ^ ^ % 100 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCBIPT AND PHOlfOTYPY. BehsMd 9e skwo'»z Ist turc kajiir Se sHmer sttiois and rAVZ ^ Clndl siii lots zr stAkt forsAl Clbuv 6>M Indian (^yavz. 3 hsi- 5e treA ov jjaenEarz Ov nAffUMZ yet tu 1>8- ^e fuTst 1« woo-'ovWAVz hWArsvm. Eal T«l et hytrmaa so. 9e rndijuents ovGmpsrhcf ^^r plostik -yet andi wktiu; &e ICAOS ov a msti wurld Iz Tomdiii intu form.. Hwitier. 9e LoRD'z Pear. Our F«9eT TiuTTt in ■heve'n,"halt>eol be ?3 TiATM. &3 fciridum KuTn. &3wil bs dun in er0 az H '^ ^" V^even. Gtiv us ais cIa OTjy dAli "bred, etui for giv US OUT trespasea olt; wb for^iv 9-ux itu trespas a^enst us. dnauauSTiot in- iu tewpUcruTii) but deliver us from cvn-. for 53v» iz 9e l^iY|^au"m,aTia ?e pouex^ana. *e ^iwri, forever- Awen. A SYSTEM OP PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPy. 101 TURNIQ ^e aK3EDST.0:N. JCweii J Wot a, litel Boi, 3 re- ■17] .J 3wo% rt3 ?ita.7i ^' 5edl ]ie, ■hcL.ii'rj rrtt on 5-clie^, ""?^^ ^^ "^ auol 5UU Tsrot 0, ]tete7fw.i7. 103 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. WAItTJ ^^'^ ft.-r&73"?3{ 3 am. tru-r ^ "kxv e/^r stn ^ wi"i Mu j»*^^ f-w-TTi 7^HI •/^ul , 3wen,£ ^tt wu,rl< :, a.-n.di ^"ks, ana. 3 toil ol and <«..$ oL f j I W6X Tiof Ti-y-f ^TouTLol. u.^ Ie7]lt^,]^.ouevey>^^^ wax orTyp-. "lirou,<^u li^el rasl"I (^ ci/n J iTit Tiou C«, 2)£ /t:o7(iL a. dtp 7-n.iu -m^ rrt37ti,a7i^ offcot A SYSTEM OF PHONOSOBIPX AKD PHONOTYPT. 103 Xdy 5 Qot ov -it S7nS. f> S-a-i -ma-n 'ho.'i- (Kn alts ta ^r37i| oil ^1 out ^1 Cruickshank. IS Al TEENATrVE VoWEL SCALE. VOWiXS 1 ed . at 1 odd "I TJz '1 eyes 1 ate~ • art "1 ode .[ooze DIPHTHONGS. ^1 oil J out ^1 Cruickshank. A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCBIPT AND PHONOTYPY. 105 THE SPELLING REFORM. There is one dominant, practical reason for a reform of OUT orthography, and it is this: the immense waste of time and effort involved in learning the present irregular spell- ing. It is the generations of children to come who appeal to us to save them from the afBiction which we have endured and forgotten. It has been calculated over and over again how many years are, on an average, thrown away in the education of every child in memoriziug the intricate tangle whlch**constitute8 our present English orthography; and how many millions of money are wasted in the process on each generation; and it has been pointed out how imperfect is the result reached; how many learn- ers never get out of the stage of trying to learn to spell; how much more generally the first step in education could be successfully taken, if we had a purely phonetic way o; writing and printing. — Prcf. W. D. Whitney. The question, then, that will have to be answered sooner or later is this: " Can this unsystematic system of spelling English be allowed to go on forever? " Is every English child, as compared with other children, to be mulcted in two or three years of his life in order to learn it ? Are the poorer classes to go through school without learning to read and write their own language intelligently. And is the country to pay millions every year for this utter failure of national education? I do not believe or think that such a state of things will be allowed to go on forever, particu- larly as a remedy is at hand. I consider that the sooner it is taken in hand th'e better. There is a motive power behind these phonetic reformers which has hardly been taken into account. I mean the. misery endured by mil- 106 A SYSTEM QF PHONOSCBIPT AND PHONOPTYPT. lions of children at schools, who might learn in one year, and with real advantage to themselves, what they now require four or five years to learn, and seldom succeed in learning after all. # « « » « I feel convinced of the truth and reasonableness of the principles on which the spelling reform rests, and as the innate regard for truth and reason, however dormant or timid at times, has always proved irresistible in the end, I doubt not that the present efEete and coAupt orthography will be done away with. Naljions have before now changed their numerical figures, their letters, their chro- nology, their weights and measures, and it requires no prophetic power to perceive that what at present is flouted by the many will make its way in the end. One argument ivhich might be supposed to weigh with the student of language, namely, the obscuration of the etymological structure of words, I cannot consider very formidable. The pronunciation of languages changes according to fixed laws. The spelling is changed in the most arbitrary man- ner, so that if our spelling followed the pronunciation of words it would in reality be a greater help to the critical student of language than the present uncertain and unsci- entific mode of writing. — Max Miiller. The irregularities in English orthography are, as is well known, the cause of a wide departure on the part of our elementary education, from what exists in other countries, where English is not spoken. In Germany or Italy the child can usually correctly spell any word he hears, or pronounce any word he sees, after he becomes familiar witji the powers of the letters of his alphabet. Hence.thef oreigner spends a very small portion of bis time in learning to spell his own language, while if he would learn to spell our English language correctly, he must give years of study to it. And what is worst of all, this study is only an exercise of the memory, and not a cultivatiop of the reason or of the power to think. There are few general principles or suggestive analogies to lighten the burden. The American child must spend a largie portion of his school days learn- A SYSTEM OP PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTTPY. 107 Ing, one by one, the peculiar combinations of tlie written words of bis language. * » * The fact that one is never quite sure of the pronunciation of a new printed word he has never heard pronounced, and never quite sure of the spelling of a word he has only heard pronounced and not seen in print, is sufficient to prove the illogical character of our present orthography. In place of this complexity and inconsistency the phonetic system substitutes simpli- city and consistency. Furthermore, pupils who are taught to read phonetically make better arithmetic and grammar scholars, are more wide awake and attentive and are more distinguished in those traits of mind that flow from analytic training. — Hon. W. T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education. Two main reasons for the reform strike my mind very forcibly. These are: First. The fearful waste of time on the part of millions of our children in learning a very illogical mode of spell- ing; the result frequently being to weary them of books and to blunt their reasoning faculties. Second. The barrier which our present system estab- lishes against the most important agent in the rapid civili- zation and Christianization of the world. The grammar of our English tongue is probably the simplest and easiest known among civilized nations; so much so, indeed, that for a long time it was accepted as a truth that the English language had no grammar. Our language is spreading among the cultured classes in all parts of the world; but, what is more important, it is beginning to take possession of the vast semi-civilized or barbarous nations of the East — China, Japan, India, and the islands of the Pacific. I have no doubt that, were English orthography simpli- fied, the English language would within a generation or two become the business language of the more active part of all these great nations. The effect of sending out 100,000 missionaries would be but slight when compared with what would be accomplished if our language Were thus spread among those nations, and they were thus opened 108 A SYSTEM OF PHONOSCRIPT AND PHONOTYPY. to the treasures of Christianizing and civilizing thought contained in it. These are the two things which I see in the matter, and I rejoice that the leading philologists, as well as all thoughtful practical men, are all ranged on one side. — Andrew D.WMte, LL.D., L.H.D., Ex-President of GomM Vhive^ty. One argument in favor of the reform is the aid which a better mode of spelling English will give to the millions upon millions of Asiatics who are now learning the language and are to learn it in the future, as the storehouse of the best literature in every branch of human science which they can reach. * « * Our language is to become the lingua franea of mankind; and it is hardly worth while to retain all Its excrescences in the idea that those who have to master them will think the more of an acquisition which has cost them so much needless labor. — 8. Wells Williams, LL.D., late professor of Chinese in Tale College.