Now for sum explanashonz.
abuv = above. The e final propperly maiks the o long, and iz entirely owt ov plais heer and in love, shove, etc. The sownd ov the o iz propperly a u sownd, az in but, and iz wun ov several cases whair we absurdly yuuz o tu express u sowndz.
allreddy = already. The silabl al propperly riims with gal, Hal, pal, Sal—rather a riotus set ov silabls, but thay ar whot running down the alfabet givz. And the silabl read propperly riims with bead, and shoud be spelt here red, but redy shoud riim with needy, so we proviid an addishonal consonant, in the mood ov owr ancestorz, az allreddy explaind. This iz at the sacrifis ov economy, but the reformd sistemz hav uthther economyz, espeshally in the terminal ed, tu compensait. See allso prezzent and confiuzd.
allso = also. See allreddy.
allwaiz = always. The S. S. S. recommendz ai for the long a sownd az in pair. See allreddy.
bin = been, which propperly riimz with seen.
confiuuzd = confused. Withowt the i, propperly pronownst confoozd. Moorover we wawnt tu get rid ov the apparent silabl at the end ov such wurdz, not oonly tu economiiz the yuusles e, but allso becawz forrenerz tend to pronowns the ed az a silabl.
coors = course and coarse. oo az in door iz the best simbol for long o, az ee iz the best simbol for long e. The ou simbol we reserv for such wurdz az coud, shoud, woud. The temptashon tu maik coors riim with Boors, iz ov the devvil: for Boors iz abominably spelt. It shoud be Buurz; and furze shoud be spelt withowt the e. Thair iz no serius objecshon tu making coors serv for both course and coarse: thair ar allreddy menny cases whaar wun wurd meenz several thingz.
determind = determined. Mined can propperly be pronownst oonly with a long i, and the silabl or wurd mind, with a short i. Allso see confiuuzd.
devvil = devil, which with dubl propriety riimz with evil.
duz = does, which propperly riimz with goes.
grait = great, which propperly riimz with beat.
havving = having, which propperly riimz with saving.
impruuvd = improved. Tu reprezent a u sownd with o iz absurd. Allso see confiuuzd.
litl = little. Thair iz so litl vowel sownd in the last silabl ov this and menny uthther wurdz as tu be hardly wurth expressing, and thair ar menny difficultyz in duing it.
maid = made. Thair iz no objecshun to this from owr allreddy havving a wurd maid. See allwaiz, also coors.
menny = many, which propperly and suggestivly riimz with zany.
no = know: the S. S. B. touk off the w, but after chainging knock into noc, bawkt at this k. We ar a litl moor venchursum. The o iz long by pozishon at the end ov an oopen silabl.
nu = knew. See no.
oonly = only, which woud propperly riim with sonly if thair wer such a wurd for filial. The S. S. S. recommendz oe for the long o sownd, but oo iz betr, and we rigl it in az an inishal after the manner of eels.
owr = our, which propperly riimz with iither pour or tour. The vowel sownd in our iz that in owl.
practis = practice. In practiced we pronowns the ed az t, and thairfor shoud spel it so. But if we maid it practict, the c woud be hard. Chainging the c to s in the parent wurd givs us practist, which iz wel simboliizd.
prezzent = present, which propperly riimz with decent.
pronowns = pronounce. See practis.
pronownst = pronounced. See practis.
propper = proper, which propperly riimz with toper. See allreddy, allso litl.
purpus = purpose. Pose propperly riimz with nose.
reecht = reached. See practis.
riit = right. The gh wurdz hav that simbol cognait with the German guttural ch az in recht, tho we du not pronowns it. But rit woud riim with bit.
scollar = scholar. Booth Societyz omit the h in ch hard. But that woud leev scolar, riiming with molar. See allreddy, allso litl.
scuul = school. Dubl o iz abiuuzd in being maid tu reprezent a u sownd. See oonly.
silabl = syllable. We du not keep the dubl l, becawz this iz a polisilabl: see [p. 221] neer bottom. In spelling, children and forrenerz, and not thay aloon, ar puzzld between i and y. The S. S. B. haz wiizly reservd y for terminals, and we beleev in it for inishals allso whair thay ar combiind with uthther vowelz. See yuse and yuzed. Also see litl.
simbol = symbol. See silabl.
simboliizd = symbolized. See silabl. Moorover, if we wer tu drop the e from simbolized tu prevent forrenerz pronownsing the apparent last silabl, thay woud be in dainger of maiking the ending riim with whot we hav spelt az fizzed and woud now spel az fizd. For this rezon we need the iizd simbols. See simplifiid.
simplifiid = simplified. The ie freequently in English and allwaiz in German haz the long e sownd, and in English iz alwaiz confiuuzd with the long e sownd in receiv, etc. Rezerving ii for the long i duz away with that confiuzhon. Tu du away with the confiuzhon between such wurdz az believe and receive, the S. S. B. allreddy reservz ie, and the S. S. S., ee, which we follo.
sownd = sound. See coors and owr.
thair = their, see allwaiz.
thay = they. Not thai becawz y iz betr than i booth az inishal and terminal.
tu = too, to and two. The absurdity of reprezenting a u sownd by o is obvius. We don't need tu dubl the u, becauz the silabl iz oopen.
uthther = other. This iz a stumper. The inishal sownd iz the u in but. The th propperly reprezents a singl consonant sownd. Owr Saxon ancestorz had a singl letr for it which we did badly in throing away. That letr the Anglo-Saxons freqently yuuzd tu clooz a silabl (see p. 221) az in siððan, since, and after thay began tu yuuz th insted ov the ð, thay freqently yuuzd th for the saam purpus, until its cumbrusnes thru it owt. We stil yuuz the ð in filological publicashonz, tho often allso the Greek θ. If we must yuuz th, for consistency's saak it shoud be repeeted in uthther, bruthther, muthther, etc.
Fortunaitly thair ar oonly a scoor ov such wurdz. We riit of thair spelling partly az a curiosity that may be interesting, and partly tu sho the dezirability ov getting bac owr oold letrz. Macaulay's scuulboy nu, if owrz duzn't, that the Greeks wer ahed ov us over tu thowzand yeerz ago, in havving not oonly a singl simbol for th, but a long e and a short e, and a long o and a short o.
whot = what, which propperly riimz with bat.
woz or wuz = was, which propperly riimz with gas.
wun = one, which propperly riimz with tone.
wurd = word, which propperly riimz with cord. Its vowel is pronownst with a u sownd, which it iz absurd tu reprezent by o.
wurs = worse, which propperly riimz with horse. We woud hardly pronowns horse az we pronowns hearse, tho the latter iz allso abominabl: for ea propperly reprezents the sownd in dear. The riit way tu spel hearse iz hurs, and the riit way tu spel her's iz hur'z.
wuz or woz = was, which propperly riimz with gas.
yuus or yuuz = use. See confiuuzd. Use iz pronownst both uze and use. Uze iz a betr way to spel the wurd which we rongly spel ooze. Tu yuuz an o for a u sownd iz bad enuf, and tu yuuz tu ov them iz wurs—dubly fit for fools.
We may venture upon another (annuthther?) spelling lesson in the next number, especially if owr reederz giv enny siin ov wawnting it; and it may anser sum qeschonz raazd in this lesson. And we may even go so far az tu prezent a fiu miild innovashonz in owr text, az haz bin heroically don by the Educational Review, The Independent and sum uthther periodicalz ov standing.
We woud liik to hieer from owr reedrz on the subject.
Press of T. Morey & Son, Greenfield, Mass.
| The Unpopular Review | ||
| VOL. 1 | APRIL-JUNE, 1914 | NO. 2 |