It is too much the fashion now-a-days to find fault with English orthography, and it is also too much the fashion to acquiesce in its general condemnation. But, in truth, it is only those who have paid no attention to our language, as a scientific study, who can fail to recognise the causes of these objections. The three principal elements of English—viz. Saxon, French, and Latin—have, each, and all, had some influence on the formation of our words; and this will account for the various forms of our spelling. A word, when introduced into a language, is at first spelled in accordance with the genius of the nation from which it comes. By degrees, and generally by slow degrees, it is moulded into a new form by the genius and instinct of the language in which it is at length naturalised; still, however, retaining sufficient of its original form to indicate its source and etymology. Various causes contribute to effect this change; a difference in pronunciation; the influence of some local dialect, political, religious, or literary disputes, the example of popular writers, &c. &c. may all assist in working a change in the outward forms of words.
But a study of the subject will prove that this operation must be the work of time, and that no assumed power can, of itself, work a sudden change in spelling. This alone is sufficient to account for the failure of the phonographic system. It may also be laid down for certain, that any newly-proposed form of spelling which obscures or destroys the derivation of a word stands but little chance of success. The general body of writers knew full well that if they had at once adopted phonetic spelling, it would have inevitably involved the language in confusion and ruin by the destruction of its etymology, and would have thus effaced every vestige of its beauty and variety.
[CHAPTER IX.]
FLEXIBILITY, VARIETY, ETC. OF WORDS.
The history of English shows that it has been changed from a synthetical, to an analytical language, that in the course of time it has lost nearly all its inflections; and that for these endings have been substituted signs and prepositions. Whether this change has been for the better, or for the worse, may be a matter for speculation; but allowing that, in some respects, the language may have sustained a loss by this process, it is not difficult to show that for this we have some compensating advantages—and that the change has been favourable in at least two points: 1st. as regards variety of sound in the endings of words: and 2. flexibility in their use and application.
In Latin, the recurrence of the verb in the same person naturally produced a repetition of the same termination, which must have had a very disagreeable and monotonous effect. In Cicero’s second oration ‘in Catilinam,’ he has ‘Abiit, excessit, erupit, evasit.’ Four consecutive words ending in it! Another example of monotonous repetition, quoted by Cicero in his ‘De Naturâ Deorum’ is, ‘clamo, postulo, obsecro, oro, ploro, atque imploro fidem.’ Cæsar’s often-quoted letter, ‘Veni, vidi, vici’ is open to the same objection, as well as the ‘tædet harum quotidianarum formarum’ of Terence. In all these cases, the repetition of the endings must have produced a most harsh and disagreeable effect; and if these passages were translated into English, we should probably find that every word had a different termination.
But the flexibility of our language, which arises partly from the same cause, is another, and perhaps more important consideration. We can easily understand that the system of inflection, however useful in itself, prevents the possibility of one part of speech being used for another. In English, ‘love’ may be a noun or a verb; but in Latin or French, we must use ‘amare’ or ‘aimer’ for the verb, and ‘amor’ or ‘amour’ for the noun. This power of using one part of speech for another, exists to such an extent in English, that it may be almost said, that every word in the language may be applied in a variety of senses and grammatical constructions. That this is of incalculable advantage, every thoughtful English scholar will surely allow; and it may be observed that not one of the modern languages of Europe possesses this elastic power in the same degree as English. This may be seen in the following cases:—
1st. Almost all our verbs in common use may be used as nouns. We have ‘to walk,’ or to take ‘a walk;’ ‘to ride,’ or to enjoy ‘a ride;’ ‘to talk,’ or to have ‘a talk; ‘to offer,’ or to make ‘an offer;’ ‘to visit,’ or, to pay ‘a visit,’ &c.
2. Nouns may be used as verbs:—We may say ‘a telegraph;’ or ‘to telegraph’ a message; ‘butter,’ or ‘to butter’ bread; ‘sugar,’ or ‘to sugar’ tea; ‘a quarter,’ or ‘to quarter’ a regiment, &c.