Hwot, houever, iz even more seri[p]s than all this iz not the great waste ov teim in lerning tu read, and the almost komplete failiur in nashonal ediukashon, but the aktiual mischef d[p]n bei s[p]bjekting y[p]ng meindz tu the illojikal and tedi[p]s dr[p]jeri ov lerning tu read Inglish az speld at prezent. Everithing they hav tu lern in reading (or pron[p]nsiashon) and speling iz irrashonal; w[p]n rule kontradikts the [p]ther, and each statement haz tu be aksepted simpli on authoriti, [pg 147] and with a komplete disregard ov all thoze rashonal instinkts which lei dormant in the cheild, and ought tu be awakend bei everi keind ov helthi ekserseiz.
Ei nó ther ar personz who kan defend enithing, and who hold that it iz diu tu this veri disiplin that the Inglish karakter iz hwot it iz; that it retainz respekt for authoriti; that it d[p]z not rekweir a reazon for everithing; and that it duz not admit that hwot iz inkonseivabel iz therefor imposibel. Even Inglish orthodoksi haz been trast bak tu thát hiden sourse, bekauz a cheild akustomd tu believe that t-h-o-u-g-h iz tho, and that t-h-r-o-u-g-h iz throo, w[p]d afterwardz believe enithing. It may be so; stil ei dout hwether even such objekts wud justifei s[p]ch meanz. Lord Lytton sez, “A more leiing, round-about, p[p]zel-heded deluzhon than thát bei hwich we konfiúz the klear instinkts ov truth in our ak[p]rsed sistem ov speling woz never konkokted bei the father ov fol·shud.... Hou kan a sistem ov ediukashon fl[p]rish that beginz bei so monstr[p]s a fols·hud, hwich the sens ov hearing s[p]feisez tu kontradikt?”
Though it may seem a w[p]rk ov siupererogashon tu bring forward stil more fakts in s[p]port ov the jeneral kondemnashon past on Inglish speling, a fiu ekstrakts from a pamflet bei Mr. Meiklejohn, late Asistant-Komishoner ov the Endoud Skoolz Komishon for Skotland, may here feind a plase.
“Ther ar therteen diferent wayz ov reprezenting the sound ov long o:—note, boat, toe, yeoman, soul, row, sew, hautboy, beau, owe, floor, oh!, O!”
And agen (p. 16),
“Double-you-aitch-eye-see-aitch is which
Tea-are-you-tea-aitch is truth
Bee-o-you-gee-aitch is bough
[pg 148] See-are-eh-bee is crab
Bee-ee-eh-see-aitch is beach
Oh-you-gee-aitch-tee is ought
Oh-enn-see-ee is once
“Or, tu sum up the hole indeitment agenst the kulprit: 1. Out ov the twenti-siks leterz, onli eight ar true, fikst, and permanent kwolitiz—thát iz, are true both tu eí and ear. 2. Ther ar therti-eight distinkt soundz in our spoken langwej; and ther ar about 400 distinkt simbolz (simpel and kompound) tu reprezent theze therti-eight soundz. In [p]ther wurdz, ther ar 400 servants tu do the w[p]rk ov therti-eight. 3. Ov the twenti-siks leterz, fifteen hav akweird a habit ov heiding themselvz. They ar riten and printed; b[p]t the ear haz no akount ov them; such ar w in wrong, and gh in right. 4. The vouel soundz ar printed in diferent wayz; a long o, for ekzampel, haz therteen printed simbolz tu reprezent it. 5. Fourteen vouel soundz hav 190 printed simbolz atácht tu their servis. 6. The singel vouel e haz feiv diferent funkshonz; it ought onli tu hav w[p]n. 7. Ther ar at least 1,300 w[p]rdz in hwich the simbol and the sound ar at varians—in hwich the w[p]rd iz not sounded az it iz printed. 8. Ov theze 1,300, 800 ar monosilabelz—the komonest w[p]rdz, and s[p]pozed tu be eazier for children. 9. The hole langwej ov k[p]ntri children leiz within theze w[p]rdz; and meni agrikultiural laborerz go from the kradel tu the grave with a stok ov no more than 500 w[p]rdz.”
The kwestion, then, that wil hav tu be anserd sooner or later iz this:—Kan this unsistematik sistem ov speling Inglish be aloud tu go on for ever? Iz everi Inglish cheild, az kompared with [p]ther children, tu be m[p]lkted in two or three yearz ov hiz leif in order tu [pg 149] lern it? Ar the lower klasez tu go through skool without lerning tu read and reit their own langwej intelijentli? And iz the kuntri tu pay milionz everi year for this [p]ter failiur ov nashonal ediukashon? Ei do not believ that s[p]ch a state ov thingz wil be aloud tu kontiniu for ever, partikiularli az a remedi iz at hand—a remidi that haz nou been tested for twenti or therti yearz, and that haz anserd ekstremli wel. Ei mean Mr. Pitman'z sistem ov fonetik reiting, az apleid tu Inglish. Ei shal not enter here intu eni miniút disk[p]shon ov fonetiks, or re-open the kontroversi hwich haz arizen between the advokets ov diferent sistemz ov fonetik reiting. Ov kourse, ther ar diferent degreez ov ekselens in diferent sistemz ov fonetik speling; but even the w[p]rst ov theze sistemz iz infinitli siuperior tu the tradishonal speling.
Ei giv Mr. Pitman'z alfabet, hwich komprehendz the therti-siks broad tipikal soundz ov the Inglish langwej, and aseinz tu each a definit sein. With theze therti-siks seinz, Inglish kan be riten rashonali and red eazili; and, hwot iz most important, it haz been proved bei an eksperiens ov meni yearz, bei niumer[p]s p[p]blikashonz, and bei praktikal eksperiments in teaching both children and ad[p]lts, that such a sistem az Mr. Pitman'z iz perfektli praktikal.
THE PHONETIC ALPHABET.