[In the next fourteen pages, five of the new letters will be employed, viz., [a], , [t], [z], [n], for the sounds represented by the italic letters in father, son, but, thin, vision, sing.]
Nou ei ask eni intelijent reader who dz not [t]i[n]k that everi[t]i[n] niu and stranje iz, ipso facto, ridikiuls and absrd, hwether after a fiu dayz' praktis, he or she wud not read and reit I[n]glish, akordi[n] tu Mr. Pitman'z sistem, with perfekt eaze? Ov kourse it takes more than feiv minits tu master it, and more than feiv minits tu form an opinion ov its merits. Bt admiti[n] even that peopel ov a serten aje shud feind this niu alfabet trbelsm, we mst not forget that no reform kan be karid out without a jenerashon or two ov marterz; and hwot true reformerz hav tu [t]i[n]k ov iz not themselvz, bt thoze who km after them—thoze, in fakt, who ar nou growi[n] p tu inherit hereafter, hwether they leik it or not, all the gud and all the evil hwich we chooz tu leav tu them.
It meit be sed, houever, that Mr. Pitman'z sistem, bei[n] enteirli fonetik, iz too radikal a reform, and that meni and the wrst irregiularitiz in I[n]glish speli[n] kud be removed without goï[n] kweit so far. The prinsipel that haf a loaf iz beter than no bred iz not without sm tru[t], and in meni kasez we nó that a polisi ov kompromeiz haz been prodktiv ov veri gud rezlts. Bt, on the ther hand, this haf-harted polisi haz often retarded a real and komplete reform ov ekzisti[n] abiúsez; and in the kase ov a reform ov [pg 152] speli[n], ei almost dout hwether the difikltiz inherent in haf-me[z]urz ar not az great az the difikltiz ov karii[n] a komplete reform. If the wrld iz not redi for reform, let s wait. It seemz far beter, and at all events far more onest, tu wait til it iz redi than tu kari the relktant wurld with you a litel way, and then tu feind that all the impulsiv forse iz spent, and the greater part ov the abiúsez establisht on fermer ground than ever.
Mr. Jones,[70] who reprezents the konsiliatori reformerz ov speli[n], wud be satisfeid with a moderet skeme ov speli[n] reform, in hwich, bei obzervi[n] analoji and folowi[n] presedent in olteri[n] a komparativli small nmber ov wrdz, it wud be posibel tu simplifei ortografi tu a konsiderabel ekstent without apleii[n] eni niu prinsipel, or introdiúsi[n] niu leterz, and yet tu rediús the teim and labor in teachi[n] readi[n] and speli[n] bei at least wn-haf. It meit at all events be posibel tu setel the speli[n] ov thoze two or three touzand wrdz hwich at prezent ar speld diferentli bei diferent au[t]oritiz. This skeme, advokated bei Mr. Jones, iz sertenli veri klever; and if it had a chans ov skses, ei meiself shud konsider it a great step in adváns. Mei onli dout iz hwether, in a kase leik this, a small me[z]ur ov reform wud be karid more eazili than a komplete reform. It iz diferent in Jerman, hwere the diseaz haz not spred so far. Here the Komíti [pg 153] apointed bei Gvernment tu konsider the kwestion ov a reform ov speli[n] haz deklared in favor ov sm sch moderet prinsipelz az Mr. Jones advokates for I[n]glish. In I[n]glish, houever, the difikti leiz in chanji[n] eni[t]i[n]; and if the prinsipel ov eni chanje iz wns admited, it wud reali be eazier, ei believ, tu begin de novo than tu chanje sm[t]i[n], and leav the rest nchanjed.
Let s nou see hou Mr. Pitman'z or eni similar sistem ov fonetik reiti[n] haz wrkt hwere it haz been put tu the test.
Mr. William White reits: “Ei speak from eksperiens. Ei hav taught poor children in Glasgow tu read the Sermon on the Mount after a kourse ov ekserseizez ekstendi[n] over no more than siks ourz.”
The folowi[n] iz an ekstrakt from a leter riten sm teim ago bei the late Mr. William Colbourne, manajer ov the Dorset Ba[n]k at Strminster, tu a frend ov hiz a skoolmaster. He sez:—
“Mei litel Sidney, who iz nou a fiu mn[t]s more than four yearz old, wil read eni fonetik buk without the sleitest hezitashon; the hardest namez or the lo[n]gest wrdz in the Old or Niu Testament form no obstakel tu him. And hou lo[n] do you [t]ink it tuk me (for ei am hiz teacher) tu impart tu him this pouer? Hwei sm[t]i[n] les than eight ourz! You may believ it or not, az you leik, bt ei am konfident that not more than that amount ov teim woz spent on him, and that woz in snachez ov feiv minits at a [pg 154] teim, hweil tea woz geti[n] redi. Ei no you wil be inkleind tu say, ‘All that iz veri wel, bt hwot iz the use ov readi[n] fonetik buks? he iz stil az far of, and may be farther, from readi[n] romanik buks.’ Bt in this you ar mistaken. Take anther ekzampel. Hiz nekst elder brther, a boi ov siks yearz, haz had a fonetik ediukashon so far. Hwot iz the konsekwens? Hwei, readin in the ferst staje woz so deleitful and eazi a [t]i[n] tu him that he taught himself tu read romanikali, and it wud be a difiklt mater tu feind wn boi in twenti, ov a korespondi[n] aje, that kud read haf so wel az he kan in eni buk. Agen, mei oldest boi haz riten more fonetik shorthand and lo[n]hand, perhaps, than eni boi ov hiz aje (eleven yearz) in the ki[n]dom; and nown ei daresay haz had les tu do with that absrditi ov absrditiz, the speli[n]-buk! He iz nou at a ferst-rate skool in Wiltshire, and in the haf-year presedi[n] Kristmas, he karid of the preiz for or[t]ografi in a kontest with boiz sm ov them hiz seniorz bei yearz!”
Bei the adopshon ov the fonetik alfabet, the difikltiz that lei in the way ov forenerz lerni[n] I[n]glish, also wud be dn away with. The Rev. Newman Hall reits, “Ei met with a Danish jentelman the ther day who heili preizd the I[n]glish fonotipik Niu Testament. It had been ov great use tu him, and enabeld him tu read [buks in the komon speli[n] without an instrkter, removi[n] the greatest obstakel in akweiri[n] I[n]glish, the monstrs anomali[z] ov [pg 155] pronnsiashon.” Ekzampelz leik theze go a lo[n] way.
Mr. A. J. Ellis, than whom nown haz labord more devotidli for a reform ov speli[n], az a ferst step in a reform ov nashonal ediukashon, and who haz himself elaborated several most injenis sistemz ov fonetik reiti[n], givz s the folowi[n] az the rezltz ov hiz praktikal eksperiens: