English Spelling;
OBSERVING
The Contradictions of the English Letters Warring themselves against themselves, and one with another, by Intrusions and Usurpations; with Amendment offer’d.
For the Benefit of all Teachers and Learners, Writers and Readers, Composers and Scriveners, whether Strangers or Natives, who are concern’d with our English Tongue.
Nunquam sera est ad bonos mores via. Syntax.
By G. W.
LONDON: Printed for the Author. 1703.
Price Sixpence.
Magazine, that is low Learning, too high for the Capacity of the Vulgar; Or the Schooler School’d. viz, Babel pull’d down, and Confusion Confounded. The latter Survey of the English Letters, and ways of Amendment, where things are too much amiss to be excus’d, only referring all to the good will of those that are willing to amend their perceiv’d mistakes and unwilling to fall into their former Errors again.
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Q. Horatij Flacci, Epistolarum Liber secundus. Ad Augustum Epist. I. Paulo post initium. Si meliora dies, ut vina poemata reddit Scire velim: Pretium chartis quotus arrogat annus. Scriptor abhinc annos centum qui decidit, inter Perfectos veteresque, referri debet, an inter Viles atque novos? Excludat jurgia finis. Est vetus atque probus centum qui perficit annos. Quid? Qui deperiit minor uno mense vel anno. Inter quos referendvs erit veteresne poetas. An quos & præsens & postera respuat ætas? Iste quidem veteres, inter ponetur honeste. Qui vel mense brevi vel toto est junior anno. Utor permisso; caudaque pilos ut equina Paulatim vello, & demo unum, demo etiam unum. Dum cadat.—— The Second Book of Epistles of Quintus, Horatius, Flaccus. The First Epistle unto the Emperour Augustus Cæsar, in whose days our Saviour Christ was Born. Thus English’d. There is a thing I fain would know, As Age doth make Wines better; Whether to Papers it doth so, And what’s Writ on’t with Letter, And what Age gives a Reverence To Papers, I would know: If Authors Credits got by Tense Of Hundred Years or mo? An Ancient currant Author then, And Hundred Years is Old? Or is he of the Slight Gown men, That Writ then as ’tis told? Set down the time that strife may cease: And hundred Years is good, If one Month short, or Year he bears, Doth he slick in the Mud? No, for one Month or Year, we grant, And very honestly too; He shall be counted Ancient Without so much ado. What you do grant, I’m very free To use now at my pleasure: Another Month, or Year, d’ ye see I’ll bate, as I have leasure; So Hair by Hair, from the Mare’s Tail I’ll pull, as well I may. So what is good, is quickly stale, Though Writ but t’ other day. |
That we make something to discoure upon further, I’ll take an Example or two from the two Tables, wherein one Sound is Spell’d diverse ways, and again the same Letters make diverse Sounds.
FIrst then, âz, dayes, praise, phrase, gaze.
A. Asia, day, fair, wear, heir.
E. Phebe, key, the, sea, yea, weigh, either, holy.
I. Why, I, high, try, tie, buy.
O. Who, know, bow, toe, tow, dough.
U. True, dew, Hugh, neuter, give, you, gaol, jaylor, goal, John, gives dat; gives compedes, gill of fishes, gill of water, ague, plague, anger, and danger, guard, reguard, spring, a well, spring of steele, jet, and ginger, and finger, ghost, god, and Ghurmes, and age, ages, cares.
Our Children are not Witches, that they should guess to Read right by the Letter, such stuff as this, and the Masters are no very great Conjurers, to perceive nothing; what contradictions they make ’em swallow.
First then dayes, that is da—yes, why should not yes spell yes at the end, as well as at the beginning of a word: Again, why might we not spell dayes thus, daise as well as praise, and spell praises, prayes, da—i—se: I see day, why not se, see, as well as he, h—? And why not dase, dayes, and phrayes, phrase, or phraise, phrase, and daze, dayes; and why not daze, or dase, daisey, or daisy, hei, daisy: how can Ladies be blam’d for Writing bad English, when Scholars spell no better?
A, as Asia, why not da; fare and ware; how can one Vowel have another, at command to make it long; a circumflex might do it. But you answer it is our custom, and Books would not be read if we change the spelling; but is there not a right spelling as Ancient as wrong? Is not the as ancient as weigh, yea, sea, holy, key. Then ’tis wit to use the proper spelling, and leave off impertinencies; and if fewer Letters will serve the turn, ’twill save Paper and Ink, and ’tis strange, if not labour too, for Writers; no doubt for Teachers it will.
And how many ways do we pronounce you? yo, yau, yeu, yiu, you, yuu, yet every dialect praise their own Speech, nay in Towns near together, nay in the same Town, nay in the same House, persons born in other places, differ in pronounciation, and many delight to hear different dialects (as the Grecians did) so they did but understand one another, though some precise Females do condemn all but their own finical pronunciation.
But why should phrase be spell’d with ph and s, and not f and z? Because you say its Original is a Greek word: But it hath been long enough freely us’d amongst us, that it may claim prescription for a Licence to put on the English garb, and suits pretty well with the Original φραζω and hath it not a single f in Greek? So might be frâz, and take with it the Greek Precispomene, its right.
But if we spell praise thus, prayes we alter the sense. Why the Eyes are as much in the dark to distinguish sound, as the Ears are put to silence at the shape of Letters, and which of these is the fitter judge in this Controversy, to bring knowledge to the Understanding? That is to be observ’d well: But what’s Learnt in Childhood is uncontroulable, as good as prescription of an hundred years, and a School-Dames authority is irrefragable, as the Proverb says, Early crookes the Tree, that will good Cambrill be: That to unlearn a Youthful Error, is more than to serve an Apprentiseship, or take the Degree of a Doctor or Serjeant. For these are deaf and dumb to Learn the contrary, as the dead Letters they have Learn’d, though I am loath to compare them to the English Doctor Burnet’s Antidiluvian People pettrify’d in the Alps, which he saw in his Travails:
But in some parts they speak as we spell: Though the Countryman of the North in Apron and Iron, pronounce o after r, and we before it: Why should we keep their spelling, having lost their speech, and why should they not still keep their spelling of old, who still keep the speech? ’Tis this thought by some of the Learned, that English is the hardest Language in the World; for that Foreigners coming over, being past Children, never have our speech right, but may be discern’d to be no English born, whereas we after a short abode in out-Lands, speak their Tongue as well as Natives: Our folk being a mixture of many Nations, is so of Languages: But ’tis a wonder, so free as we are to take in their words, we take not in their Letters also. The Latines have but Twelve Consonants, and Five Vowels, and h, but the Greek and Hebrew may furnish us with Letters. The Neighbouring Countries are at a loss for them as well as we. If our credit be good, we want to borrow Two letters of the Greek, Gama, and Theta, and Four of the Hebrew, Thaleth, He, Aim, and Shin, and we should be set up, and with what shift we can make of our own.
In the first place what is the English of Quotus? But now my Pen is silenc’d, except I borrow the Two Greek Letters, and Thaleth of the Hebrew, and the Acute, and Greek Circumflex, to tell how Gótham, Gotherd, or gather, is to be red, and which is ment of the 24.
Gôtham, [G]ôtham, Gótham, [G]ótham, Gô[t]am, [G]ó[t]am, Gó[t]am, [G]ó[t]am, Gô[c]am, [G]ô[c]am, Gó[c]am, [G]ó[c]am, Gothâm, [G]othâm, Gothâm, [G]othâm, Go[t]âm, [G]o[t]âm, Go[t]ám, [G]o[t]ám, Go[c]âm, [G]o[c]âm, Gothâm, Go[c]âm.
[G] is Gama, [T] is Theta, [D] Thaleth; ’tis strange my Tongue should be longer than my Arms, without eking. ’Tis hard for Dunces to understand this as all willful Fools are. Humble humility is better than the miserable wisdom of the merciless knowledge of error. Cunning fooleries and vanities unlock’d for, to spell the same sound diverse ways, and when you have all done, you are but where you was, as prayes, praise, prasy. For why may not y stand for nothing after s, as well as after a, as may: But where no reason there is for custom, custom is no reason. Dasye, and dayes is all one. As the fool thinks, so the Bell chinks, for our Letters are like Wimondes-woles Bells. Sure if we have these tricks, we have more. Why if y doth no good, it doth nothing. But I have a mind it shall stand an out-side there out of the way, as daisy, is dayes. Doth (GOD) spell the Creator, it spells an Hebrew Letter as well. If you hold your book the wrong end upward. I’ve nothing to say against it, for ’tis your own, and you may hold it as you please.
But to go on according to Prescript.
2. Whether or no are our 24 Letters[A] sufficient to spell all the words of our English Tongue.
3. Whether or no if they be sufficient to spell all words us’d for English in our books, they be not sufficient to spell all Languages; if England be like Rome, Conquering all Nations, took in the Idola[t]ry of all Laws, so England being Conquer’d by all, hath not got the rubish of all Languages.
4. Whether or no we make good and proper use of those Letters we have.
5. Whether the old use and custom of the Letters for an hundred Years or more, be sufficient for justifying the mispelling most words, us’d to this day, or whether we had not better mend late than never.
Hereupon we argue. First, It is granted that we have not yet proper English for all words in other Languages, nor Letters sufficient to express our own; as Authors from time to time do justifie, who have bin so little taken notice of by the publick (though there is some small amendment made, that can scarce be perceiv’d). The latter Authors mentioning the former, all Men of no small Note.
Secondly, There was as good reason for amendment an Hundred Years ago, as there is now, and will be as good reason an Hundred years hence to delay the amendment, as their is now; not altering a tittle of the known Pronounciation of the words, but only of the spelling. That the Letters may be of good use, and we need not to Read all by authority, as the very Learned Men are forc’d to do in yet unknown words still; so little assistance do the Letters yield them, that they the more might pitty young beginners. Which thing hath made a many Foreigners (and no marvel at all) of all the Neighbouring Nations to throw away their Books and Study of English, as their English Grammars, as well as our own, do sufficiently declare.
Thus to maintain a thing always unreasonable, will always be (as it hath bin) a thing unreasonable and after this rate an error everlasting.
But it is answer’d, that many words be thus Spell’d to shew their derivations. That need not be objected, when Scholars can find out the Etymologyes, when scarce one Letter remains of their Original, more than James from Jacob, Thaddæus and Lebbæus, from Jude the honest, or Judas, not Iscareat, and Didymus from Thomas, Giles, Ægidius. As for changing the Letters, I shall hope they will put the devines in; I fear not that they can put the Lawyers out.
What advantage or disadvantage it may be to Booksellers or Printers, as none of my business, I leave to their consideration.
But now to strike at the root of so many errors begotten by false Letters, besides a false finical speech according to the Letters, being illeterately litterate, as calf, haut, goust.