PROPOSALS FOR A SIMPLIFIED
SPELLING OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE : ^L^Y^
BY WALTER RIPPMANN AND
WILLIAM ARCHER
THE SIMPLIFIED SPELLING SOCIETY
44 GREAT RUSSELL STREET
LONDON, W.C.
1912
NOTE
THE first and second editions of the Proposals were printed for
private circulation only. The present (fourth) edition is a
reprint of the third, with the addition of an Appendix for
which, owing to Mr Archer's absence from England, I am alone
responsible. W. RIPPMANN.
Co PF
///
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
REPRESENTATION OF THE CONSONANT SOUNDS . . . 7
CONSONANTS REQUIRING CHANGE
DOUBLE CONSONANTS . . . \ . .23
MUTE CONSONANTS . r\r 26
SUMMARY . . oj^ > ^ 28
REPRESENTATIONS^ Y3E "^Q^fti' SOUNDS . . 29
SUMMARY ^ 47
IN BRIEF . . .48
VOWELS LT^P^STRESSED POSITIONS . .49
EFFECT OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES IN CONNECTION WITH
I. WORD FORMATION ..... 53
II. THE ACCIDENCE ... .58
WORDS NOW DIFFERING IN SPELLING TO WHICH THE
PROPOSED CHANGES WOULD GIVE THE SAME FORM . 64
NOTE ON THE SPELLING OF COMPOUND WORDS . . 66
SPECIMENS IN THE SIMPLIFIED SPELLING . . .68
APPENDIX TO THE FOURTH EDITION 75
Introduction 3
ing of t's interrupt the even movement of the pen. The
diaeresis is already in use, and may be retained; but it is a
question whether even that might not be dispensed with.
(iii) To avoid, as far as possible, combinations of letters which
are not already in use or more or less familiar. The exceptions
which we have found to be unavoidable are the digraphs zli
(see p. 20) and uu (see p. 40).
(iv) To make each symbol (letter or digraph) self-contained, so
that its value should not depend on any other letter ; as when, in
the current spelling, a doubled consonant shortens, or a final
e (following a consonant) lengthens, a preceding vowel. To
this rule, however, we admit certain exceptions for the sake of
ec6nomy.
(v) To economize in the use of letters wherever it seemed
possible without ambiguity or inconsistency. As will be here-
after pointed out, the common argument that simplification
would effect an immense economy of material (in paper, printing,
ink, etc., etc.) does not hold good in its full extent unless a new
alphabet be adopted which provides a single symbol for each
sound. So long as digraphs have to be employed, the economy
cannot be very great.
(vi) To depart as little as possible from the current spelling,
appropriating to each sound (so far as possible) the symbol
already most commonly used to represent it. We have thus
been able to retain unaltered an immense number of words,
.arid, in a still larger number, to suggest only a slight alteration.
This ' principle of least disturbance ' needs no apology. It is
important in two aspects : not only to make the change as easy
as possible for a generation which has learnt the old spelling,
but to enable the new generations to read old books with
the least possible trouble. The difficulty would, in. fact, be
trifling.
4 Introduction
(vii) To make allowance for existing divergences of pro-
nunciation. If Southern English only had been considered
the process of simplification could have been largely ex-
tended. In order, however, to appeal to speakers of English
generally, certain features have been retained which, while
familiar to the Southern English speaker, represent distinctions
of pronunciation no longer to be found in his speech. Thus
the Southern English speaker makes no distinction between w
and wh, or (before consonant) and au. Similarly the signs -nch,
-nj (for -nge) have been adopted, although in Southern English
nsh, nzh would represent the sounds more accurately.
In cases like the ai in aim, where some speakers of English
pronounce a long vowel and others a diphthong, it is clear that
the spelling ai, which is purely conventional, may be taken to
signify either pronunciation.
It will be noticed that although the sound of a word will inevit-
ably suggest the spelling to one who has learnt the symbols here
proposed, the spelling will not in all cases suggest the exact
sound. In this respect the proposed spelling occasionally falls
short of an absolutely phonetic spelling ; but the fact that not
every nicety of pronunciation is distinguished by the spelling is
of little importance, and there are strong reasons in favour of
using the signs in the way indicated in the following pages.
Thus the fact that th represents both the voiced sound (e.g. in
the) and the voiceless sound (e.g. in thing) gives rise to no
difficulties in the present spelling, and it has consequently been
felt that there is no need to adopt any unfamiliar notation
(e.g. dh) to represent the voiced variety. Again, many common
words (forms of to be and to have, pronouns, prepositions) have
what is known as ' strong and weak forms,' according as they
are emphasised or not ; the vowel of was is not the same in
' Yes, I was there' as in 'I was going there.' This difference is
not shown in the proposed spelling. Differences in quantity are
regularly associated also with the presence of a final voiced or
voiceless sound ; thus bead has a longer vowel than beat, bed a
Introduction 5
longer vowel than bet. Some other cases might be adduced in
which the proposed spelling falls short of the accuracy which
would be demanded by a strict phonetic analysis. It may
indeed be described as phonetic spelling drawing its signs
from those in current use and tempered by what common
sense suggests as expedient.
The essential thing is that any one who knows the pronuncia-
tion of a word should be able to spell it correctly ; in this the
present spelling fails hopelessly. To the foreigner it would
doubtless be very welcome if the spelling in every case suggested
the sound ; but though it is desirable to render it easy for the
foreigner to learn our language, it is our own people we have
to think of first ; and even the foreigner will find that the
proposed spelling leaves very few stumbling blocks in his
way.
The compromises embodied in our scheme are not adopted
with a view to conciliating prejudice (a hopeless attempt),
but because reason suggests that the gap between the old
spelling and the new should be made as small as it can be
made without sacrifice of simplicity, in order to minimize the
difficulty which those educated in the new system would
find in reading literature printed in the old lack of system.
In none of our compromises (unless we are mistaken) is the
convenience of the coming generation sacrificed to the habits of
the adult generation of to-day ; and this we conceive to be the
fundamental condition of a truly simplified spelling.
Though we despair of conciliating prejudice, we believe that
even the most prejudiced man can occasionally be induced to
put aside his prejudices for a moment and bring into play the
reason which lurks somewhere behind them. Now it is of the
utmost importance that what we have to put before him in such
a moment of provisionally suspended judgment should appeal to
his reason directly, strongly and clearly. This can be done only
by a scheme which (1) can be taken in at a glance and very
6 Introduction
quickly memorized, (2) professes to be final, so far as finality is
possible in such matters. We believe that every additional rule,
and every suggestion of a manifestly temporary and transitional
character, would weaken the appeal to reason without sensibly
diminishing the shock to prejudice.
Our experience of discussing the scheme, not, indeed, with
the general public, but with teachers and others who have given
some thought to the subject, leads us to feel hopeful of its
probable reception by many of those who are practically
interested in the question ; and it is from the educational side
that the change must ultimately come. We are so constantly
met by complaints of the manifest lack of finality in the pro-
posals hitherto put forward, that we cannot but doubt the
policy of promulgating a scheme which, while it approaches
finality, clearly stops short of it in several important
particulars.
Before arriving at any conclusion, it was necessary to classify
the present spellings. The results are given in the analytic
lists. A number following a specimen word or group of letters
implies that there are so many words in which the particular
spelling in question occurs. Where one or tw^o words are given
with no number after them, the implication is that they are the
only words of that type.
In arriving at the numbers here supplied, no attention was
paid to rare words, to foreign words, and to proper names, and
compounds of the same word (e.g. conclude, include, preclude)
were only counted once. There can be no absolute definition
of a * rare word,' and now and then words have been counted
or not counted (as being ' not rare ' or * rare ') where others
might have discriminated differently; but it is believed that
such cases are relatively few in number, and do not impair the
general trustworthiness of the statistics.
THE SOUNDS OF ENGLISH AND THEIR
REPRESENTATION
Consonant Sounds.
Those letters of the present alphabet which are practically
invariable in value, when not merged in digraphs those which
are always sounded in one way when they are singly sounded
at all retain that value in the notation here suggested. 1
These letters are :
b as in bin
p 2 as in pin
d as in din
t as in tin
m as in met
n as in net
v as in vat
f 3 as in fat
h as in hot
1 as in lot
j 4 as in jot
w 5 as in win
There can be no reasonable doubt that the letters B, P, D, T,
M, N, Y, F, H, L, J, W are the proper and convenient symbols
for those twelve sounds.
1 With the exception of k, which is not employed at all. .
2 P has, of course, a purely conventional value in the digraph ph.
ph has the value of/ in many words drawn from Greek (e.g. alphabet) and
in a few from other foreign languages (e.g. caliph). Only in a few cases
(e.g. fancy) has/ taken its place.
It is suggested that/ take the place of ph in all cases.
Nephew appears to be the only exception ; here v should take the place of
ph in accordance with the prevailing pronunciation, but / may be written
by those who use the voiceless sound here.
3 There is one exception in the case of fof is pronounced, and ought
therefore to be spelt, ov.
4 See pp. 8, 21.
5 w is the value of u, preceding a vowel, in the combination ngu (e.g.
anguish, 6), su (e.g. persuade, 3), and in cuirass. It is suggested that w
take the place of u in these cases.
w is also the initial sound of one, once ; there seems no alternative but to
write these words wun, wuns.
7
8 Consonant Sounds requiring Change
Consonant Sounds requiring Change.
6r. The letter g has two values in present usage : the so-called
hard sound, as in got, and the so-called soft sound, as in age.
But whereas there is no other letter to represent the hard
sound, there is another letter (j) in common use to represent
the soft sound. Therefore it seemed advisable beyond all
question to let g represent the sound in got, and j the sound in
jot, age, etc. J, it will be noted, figures on the list of letters
which, in the present spelling, never have any value except that
here assigned them.
C, K. A far more difficult question arises as to the choice
between c and k. We ought certainly to write got, but ought
we to write cot or kot 1 As the ' soft c ' (before e or i) must
evidently be represented in a reasonable alphabet by s, the two
symbols c and k are equally at our command. Which of the
two equivalent symbols is it advisable to adopt ?
It must be remembered that the sound of k occurs not only
where it is now represented by c or k, but in the syncopated
letters q ( = cw or kw) and x ( = cs or ks). Whatever symbol is
chosen, therefore, will recur very frequently.
(The letter k occurs in very many words, some from the
Greek (e.g. kinetic, asterisk) or other foreign sources (e.g. fakir,
kangaroo), but the majority of native origin.
It occurs finally (110), and in -ake (23), -oke (13), -uke (3),
-ike (7), suffix -kin (15), -sket (6), -sky (5), sundry (about 70).
Total: about 250 cases, k also occurs in the combination ck
(see A. II.), 188 cases, and in the combination nk (final, 54;
-nkle, 8 ; -nker, 8 ; -nket, 3 ; -nk(e)y, 3 ; sundry, 3), 79 cases.]
It is suggested that c be used in place of k and ck, and nc in
place of rtk, the n in this combination retaining the value of ng,
except in compounds (e.g. in-cur, con-cur).
The terminal hard c is no novelty in English. It occurs in at
least 400 words ending in ac and ic. e.g. maniac, music. Against
the difficulties which arise from the habit of associating c in
G; C, K 9
certain combinations with the sound of s, we may set a few specimens
of the forms that would have to be accepted if k were the symbol
chosen: kaktus, kart, kaukus, klaret, klerik, kap, kritik, kronik,
komik, kot, kok, kik, klot, kumber, kamp, konker. The main draw-
back, however, would lie in the substitution of k for c in the number-
less words in which the Latin con- (co- t com-) and contra- appear in
one form or another.
The following arguments may be urged in favour of c :
(1) In the current spelling the 'hard c' is far commoner than &,
so that the principle of least disturbance suggests its retention. The
following tabular statement shows the number of occurrences of the
;wo symbols in certain typical pieces of prose. When the letters
occur in the combination ck (as in back) they are not counted, being
held, for the purposes of this enumeration, to cancel each other.
K C
The Sermon on the Mount (St Matthew v., vi., vii.) . 53 86
' Sartor Resartus,' chap. i. . . . . 32 121
Macaulay, Essay on Byron, paragraphs 1-3 .12 45
Forster, ' Life of Dickens ' (two pages) . . . 29 54
Spencer, * Education ' (two pages) . . 6 50
Bret Harte (two pages) . . . . . 12 28
Daily Telegraph editorials (26th May 1909) :
(a) The King's Success in the Derby (includes 13
'Kings') . . . ... 18 55
(b) The Chemical Congress . . . 24 128
186 567
Taking these random but representative specimens together, we find
that the employment of c is commoner than that of k in the proportion
of about 3 to 1. Initial c is enormously more frequent than initial k.
In an ordinary school dictionary (chosen because it does not profess
to give recondite words) there are some 3000 words beginning in
hard c, to about 130 beginning in k.
In poetry the figures would not be quite the same, since the vocabu-
lary of the poets is apt to contain a larger proportion of Saxon words,
to which the k is practically confined. Still, the following table shows
a considerable preponderance of the hard c over the k.
io Consonant Sounds requiring Change
K C
Hamlet's soliloquy ('To be or not to be') . .6 14
Othello's last speech (from ' Soft you') . .51
Antony's Oration (from ' Friends ' to ' mutiny ') . 13 27
' Ancient Mariner ' (many fc's -due to 'li&e 3 similes) . 107 95
' Locksley Hall ' . . . . 42 82
Francis Thompson, ' Hound of Heaven ' . . 24 35
Keats, ' Endymion, 3 iv. 406-476 . . .37 43
' Ode on a Grecian Urn 3 . . 5 14
Shelley, ' Hymn to Intellectual Beauty 3 . .13 25
Pope, ' Kape of the Lock,' Canto I. . . . 19 54
Matthew Arnold, 'Sohrab and Eustuin,' 1. 1-114 . 23 37
Scott, 'Lay of the Last Minstrel' . . .13 23
Milton, 'Paradise Lost,' i. 1-200 . . . 19 52
326 502
In poetry, then, the preponderance of hard c over k is somewhat
smaller, but still considerable. Even if it were not so, the case for c
would scarcely be weakened. As all correspondence and by far the
greater part of literature takes the form of prose, convenience i-n the
writing and reading of prose is of paramount importance.
(2) There is also some reason in the history of the language for pre-
ferring c. The earliest English alphabet, derived from the Roman
missionaries, contained c, but not k, and gu was rare in Old
English. Thus our quick was spelled cwic. The k was intro-
duced through German influence, especially in the North ; there was
no rule as to its use, c and k being employed indiscriminately. Norman
French turned the balance in favour of c, but k continued to be freely
used in the North.
(3) It seems to be generally felt that k is an ugly letter, and there
would probably be less difficulty in getting people to accept cing for
king than in inducing them to tolerate kat for cat. It might be pos-
sible, as a measure of transition, to retain k before e and i, until a
generation had arisen which had never associated c with the sibilant
sound. This would be easy if the few words beginning with the k
were alone concerned ; but the policy seems more doubtful when we
reflect that the terminal c would have to be changed into k in the
present participle of all verbs ending with this sound. For instance,
when pac, pec, pic, moc, and phtc are so spelt, it will be cumbersome
C, K ir
for learners to remember that k must be substituted for c in pairing >
peking, piking, making, and pluking. The same difficulty would arise
with the affixes er and en : thus seec, seeker, thic, thiken.
(4) The letter c, in writing, involves less than half the exertion
required by the letter k.
This argument assumes that a vowel-notation is adopted which
dispenses with the silent e in such words as make, eke, like, coke, duke
(see p. 32). Otherwise, in the period of transition, such forms as
mace for make, lace for lake, lice for like, spice for spike, would be
constant stumbling-blocks.
[Among the comments made on the Proposals there is no
general agreement as to the representation of the sound. It
has been generally accepted that c might be used always for
the sound when it precedes a, o, u. On the other hand,
there is a variety of opinion as to what symbol should be
adopted when the sound precedes a front vowel (e, i). To the
suggestion that here also c should be used, the following
objections are urged :
(i) The existing feeling that c before e and i should be pro-
nounced s. This is obviously a difficulty that would be found
in the transition stage only.
(ii) The disturbance in the dictionary order of these
words, and the fact that some very common words would
have to be changed, such as keep, key^ king. It is a ques-
tion whether these considerations are sufficiently strong to
outweigh the advantages of a uniform designation of the
sound.
The suggestion made in this connection that c should be
retained before e and i with the value of 5 is obviously unaccept-
able. Nothing would show the child whether in any particular
case the 5 sound before e or i should be written s or c. How
could a child know, otherwise than by mere memorising, that
there is s in seating c in ceiling s in session, c in cession s in sit,
c in city ?]
12 Consonant Sounds requiring Change
X. Assuming that c is adopted for the k sound, and s and z
respectively for the voiceless and the voiced sibilants, we may now
discuss the question whether it is desirable to retain the synco-
pated symbol x.
It may seem at first sight as though x were a very convenient
abbreviation for cs, which, on the principle of least disturbance,
might be retained. But a little examination renders this
doubtful.
The letter x has three values :
(i) cs, (e.g. axis), mostly in words drawn from Latin (e.g.
maxim, -trix suffix), or Greek (e.g. axis), but also in some
native words (e.g. next, vixen). This is by far the most com-
mon value of x. There are some six cases in which xc has this
value also (e.g. excite).
(ii) gz 9 in Alexandrine, anxiety, auxiliary, luxurious, and
a number of cases in which the prefix ex- is neither stressed nor
followed by another consonant (e.g., exalt, exhaust).
Some include exhale in this group ; others pronounce ecs-hale,
probably owing to the desire to indicate the contrast to inhale.
(iii) z, initially, in a few rare words (e.g. xanthous) and
proper names (e.g. Xeiiophon).
It is suggested that the appropriate signs (cs, gz, or z) be
used in place of x, except in proper names.
It is to be noted, in the first place, that x is an ambiguous symbol.
When followed by a consonant and in stressed syllables it is equiva-
lent to cs ; but in unstressed syllables, followed by a vowel, it is
equivalent to gz. Examples : extreme (ecstreme), execute (ecsecute),
example (egzample). The gz function, though less frequent than the
other, cannot be treated as a mere freak or exception, much less as
arising from slovenliness of pronunciation. It is clearly undesirable,
in any system of spelling which aims at consistency, to retain a
symbol of uncertain value. Can this initial objection be out-
weighed by any clear surplus of expediency ? " The very fact," it
may be said, " that the difference of pronunciation is not arbitrary,
but arises from a physiological tendency, renders it unnecessary to
. * '3
discriminate. The x in extreme, in execute, and in example repre-
sents the same vocal effort, involuntarily modified by difference of
stress. For all practical purposes, the symbol, though it represents
two pairs of sounds, represents the same action of the tongue, and
may therefore be retained."
This argument might be accepted if the prefix ex- were alone in
question. But the two pairs of sounds (cs and gz) occur in so many
other contexts that the attempt to carry through consistently their
abbreviation into x would result in a far greater departure from the
traditions of the language than is involved in the simple and scientific
writing of the two sounds in full. There might, perhaps, be no great
objection to such forms as : axede, axelerate, axent, axept, axess,
axident, axidence, axessory, baxlide, baxtairs, exentric, huxter, irxome,
oxident, oxiput, suxeed, suxess, suxinct, vaxinate, vaxine, faximile, 1
though it is submitted that the slight gain in brevity (in writing, as
distinct from printing, the gain would be very slight, since x is
a difficult letter to form) is more than cancelled by the loss in con-
sistency of practice ; for the learner might aptly inquire why, if a
shorthand equivalent for cs is adopted, a similar equivalent should
not be found for te, ps and several other combinations of consonants.
The real objection to the symbol is seen when we note that the
plural and possessive of nouns and the third person singular of verbs,
ending in c or k or ck, would all have to be formed in x. Thus we
should have : speax, creex, streax, oax, cloax, stax, pax, crax, tax, dex,
chex, snax, nex, wrex, chix, lix, trix, critix, ethix, cynix, stoix, fabrix,
lyrix, sux, reex, milx, silx, thanx, tusx, inx, sinx, winx, boox, coox,.
barx, sharx, clerx, corx, hawx, 1 and a hundred other similar forms.
It is submitted that, even if the abbreviation were held otherwise
desirable, this masking of grammar by running the stem and the sign
of inflexion into one would be highly inconvenient. Furthermore, if
exact, exasperate, and example are to be written with x, there is no
logical reason why bags, flags, eggs, legs, pigs, logs, and rugs should
not be written bax, flax, ex, lex, pix, lox, and rux. There is no
phonetic difference between the consonantal sounds in the word eggs
and those in the first syllable of example.
It would be possible, no doubt, by a quite illogical compromise to
retain the x in the Latin prefix ex, or to make a rule that the c&
sound should be analysed into its components where it occurred in a
1 In these examples the current spelling has been retained, except as
regards the employment of x.
i4 Consonant Sounds requiring Change
final syllable, but should be represented by x elsewhere. But in that
case should we write ax or acs, box or bocs, fox or foes, fix or fics, mix
or mics, ox or ocs ? There would be no possibility of avoiding a
number of inconsistencies which the learner would have to memorise.
Would it not be far more convenient to adopt the simple practice
of writing cs where we say cs and gz where we say gz 1 We should
thus have such forms as : acsent, acsept, ecsentric, sucseed, quicsotic,
sics, creecs, cracs, ecspect, acs, acsiom, bocs, bocser, bucsom, docsology,
ecstasy, sicsteen, decs, checs, uecs, critics, indecs, jucstaposition,
lacsity, lecsicon, locsmith, macsim, ocs, ocsen, sees, secston, ethics,
miles, thanes, ecstent ; and : egzemplary, egzist, legz, bagz, pigz,
egzibit, flagz, rugz.
Q 17. The retention of qu for the sounds c and w is open to fewer
objections than the retention of x ; but it also presents fewer
apparent advantages. Its sole advantage, indeed, would lie in
its familiarity, for qu is no shorter than its logical substitute
cw, and is considerably more difficult to write. The likeness of
the written q to the written g is, moreover, a frequent source of
trouble to printers. Its retention would be an arbitrary breach
of consistency in the interests of the adult generation, as opposed
to all coming generations of learners. Moreover, in order to be
consistent in our inconsistency, we should have to substitute
qu for kw and dew in the words awkward and backward. Though
cw would at first look odd in words derived from the Latin,
such as quarter and quarrel, in Anglo-Saxon words, such as
queen, quick, quake, it would be a mere return to a historic
form.
[The diagraph qu (with the value of cw) occurs in a fail
number of words, most of which have been drawn from Latin
sources ; in the majority of cases qu is initial. The com-
bination cqu occurs in a few cases (e.g. acquit) and nqu (e.g.
tranquil) occurs rarely.
It is suggested that cw be used in place of qu and cqu, and
new in place of nqu, the n retaining the value of ng.
qu with the value of c occurs in eight words ending in -ique, of
French origin ; if they do not, as foreign words, remain unchanged,
their ending would become -eec. It also occurs initially in quay.]
QU;Z, S 15
Z t S. We have assumed above, and the assumption seems
quite inevitable, that the distinction between the voiced and
the voiceless sibilant between the final sounds of his and
hiss must be logically carried through by the assignment of z
to the former and s to the latter sound. Any simplification
which shrinks from this plainest measure of reform must, in
many instances, leave confusion worse confounded. It is
obvious, for example, that so long as s is allowed to serve in
both capacities, we cannot release c from the duty of serving,
when followed by e, as a second symbol for the s sound. The
simplification of hence into hens is impossible so long as that com-
bination of letters represents the plural of the domestic fowl.
We cannot write pronouns for pronounce so long as we spell the
plural of pronoun in the same way. The only possible objection
to this simplest of simplifications lies in its doing away with the
apparently simple rule that the plural number and the pos-
sessive case are formed by the addition of s to the noun ; but a
generation accustomed to use its ears will never have the
slightest difficulty in determining where an s is to be used and
where a z.
[Considerable changes are required in order to make the
representation of the sounds of voiceless s and voiced z con-
sistent.
At a late stage of Latin a change took place in the pro-
nunciation of c before e, i, and y. In English the c in such
cases represents the s sound, with the exception of certain cases
dealt with on p. 19. The number of words containing c with
the value of s is very considerable.
This will be evident from an inspection in any dictionary of the
words beginning with ce-, ci-, and from the great frequency of
words ending in -ce (-ace, 20 ; -eace, 1 ; -ice, 56 ; -iece, 2 ; -oice, 3 ;
-uce, 4 ; -uice, 2 ; -nee, 36 ; -rce, 7 : total, 133), -cent (8), -cer (8),
-cible (6), -cid (5), -cism (15), -cit (7), -city (37), -cy (LI), -ance and
-ancy (very many), -ence and -ency (very many), -acy (many).
The combination cc occurs in 12 cases before e or i, and then
lias the value of cs.
16 Consonant Sounds requiring Change
s (also se, es) often has the value of z.
It never has this value initially, but it occurs frequently within the
word (e.g. damsel, position, dismal), especially in many endings ; in
inflections (see Accidence (p. 59) and in -ase (9), -aise (4), -anse (5),
-ease (6), -ise (very many), -ose (22), -oise (3), -oose (3), -ouse (9),
-owse (2), -use (9), -uise (2), -yse (2) ; -sy (20), -san (3), -son (12),
-asm (8), -ism (many).
The double ss has the value of z in dessert, dissolve, hussar,
hussy, possess, scissors. In discern sc has the value of z in the
pronunciation of many. The fact that initial x has the value of
z has been mentioned above.]
We have now a list of sixteen consonants which can be
assigned with absolute consistency to one invariable function ;
they are biu, pin, din, tin, met, net, vat, /at, hot, lot, jot, win,
got, cot, set, zest. Five of these letters (t, h, c, s, and w) are
employed in digraphs ; but whenever they are sounded singly
they have (in our scheme) the above value.
E. The letter r has many different values according to its
position and according to local usage. We propose to leave it
wherever it occurs in the spelling of to-day, except where it is
doubled.
But see p. 25 as to prefixes and compound words.
Y. We propose to retain the consonantal y of such words as
yet, young.
R;Y;TH 17
We now come to the question of digraphs ; and here we have
to recommend a few departures from absolute consistency.
TH. AVe propose to leave to th its present dual function, not
differentiating between its sound in thin and its sound in this.
It is true that if we spell thin with th t it would appear simple
and logical to spell this with dh (dhis). But the voiced th sound
happens to occur in many of the commonest words in the
language (the, that, then, with, etc., etc.), and the adoption of
dh in all these words would be a great shock to conservative
sentiment, while it would not effect a very substantial or
essential simplification. Here a distinction may be noticed
which is sometimes overlooked the distinction between
children who learn the language by ear, not by eye, and
foreigners, who generally learn the language as much by eye as
by ear. To a child who knows, before he has ever opened a
book, how to pronounce thin and this, the retention of one
symbol for the two sounds will present no difficulty. It is only
the foreign learner who will at first be in doubt as to the precise
value of the th.
[The digraph th represents the voiced th in this and the voice-
less th in thing.
The voiced th occurs initially in the very common words :
than, that, the, them, then, thence, there, these, this, those,
thus ; and in the relatively rare words : thee, thither, thou. It
occurs finally in smooth, with, in the ending -the (e.g. bathe,
20 cases), in the ending -ther (e.g. mother, 29 cases), and in a
few other cases. Some substantives have the voiceless th in the
singular and the voiced th in the plural and in the corresponding
verb (e.g. mouth, mouths, mouthe) ; note also worth : worthy,
heath : heathen.
In the word eighth a t has been omitted which is pronounced, and
should therefore be written.
A phonetic spelling would here employ one symbol for each of the
sounds (voiced and voiceless) ; thus ft and 9 are used for this purpose
in the International alphabet.]
B
i8 Consonant Sounds requiring Change
NG-. The same remark applies to the retention of the single
digraph ng to represent the two sounds which occur in singer
and finger. The latter word ought in strict consistency to be
spelt fingger ; but the two #'s form a cumbrous combination, and
no one who uses English as his mother tongue will ever be in
doubt as to which value the ng represents in any given word.
Only the foreign learner will have to take some trouble to
remember that, for instance, longer is not pronounced strictly
as it is spelt, but as though it were longger. While retaining
this ambiguity, however, on the principle of least disturbance,
we are quite prepared to believe that a generation for which
the spelling of to-day has no prestige may prefer consistency to
elegance, and write longger \ strongger, lingger, fingger. Similarly,
we have held it unnecessary to analyse the nasal sounds in tank
and canker into their full components, tangc and cangcer. No
inconvenience can arise from the use of the shorter forms tanc,
cancer.
[The digraph ng has four values :
(i) ng, as in singer. This is the most common value.
(ii) n + g, as in engage and other compounds.
(iii) ng + g ; this is found in a few words of foreign origin
(e.g. bungalow, fungus, mango), in the combinations ngl (pre-
sent spelling ngl and ngle, e.g. angle, 30); ugr, nger, ngor ([present
spelling -or and -our], e.g. anger, 15) ; ngw (present spelling ngu,
e.g. anguish, 12).
(iv) nj, as in singe.
It is suggested that ng be retained in the cases given under
(i), (ii), and (iii) ; for the treatment of ng = nj, see p. 4.
The International alphabet uses the convenient symbol D to repre-
sent the single sound written ng in singJ]
NG; SH, ZH 19
SH, ZH. The sounds represented by sh in mesh and s in
measure are somewhat difficult to deal with, as in the current
spelling they are represented in so many different ways.
[The sh sounds (voiceless and voiced) occur unaccompanied by
another consonant in cash and leisure, preceded by the sound of
t and d respectively in catch and ledger.
The sound of sh. is represented by
(i) sh ; this is the usual value of sh.
(ii) s in censure, sensual, sugar, sure, tonsure.
(iii) ch y initially and medially in words mainly drawn from
French (e.g. chandelier, moustache) ; and, in Southern English
speech, in final -nch (32), and in luncheon, truncheon.
(iv) ti in the very common endings -tion (e.g. contention, agita-
tion, caution, repletion, addition, motion, ablution), -tial (e.g.
partial), and in the fairly common endings -tient (e.g. patient),
-tious (e.g. facetious), -tiate (e.g. expatiate) ; also in -tia (e.g.
militia), -tian (e.g. tertian).
Note that in partiality and the words in ^'ate the i is pronounced.
(v) d in the fairly common endings -cial (e.g. special), -cian
{e.g. musician), -cient (e.g. deficient), -cious (e.g. auspicious),
-cion (e.g. coercion, suspicion), -ciate (e.g. associate), -cia (acacia),
and a few other cases.
(vi) ce in the fairly common ending -ceous (e.g. herbaceous)
and in ocean.
(vii) si in the fairly common ending -sion following a con-
sonant (viz. I, e.g. compulsion, n, e.g. dimension, r, e.g. diversion);
-also in controversial.
(viii) sci in conscience, unconscionable, luscious, etc.
(ix) x has the value of csh in a few words (e.g. luxury, com-
plexion, noxious). Note the variants connexion : connection.
(x) ss in the endings -ssion (e.g. passion, cession, mission,
discussion, 8), -ssure (fissure, pressure, scissure), and in issue,
tissue (where, however, some pronounce s).
Consonant Sounds requiring Change
The voiced sound corresponding to sh is represented by
(i) si in the ending -sion preceded by a vowel (-asion, 4 ;
-esion, 2; -ision, 6 ; -osion, 2; -usion, 5), and in -osier (3).
(ii) ssi in abscission.
(iii) zi in glazier, grazier.
(iv) s in the ending -sure preceded by a vowel (e.g. measure,
9) and in usual, usury.
(v) z in azure, seizure.
(vi) g orj in a few words taken from the French (e.g. prestige,
regime, rouge ; bijou).]
It is suggested that sh be used to represent the voiceless
sound, except when it forms part of the combination usually
written ch (see p. 21) ; and that zh be used to represent the
voiced sound (except in foreign words where g may continue to
be used).
There are some cases in which alternative spellings must be
allowed. Thus in such words as association, some give the c the
value of s, others that of sh ; in words in -zier or -sier, some pronounce
z and others zh.
In a strictly phonetic alphabet these simple sounds would not be
represented by digraphs but by single symbols ; thus in the Inter-
national alphabet J is used for sh and 5 for zh.
CH 21
CH. The retention of the digraph cli for the sound which
might also be expressed by tsh is manifestly convenient and
leads to no ambiguities or other difficulties. There can be little
hesitation in choosing between church and tshurtsh. The letter
j has been already suggested as the best representation of the
voiced sounds corresponding to the voiceless ch.
In a phonetic spelling the combinations would each be represented
by a digraph. The International alphabet uses tj and ^5.
[The combination of the values of t and sh is represented by
(i) ch ; this is the usual value of ch (e.g. chat).
(ii) tch, which occurs finally (e.g. batch, 39), and medially
(11).
(iii) t in the ending -ture (e.g. feature, 70), unless preceded by
s (e.g. posture, 6), in which case many pronounce the letters tu
with their usual values.
The combination of the values of d and the voiced equivalent
of sh. is represented by
(i) j this is the regular value of j (e.g. jet).
(ii) g, before e, i, y in many cases (e.g. gem), but not
universally (e.g. get); rarely before other vowels (e.q. gaol,
margarine).
(iii) gg in exaggerate.
(iv) ge finally after stressed vowels (e.g. age, 20) and in the
endings -age (many), -ege (4), -ige (1), after 1 (4), n (28), r (15):
also medially (e.g. pageant, 6) and in the ending -geous (e.g.
courageous, 4).
(v) gi in the endings -gion (e.g. legion, 4) and -gious (e.g.
religious, 6).
(vi) dj in compounds of prefix ad- and words beginning
with j (e.g. adjacent, 9).
(vii) di in the word soldier.
(viii) dg medially (e.g. badger, 4).
(ix) dge finally (e.g. badge, 29) ; also medially (e.g. blud-
geon, 4).
(x) ch in spinach.]
22 Consonant Sounds requiring Change
WH. The spelling wli (which occurs, initially, in some forty
words and their derivatives) has various values in different forms
of English. In Southern English it is, as a rule, not pronounced
differently from w ; but elsewhere it has the value of hw, or it
is pronounced as the voiceless equivalent of w. It would be
difficult to prove that any of these values preponderates. To
substitute w or hw for the current spelling would impose the
pronunciation of a minority on the rest of the English-speaking
world ; and we have, therefore, decided not to recommend any
change in the use of this digraph, except, of course, where in
current usage wh has the value of h (e.g. who, whole).
It has often been observed that we recognise words mainly
by the consonants they contain; it is not difficult to read a
group of words in which the vowels are merely represented by
asterisks. The consonants are much less exposed to change
than are the vowels ; this, again, is obvious when kindred words
in different languages are compared. It is important that a
simplified spelling should not introduce any considerable changes
in the representation of the consonants.
It is maintained that in the suggestions here put forward the
changes have been reduced to the minimum consistent with a
real simplification. To convince himself of this the reader need
only consider one of the passages in simplified spelling given
at the end of this book. The ease with which he will be able
to read it will be a sure indication that the consonantal frame-
work of the spelling has been changed in a very conservative
spirit ; but at the same time he will realise that such changes
as appeared desirable represent a practically complete and
logical simplification.
Double Consonants 23
Double Consonants.
The term * consonant ' l includes two main groups of sounds :
(a) the stops (plosives, explosives), e.g. b, p. A complete stop
consists of three parts : the formation of a closure, a pause, and
the opening of the closure. The ear, however, accepts as a stop
the closure only (e.g. the p of map, when the lips remain closed
at the end of the word), or the opening only (e.g. the p in please,
uttered without previous separation of the lips). When in a
word the closure and the opening are both heard (as in the
careful pronunciation of coattail), the presence of two stops (a
double stop) is suggested. A stop may be lengthened by pro-
longing the pause between closure and opening.
(b) the continuants (fricatives, spirants), e.g. v, f. In these
the breath is not stopped, but the passage through which it
passes is narrowed in such a way that there is audible friction.
The nasal sounds (m, n, and ng as in ring) are stops, inasmuch
as the breath is stopped in the mouth, and vowels, inasmuch as
the breath issues through the nose without the passage being
narrowed so as to produce friction.
In the case of the continuants and nasals, variations of length
are frequent (thus n is longer in man than in manner). The
doubling of the sound is, however, only suggested to the ear
when there is a variation in the force of the breath (strong
weak strong) as it continues to pass through the narrowing
(e.g. s in misstatement).
Cases of cc (before e, i), ck, cqu, dj, dg, tch have been dealt with
above.
1 This term has been retained as a convenient 'label,' although it is
originally based on the mistaken idea that a ' consonant ' cannot be
sounded unless accompanied by a vowel.
24 Double Consonants
Double letters are found
(a) in words compounded by means of prefixes :
ace- (acclaim, etc., 22) ; add- (addict, etc., 3) ; aff- (affix, etc., 20) ;
agg- (aggravate, etc., 8) ; all- (alliteration, etc., 20) ; aim- (annihilate,
etc., 8); app- (approach, etc., 30); arr- (arrive, etc., 10); ass- (assail, etc.,
20) ; att- (attempt, etc., 13).
coll- (collate, etc., 14) ; comm- (commit, etc., 22) ; conn- (connote,
etc., 5) ; corr- (correspond, etc., 8).
diss- (dissatisfy, etc., 18).
eff- (effect, etc., 15).
ill- (illegal, etc., 14) ; imm- (immaterial, etc., 25) ; inn- (innate,
etc., 10) ; irr- (irregular, etc., 40).
interr- (interrupt).
opp- (oppress, etc., 4).
succ- (succumb, etc., 3) ; suff- (sufficient, etc., 4) ; supp- (suppress,
etc., 5).
(b) at the end of words :
-bb (ebb) ; -ck (back, etc., 107) ; -dd (add, odd) ; -ff (buff, etc., 39) ;
-gg (egg) ; -11 (ball, etc., 85) ; -nn (inn) ; -rr (err, purr, whirr) ; -ss
(bless, etc., 74) + -ess (fern.), -less, -ness suffixes ; -tt (butt) ; -zz
(buzz, fizz, frizz, fuzz).
(c) due to the addition of inflexions and suffixes :
(i) Verbs : -ing, -(e)d, -en, and verbal substantives in -er
(sometimes -ar).
-bb (stab, stabbing, etc., 25) ; -dd (wed, wedding, etc., 14) ; -gg (beg,
begging, etc., 26) ; -11 (excel, excelling, etc., 28) ; -mm (brim, brimming,
etc., 21) ; -nn (begin, beginning, etc., 26) ; -pp (clap, clapping, etc., 42) ;
-rr (bar, barring, etc., 17) ; -tt (bet, betting, etc., 49).
Verbs formed from adjectives by -en suffix (glad, gladden, 6).
(ii) Adjectives : -er, -est.
(sad, sadder, saddest, 16.)
Note also the forms inner, upper, utter, latter.
Adjectives formed from other words
by -ish suffix (wag, waggish, 10).
by -y suffix (mud, muddy, 29).
Double Consonants 25
(d) before sundry endings :
-ar, -er(y), (ard, art)
bb (6), ck (20), dd (12), ff (9), gg (13), 11 (6), mm (10), nn (5),
pp (12), tt (38), zz (3) ; note also -rrier (8), -rror (4).
-le, -el, -al
bb (27), ck (24), dd (26), ff (12), gg (18), mm (2), nn (7), pp (13), rr (5),
ss (5), tt (30), zz (11).
-y, (-)
bb (6), ck (5), dd (7), ff (2), gg (5), 11 (19 + -ly adverbs of adjectives
in -1, many), mm (6), nn (8), pp (4), rr (20), tt (7).
-en, (-on)
ck (10), dd (2), ss (3), tt (9) ; note also -llion, -lleon (14).
-et, (-ot)
ck (18), 11 (12), mm (2), nn (6), pp (4), rr (5), ss (6).
-ey : ck (4), 11 (5). -ow : 11 (18), rr (12).
e : ss (2), tt (19). -op : 11 (6).
-o : 11 (5), tt (7).
(e) Not classified under sections (a) to (d) : about 100.
The retention of double letters is justified in compound words
(e.g. lamppost, coattail), where the presence of the last letter of the
first part and the first letter of the second part is necessary to render
the meaning clear.
Among compound words may be included those beginning with the
prefixes con-, dis-, in-, inter-, mis-, ser-, un-. As is pointed out on
p. 53, it is desirable that prefixes should, as far as possible, have a
fixed form.
Tn other cases the doubling of consonants in the present spelling
may be regarded as serving to indicate the value of a preceding vowel ;
but as, in a simplified system, each vowel or combination of vowels
must have a constant value, this reason for doubling consonants no
longer exists.
It is therefore suggested that no double consonants be re-
tained, except in compound words, including those formed with
prefixes and suffixes, in which the double consonants are pro-
nounced. (Examples : coattail, outtalk, meanness, soulless,
solely, wholly.)
26 Mute Consonants
Mute Consonants.
(The term ' consonant ' is based on a misconception of the part
which these sounds play, but it continues to be the only convenient
designation ; the use of the terms ' silent ' or ' mute ' with ' consonant '
is common and unambiguous.)
The presence of mute consonants is usually due either to
a change in pronunciation (the k of knee was once pronounced)
or to a desire to suggest the derivation (the b in debt was never
pronounced). Nothing justifies their retention in a simplified
spelling.
In some cases the mute letter neither represents an older pro-
nunciation nor suggests the correct derivation (e.g. the h in
ghost f the c in scent, the g in sovereign).
There is a further group of cases in which a word borrowed
from Greek or Latin contains a combination of consonants
unfamiliar to speakers of English (e.g. mn in mnemonic, autumn ;
phth in phthisis) or is used with another than the ordinary
English value (e.g. ch in chord).
In classifying the cases of mute consonants, a discrimination
between native words and words directly or indirectly derived
from Greek or Latin is interesting.
Native Words : Words from Greek or Latin :
Mute consonants occur
(a) initially :
gn (gnat, etc., 6) h (hour, etc., 4 ; 2nd part of
h (2nd part of compound, shep- compound, exhaust, etc.,
herd, etc., 3) 8)
kn (knave, etc., 21) mn (mnemonic)
wh (whole, etc., 3) pn (pneumonia)
WT (wrap, etc., 21) ps (psalm, etc., 3)
anomalous : pt (ptarmigan)
Some speakers pronounce the initial m of mnemonic and the initial
p of pseudo-, psycho-. Alternative spellings retaining these letters
would be permissible.
Mute Consonants
27
(b) finally (see also (e) below) :
mb (comb, etc., 10) mb (bomb, etc., 5)
gh (high, etc., 19 ; augh 2, mn (autumn, etc,, 8)
eigh 3, igh 4, ough 10) rrh (catarrh, myrrh)
h (ah, etc., 6)
(c) in certain combinations, within
sc before e, i, y (scythe) s^
ght (light, etc., 40; aight 1,
aught 9, eight 3, ight 18,
ought 9) gm
gh (ghost, etc., 5)
Id (could, etc., 4)
li (half, etc., 3)
Ik (talk, etc., 6)
Im (qualm, holm)
Iv (halve)
f ten (often, soften) l
stl (thistle, etc., 18) 1
s/en (hasten, etc., 7) 1
the word :
stf before e, i, y (very many ;
note especially -esce,
-escent endings)
gm (phlegm, etc., 4)
gu (sign, etc., 17)
ch (chord, etc., very many)
rh (rhythm, etc., 8)
Ic (falcon *)
Zk (chalk)
Im (balm, etc., 7)
scl (corpuscle, muscle)
stl (castle)
sthm (asthma, isthmus)
(cT) at end of first part of compound :
d in handkerchief ; p in cupboard, raspberry ; in chest-
nut, mortgage ; ck in blackguard.
(e) in modern loanwords :
final h (ayah, etc., 5), s (apropos, etc., 5), t (debut, etc., 10)
c in czar ; g in imbroglio, seraglio ; p in corps ; qu in lacquer
(/) in sundry cases:
b (doubt, debt, subtle) ; c (indict, victual ; schedule, schist,
seneschal) ; ch (drachm, schism, yacht) ; h (ache, schooner ;
thyme) ; p (receipt) ; s (aisle, isle, demesne, puisne) ; w (answer,
sword).
1 Alternative spellings are permissible in the case of falcon, pestle, often,
soften, fasten, chasten, hasten, christen, in all of which the usually mute
consonant is pronounced by some.
28 Consonant Sounds: Summary
Summary of Suggested Spellings of Consonant Sounds.
Voiced
Voiceless
Nasal
b
as
in
bin
P
as
in
pin
m as in met
d
as
in
din
t
as
in
tin
n as in net
g
as
in
got
c
as
in
cot
ng as in sing
w
as
in
win
wh
as
in
whim
V
as
in
vat
f
as
in
fat
th
as
in
this
th
as
in
thing
z
as
in
zest
s
as
in
so
zh
as
in
vizhon
sh
as
in
shoot
1
as
in
laid
h
as
in
hot
r
as
in
raid
y
as
in
yet
Combinations of consonant sounds.
ng (before I, er, w) as in angl (present spelling angle), anger,
langwid (present spelling languid), nc as in thane ;
ch as in chat, j as in jet.
Note 1. Double consonants only in compound words, including
compounds with prefixes and suffixes, in which the double consonants
are pronounced.
Note 2. Observe that the value of r differs according as it is followed
by a consonant or by a vowel :
far, farm, but cary (present spelling carry) ;
for, form, but forest ;
fur,furm (present spelling firm), but furier (present spelling furrier).
Note 3. The letters k ( = c) and x ( = cs or gz), and the combinations
ph ( = f) and qu ( = cw) are omitted as being superfluous.
Vowel Sounds : a, e 29
Vowel Sounds.
Th(Twels^o) and diphthongs are more difficult to deal with
than the consonants, mainly for three reasons :
(1) Because we have fewer letters at command, in proportion
to the sounds to be represented.
(2) Because local and personal varieties of pronunciation are
greater in the case of vowels than in the case of consonants.
(3) Because in unaccented syllables vowels become 'obscure,'
and thus difficult to represent with any accuracy.
Our first step, however, was pretty clear. We found that in
the current spelling the value by far most commonly assigned
to the symbols a, e, i, o, u, was the short value, as in bat, bet, pit,
pot, but. In the case of the first four the preponderance of this
value is very considerable ; it is less marked in the case of u.
It is clear, then, that to these symbols must be allotted the
representation of the so-called short vowel sounds. 1 For tjie
short vowel written oo in good see p. 40.
Statistics.
Sound a in bat.
Present spelling : a, e.g. cat, happy, very many cases.
Observe ua in guarantee.
Suggested spelling : a.
Examples: cat, hapi.
Sound e in bet.
Present spelling : e, e.g. bet, very many cases.
ea, e.g. head, 57 cases.
Uncommon : a, any, many ; ai, again(st), said ; ay, says ; ei, heifer^
leisure ; eo, jeopard, leopard, feoff ; ie, friend ; u, bury.
Observe ue, e.g. in guest, 5 cases.
Suggested spelling : e.
Examples : bet, hed, meni, sez, hefer, frend, gest.
1 The only exception that might be made during the period of transition
is that where the short i sound occurs finally it should be represented,
as at present, by y : as, for instance, in fishy, apathy, pithy, and all the
numberless words ending in -ly.
30 Vowel Sounds
Sound i in pit.
Present spelling : I. initially and medially.
i, e.g. pit, very many cases.
y, e.g. abyss, many cases.
Uncommon : ee, breeches ; ei, forfeit, surfeit, foreign, sovereign ;
t'e, kerchief, mischief, sieve ; unstressed in the -ies and -ied endings
(e.g. cities, envied) ; o, women ; it, busy, lettuce, minute (subst.) ;
ui, e.g. build, 10 cases.
II. finally.
y, e.g. pity, very many cases.
ey, e.g. barley, 34 cases.
Uncommon : ie, e.g. prairie, 7 cases ; , simile, 8 cases.
Suggested spelling : i.
Examples : pit, forin, mischif, minit, bild, piti, hotli, barli.
Sound o in pot.
Present spelling : o, e.g. pot, very many cases.
a after w, wh, e.g. swan, 44 cases.
a after qu, e.g. squad, 17 cases.
Uncommon : a (in other positions), yacht.
Observe io in marchioness.
Suggested spelling : o.
Examples : pot, swon, scwod, yot.
Sound u in but.
Present spelling : u, e.g. but, very many cases.
o, e.g. mother, 49 cases :
before m (8), n (11), ng (3), nk (2), r (1), s (1), th (5), v (16), z (2).
ou, e.g. double, 18 cases;
and in -ous suffix, very many cases.
Uncommon : oe, does ; oo, blood, flood.
Suggested Spelling : u.
Examples : but, muther, dubl, duz.
i, o, u ; Long Vowels 31
The representation of the long vowels and diphthongs is i
complicated by the fact that their pronunciation varies at the 1 V
present time, and that they are exposed to change more than
the other sounds of the language.
It may at once be stated that this is the great objection to
any attempt at their phonetic representation. In this connec-
tion we may consider two remarks that have been made by way
of criticism :
"The short e in pet opens the way to the use, for the corre-
sponding long vowel, of the ei already used in many English
words like veil, etc. For the diphthong in few, etc., might be
used the existing notation for that diphthong in feud, etc."
"The assignment of au to this vowel sound [that in haul]
would close the opening which still exists for the regulation
of our diphthong system, of which oi as in oil and oy as in boy,
ai as in aisle and ay as in aye (yes), ei as in veil and ey in they, eu
in feud and ew in. few are constituent parts." .
It may be pointed out, in connection with the former remark,
(i) that the vowel part of veil, etc., is the long vowel correspond-
ing to e in pet in the speech of a minority only, and not in
educated Southern English, where it is diphthongal,, being fairly
represented by the [ei] of the International alphabet, though
the majority of Southern English speakers have the tongue lower
than [ei] implies. When it is pronounced as a long vowel, there
is no phonetic justification in writing ei.
(ii) That if the spelling ei be recommended, because the first
part of the diphthong is, in the pronunciation of many, identical
with the e of pet, it seems inconsistent to recommend eu for the
diphthong (in Southern English a triphthong) in feud, for how-
ever the middle sounds here be pronounced, the first part is
certainly not the e in pet, but the y in yet.
With regard to the second remark, it may be said that
of the 'constituent parts of the diphthongal system' there
enumerated, the ei and eu have been dealt with above, and that
the oi in oil and ai in aisle, while generally pronounced as
32 Vowel Sounds
diphthongs, and as such fairly represented by oi and ai t yet
show considerable variations. In particular it may be pointed
out that at its end the diphthong does not usually reach the i
of lit ; probably it does not as a rule go appreciably beyond the
e of pet.
From what has been said above, it would appear that there are
most serious obstacles to any attempt at a phonetic representa-
tion of the long vowels and diphthongs. It would assume a
uniformity in present usage which does not exist, and an
absence of future change which seems inconsistent with what
is known of the behaviour of vowels in this and other
languages.
In the Proposals no attempt was therefore made to bring the
representation of long vowels or diphthongs into phonetic
agreement with the representation of the short vowels.
The alternative adopted was the representation by means of
what was, in most. cases, the commonest existing combination
of letters. It seemed inadvisable to take the most usual com-
bination in every case ; occasionally the individual case had to
yield to the general scheme, which it seemed desirable to render
as clear and simple as possible.
Before considering other criticisms that have been made on the
scheme contained in the Proposals, it may be well to deal with
* /"the suggestion that the sounds in question should be represented
(by ' vowel plus consonant plus <?,' as in fade, cede, ride, rode, rude.
There can be no doubt that this is a very common mode of
representing the sounds in question, and it deserves carefu]
consideration. It has indeed no phonetic argument in its
favour, and has no parallel in the better-known languages of the
present day ; but these objections are not grave. The proposal
must stand or fall on its merits in practical application.
Long Vowels and Diphthongs 33
A few of the resulting spellings will probably suffice to show
that the proposal has disadvantages :
In the first place, it is not clear in what way the sounds in
question are to be spelled when final. The logical spelling
would be, e.g. 'a + consonant + e' in wane, therefore 'a + e' in
plae (i.e. play) and, similarly, see, crie, goe. In the plural we
should then have plaze ; in the third singular, plaze, goze ;
in the past participle, plade, cride. If, on the other hand, an
existing spelling, e.g. ay, be suggested when the sound is final,
we should have way, and plural presumably wayz (in accordance
with the general rule for the formation of the plural) ; or waze,
like blaze.
When -ing is added to a verb stem, the e might remain, e.g.
bete (i.e. beat), beteing ; if omitted, the form would be identical
with beting (i.e. betting), and to get over this the double con-
sonant would probably have to be retained in the latter case, a
welcome piece of simplification being rendered impossible.
In the perfect participle the spelling would be somewhat
complicated, as the following examples will show :
mate : p.p. mated (and therefore mat : matted),
plase (i.e. place) : p.p. plaset or plaste ?
fale (i.e. fail) : p.p. faled OT faldel
fere (i.e. fear) : p.p. fered or ferdel
lae (i.e. lay) : p.p. lade.
This raises the question what is to be done when two con-
sonants intervene between the vowel and e. On the analogy of
waste, are we to write plaste, beste (i.e. beast), sliste (i.e. sliced),
roste (i.e. roast) ? The difficulty is also noticed in the plural of
substantives, e.g. :
bene (i.e. bean) : plural, benez or benze ?
rode (i.e. road) : plural, rodcz or rodze 1
and the third singular of verbs, e.g. :
name : 3rd singular, namez or namzel
fele (i.e. feel) : 3rd singular, felez or felze^
c
34 Vowel Sounds
Again, if we are to write stranje, how are we to indicate the
diphthong in stranger, strangest ? If rose is to be written rose,
how about rosyl What is to be the spelling of vary, various,
nation, serious, and many similar words 1
Taking even these few examples into consideration, it appears
that the resulting forms would present very strange combina-
tions, which would hardly prove acceptable. The rules of
accidence, too, would be less simple than those given in the
Proposals (see p. 58).
If the use of digraphs (which may be reduced to single
letters in certain circumstances) be the best means available of
representing long vowels and diphthongs, or sounds which are
pronounced as long vowels by some and diphthongs by others,
or as diphthongs by some and as triphthongs by others then
we may consider whether the scheme of digraphs suggested in
the Proposals is the best that can be devised.
The combination of vowel or diphthong with r, not followed
by a vowel, is variously pronounced by English speakers, and
this variation has to be taken into account. It has, however,
proved possible to dispense with the combinations aar, aur, ear,
ir, ier (as in pier), oar, oor, our (as in honour], yr. The com-
binations that remain are ar (e.g. farther), air (e.g. fair), er (e.g.
fern), eer (e.g. peer), ier (e.g. fiery), or l (e.g. for), oier (e.g. emploier,
present spelling employer), uur (e.g. puur, present spelling poor),
our (e.g. our), ouer (e.g. flouer, present spelling flower), ur (e.g.
hurt), 2 and yur (e.g. pyur, present spelling pure).
1 See p. 43. a See p. 45.
aa, ar 35
The a in father, ask, has not one uniform pronunciation, and
some account has to be taken of this fact. Although the
digraph aa is very rare in the current spelling, it seems
necessary to use it. There might be no objection to retaining
the present spelling father but if the mute consonant in calm,
calf, etc., is dropped, we should have cam, caf, forms obviously
unacceptable.
Statistics.
Sound a in spa, answer, ar in bar.
Present spelling : I. a, e.g. father, many cases.
before /, e.g. after, chaff, 14 cases ; n + cons., e.g. advance, 21 ;
*, e.g. ask, class, 38 ; th, e.g. bath, 6 ; mute I, e.g. half, 9.
Uncommon : au, aunt, draught, laughter.
N.B. The sound heard in these words in Southern English
has disappeared, wholly or in part, from many other forms of
English, a front vowel T having been substituted.
II. ar, very many cases.
final stressed, e.g. bar, 15 cases.
before b (12), c (2), ce (1), ch (8), d (21), f (1), g (8), ge (4),
k (13), 1 (10), m (10), n (13), p (9), s (7), sh (2), t (25), v (2).
Uncommon : aar, bazaar ; ah, .ah, bah ; are, are ; ear, hearken, heart,
hearth ; uar, guard ; er, clerk, sergeant.
Suggested spelling : I. On the whole it seems best to use aa
for the sound heard in Southern English father. "Where a
front vowel is pronounced, the alternative spelling with a would
be permissible.
II. Although in Southern English there has ceased to be any
difference in pronunciation between a in father and ar (e.g.
in farther), a distinction is made in many English-speaking
countries, and the ar must therefore be retained (or substituted
for ear in heart, for uar in guard, etc.).
1 A front vowel is one for which the * front ' of the tongue is raised. For
the a of after the front of the tongue is slightly raised, in the pronuncia-
tion to which reference is here made.
36 Vowel Sounds
For the sounds represented in fee, fie, and foe, we choose
without hesitation the symbols used in these words. Ee and
oe are very familiar in this value, and have no other value in
common usage ; ie has only one other value as in pier, siege.
Moreover, in the large number of words in which e, i, and o are
modified by an e following a consonant (for example, mete, mite,
mote), the only change requiied would be the transposition of
the e from after the consonant to before it (meet, miet, moet).
For the sake of economy, however, we suggest that the e need
not be added to the e, i, o when they occur before a vowel.
This rule is of especial value in the case of affixes and inflexions
in er, est, ing, etc., etc., not only admitting of great economy, but
obviating many awkward conjunctions of vowels. Thus we write
being (not beeing), fliing (uotflieing), going (not goeing). It would
seem to be an open question whether the diaeresis ought to be
employed to distinguish the digraph-vowel ee, ie, from the
same vowel abbreviated before a syllable beginning with e. 1
For instance, is it necessary to distinguish quiet from quite"!
hire from higher ? It may be left to experience to show whether
the advantage of writing cwie't and hier compensates for the
extra trouble. 2
In the case of a few very common monosyllables it is
suggested that, in accordance with present usage, the e should
be dropped, viz., in I, me, he, she, we, be, the. To many it
would seem preferable to reduce the vowel digraphs, ee, ie, oe,
uu (see p. 40), in all cases when they would appear at the end of
monosyllables.; this would lead to many further simplifications
such as : fre, se, thre ; bi, cri, dri, fli, hi, mi, whi ; go, no, sho, so,
tho ; blu, du, hu, thru, tru, tu. And if these be accepted, a
further extension becomes desirable : use the reduced forms
whenever the sounds occur at the end of a word.
1 For some English speakers, notably north of the Tweed, the same
*/ difficulty would arise in distinguishing between more and 'mower. But it
would seem that in Southern pronunciation more would be represented
by mor, mower by moer.
2 It might also prove advisable to employ the diaeresis to distinguish
the o-i of going from the diphthong oi of coin. In current usage this
ambiguity gives little trouble ; but no doubt a generation accustomed to
a fairly consistent sound notation would be more disturbed by such small
inconsistencies.
ee, eer; ie, ier 37
Statistics.
Sound ee in feel, eer in leer.
Present spelling: ee, e.g. feel, 164 cases :
final, e.g. fee, 29 cases, -ee suffix, 13 cases.
before ch (6), d (14), k (9), 1 (10), m (4), n (14), p (9), r (13 + -eer
suffix, 15), t (10), ze (5), sundry (13). (j\\)
e, e.g. be, many cases :
final : be, he, me, she, the, we ;
before other vowels, e.g. theory, many cases ;
before consonants, e.g. cedar, many cases.
ea, 181 cases:
final, e.g. pea, 6 cases ;
before c (3), ch (10), d (7), k (16), 1 (20), m (12), n (8), p (5), r (20),
s (25), t (21), th (6), v (11), sundry (11). ((]?)
e + cons. + e, 58 cases :
ede (5), erne (5), ene (12), ere (14), ese (4), ete (10), sundry (8).
i, e.g. police, 41 cases :
before n (23), qu (8), sundry (10).
ie, e.g. chief, 36 cases, + -ier suffix, 20 cases.
Uncommon : e'e, e'en ; ei, receive, 7 cases ; eo, people ; ay, quay ;
ey, key.
Suggested spelling: ee; but e before vowels, and in the
woroTs~me, he, she, we, be, the (or : when final, see p. 36).
Note. The spelling of the rare word tliee might remain unchanged.
Examples : feel, peech, sinseer, polees, cheef ; theorem.
Sound ie in cries, ier in crier.
Present spelling : ie, many cases :
final, e.g. die, 7 cases ; 3rd sing. pres. ind. and pret. of verbs in -y
(13), e.g. cries, cried + -fy verbs (58) ; plur. of substantives in -y (5).
i, very many cases :
final : alibi, alkali, rabbi ;
before vowel: a (25 + dia- prefix, many cases), e (8 + -iety suffix,
11 cases), o (15), u (2);
before consonant : Id (3), nd (9), sundry (102).
38 Vowel Sounds
igh, 24 crises :
final, e.g. high, 4 cases ; before t, e.g. bright (18 cases); eigh, height
sleight.
i + cons. + e, very many cases :
ibe (7), ice (18), ide (21), ife (6), ike (7), ile (20 + suffix 40), inie
(14), ine (35 + suffix 36), ipe (8), ire (26), ise (18+ -ise verbs, many), ite
(44), ithe (5), ive (18), ize (3 + ize verbs, very many), sundry (13).
y, many cases :
final, e.g. cry, 28 cases, and -fy verbs, 58 cases ; not final (words
from Greek), many cases.
y + cons. + e, e.g. type, 26 cases.
Uncommon : ai, aisle ; ay, ay (aye) ; ei, e.g. seismic, 6 cases ; ey,
geyser ; ig + n, e.g. sign, 4 cases ; ig + m, paradigm ; oi wi in choir
(variant spelling : quire) ; ui + cons. + e, guide, guile, guise ; uy,
buy, guy ; ye, final, 4 cases ; eye, eye.
Suggested spelling : ie ; but i before vowels and in the word I
(or: when final). 1
(It may be noted that there is no good reason why we should continue to
write the pronoun of the first person with a capital letter. )
Note. In practice it will probably be unnecessary to use a diaeresis
in such a word as diet, although according to the suggested rule this
might represent a word rhyming with biet (present spelling bite).
Examples : criez, wiep, miend ; dial.
The representation of the vowel part of goes, road, etc., by
means of oe has been objected to by several because of its un-
familiarity. It is indeed not absent from English (as is the case
with ae), but it is certainly rather less common than oa, which,
however, is also not in very frequent use. The preponderance
of ai over ae is far greater than that of oa over oe. The argu-
ment of frequency was therefore not greatly in favour of oa ;
the numerous cases of * o + consonant + e ' favour oe rather than
oa ; and the use of e as the second component of ee, ie, also
favoured the selection of oe.
1 See p. 36.
oe, oer 39
Statistics.
Sound oe in goes, oer in loer ( = lower).
Present spelling : oe, final, e.g. toe, 12 cases ; and
before s, goes and plurals of words in o and oe, many cases.
o, final, e.g. cargo, 88 cases ; before consonant, e.g. post,
183 cases :
before b (4), c (15 + ocious, 3), d (8), g (5), k (4), 1 (56), mute 1 (2),
m (12), n (17), p (7), s (11 + osion, 2), t (16 + otion, 5), th(4), v (8),
sundry (4).
o before other vowels, e.g. boa, sundry cases.
oa, 50 cases :
final, cocoa, halloa ; before ch (6), d (5), k (6), 1 (4), m (4), n (4),
st (4), t (11), sundry (6).
o + cons. + e, 164 cases :
obe (4), ode (15), ogue (7), oke (13), ole (23), ome (6), one (18),
ope (18), ose (12 + suffix, 6), ote (17), ove (13), sundry (12).
ow, 72 cases :
final, e.g. arrow, 61 cases ; before n (8), sundry (3).
Uncommon : cm, hautboy, mauve ; eau, e.g. bureau, 8 cases ;
eo, yeoman ; ew, sew (shew) ; oo, brooch ; ough, e.g. though, 5 cases ;
ou + I, e.g. soul, 10 cases ; owe, owe.
Suggested spelling : oe ; but o before vowels (and when final). 1
Note. In practice it would probably be unnecessary to add a
diaeresis in such cases as going ; there would be no more danger of
confusion with the oi sound (as in coin) than at present.
Examples : goez, roeb, coest ; heroic.
1 See p. 36.
40 Vowel Sounds
The present spelling of the vowel sounds in good, mood,
hue, is very unsatisfactory, as will be seen from the statistics
on the opposite page. In the original draft of the Proposals
the following rules were suggested :
"I. Sound ue in hue: ue, but u finally, before vowels and
before endings beginning with I, r, s, t (-lar, -late, -lent, -lous,
-rial, -rian, -rion, -rious, -sion, -tion).
II. Sound oo in good, mood : oo ;
but after /, r, j, ch, sh : ue (u finally, before vowels,
and before I, r, s, t endings).
(This last suggestion is due to a desire (a) not to anticipate
unduly the change which is taking place in many words (e.g>
absolute), where the u tends to become oo ; (b) not to extend
the use of oo unduly.) "
We put this forward as a tentative solution of the difficulty, and
did not regard it as good. Taking the existing ways of repre-
senting the sounds, it was perhaps the best that could be done.
We feel, however, that this is one of the very few cases .in
which digraphs drawn from the present spelling are inadequate
to supply a convenient representation of the sounds, and we
therefore accept the suggestion that the long sound in mood
should be represented by uu, leaving oo to represent the short
sound in good.
The sounds in hue and regular are best written yu, which
may be used whether the sounds are long or short, as in the
examples given. The only word in which this notation might
be inconvenient is the word young, which would be written
yung, but pronounced with y as in yet and u as in sung ; but this
could not give rise to ambiguity, as the sounds yu (as in hue}
never occur before ng.
The only exceptions which it seems desirable to make are the
preposition to, for which we suggest tu, and the adjective full (and
suffix -ful), for which ful is, at least in the period of transition,
preferable to fool.
In the rare cases when uu would precede a vowel, one u may be
dropped ; for instance, in ruin, truer. Also where the sound occurs
at the end of a word (see p. 36).
uu, oo ; yu
Statistics.
Sound of ue in hue and of Sound of oo in good, mood,
ure in pure. and of oor in poor.
Present spelling : ue, 26 Present spelling : ue, 8 cases :
cases. after r (5), 1 (3).
u, 334 cases : u, 87 cases :
final, 3 cases ; final, 2 cases ;
before b (13), c (11), d (7), g (4), before 1 (9), sh (4), after j (16),
1 (24) + -ular (47), -ulate (42), 1 (15), r (31), sundry (10).
-ulent(14), -ulous(18), in (40),
n (12), p (21), r (34), s (10),
t (24), + -ution (8), sundry
(5).
for final -ur see 16
before vowel, many cases.
u + cons. + e, very many cases :
before vowel, 8 cases (after r).
u + cons. + e, 35 cases :
ube (2), uce (4), ude (2 + -tude ube (1), uce (2), ude (7), uke (3),
suffix, many), uge (3), uke (3), ule (1), uple (1), ume (3),
uble (2), ule (17), ugle (1),
uple (1), ume (9), une (9), upe
(1), ure (21), use (9), ute (25).
Uncommon :
ui, suit, nuisance
ieu adieu
eu, 19 cases ;
ew, 24 cases ; iew, view
eau, beauty ; ewe, ewe.
une (3), ure (4), ucre (1),
use (3), ute (6)
[of these after r (15), 1 (13),
j (5), sh (2)].
Uncommon : ui, after r (5), 1 (1),
j (1) ; eu, rheumatism ; ieu, lieu ;
ew, after r (12), 1 (4), sh (2),
j (2), y (1).
oo, 109 cases :
final, 11 cases ; before d (9), f (6),
k (10), 1 (8), m (11), n (24),
p (12), r (3), t (10), th (4),
sundry (12).
ou, e.g. could, 30 cases :
Uncommon : o, final, e.g. do (5) ; sundry, e.g.
wolf (6).
o + cons. + e, move, prove, lose,
whose.
oe, shoe, canoe ; oeu, manoeuvre.
ough, through, brougham.
42 Vowel Sounds
For the sound represented in maid we chose with very slight
hesitation the symbol ai. A certain appearance of uniformity
would have been gained by selecting ae, so that four of the five
short vowels should have corresponding digraphs formed by the
addition of e. But the combination ae occurs only in Scotch
(for instance, brae), whereas ai is by far the commonest current
notation for the sound, if we except the single a (often followed
by a consonant + e), which cannot be made the normal symbol,
as it is already appropriated to another use.
Statistics.
Sound ai in maid, air in fair.
Present spelling : ai, e.g. maid, 125 cases :
before d (10), 1 (21), m (3), n or gn (stressed : 44, unstressed :
12), r (18), t (5), sundry (12).
ay, e.g. bay, 40 cases.
a, e.g. lady, very many cases :
before b (5), c (11), d (7), g (12), 1 (11), m (15), n (13), p (14),
r (11, and in suffixes -arian, -arious, -areous), s (7), t (very
many, note especially -ation), v (13), sundry (9)
also before vowel, e.g. chaos, mosaic, many cases.
a + consonant + e, e.g. game, very many cases :
ace (stressed : 13 cases, unstressed : 7), ade (51), age (stressed :
11, unstressed : 64), ange (5), ake (23), ale (20), able (stressed :
7, unstressed : very many), ame (12), ane (23), ape (14), are (25),
ase (9), ate (stressed : 28, unstressed : very many), aste (6), ave
(23), aze (11), sundry (14).
Uncommon : (ae, Gaelic) ; ao, gaol (also jail) ; au + cons. + e, gauge ;
ea, e.g. great, 10 cases ; e + cons.+e, ere, there, where ; e'e, e'er, ne'er ;
ei, e.g. veil, 22 cases ; eigh t e.g. neigh, 3 cases ; ey, e.g. obey, 7 cases.
Suggested spelling : ai.
Note. e'er, ne'er might remain.
Examples : maid, bai, laidi, gaim, grait, thair.
ai, air; au, or 43
For the vowel sound in haul we propose to retain the notation
au, which would, of course, be used also where the sound is
represented in the current spelling by aw (draw, etc.), ou
(bought, etc.), and other symbols. In common usage the
distinction between this sound and the sounds which we repre-
sent by o and oe is not very clearly maintained before r. We
propose, then, that before that letter they should all be repre-
sented simply by 0.
Those speakers, however, who make a clear distinction between
coral, oral, and aural, would be within their rights in contending
that this should be recognised, as it could easily be by writing
coral, oeral, and aural.
Statistics.
Sound au in haul.
Present spelling : I. au, e.g. haul, 45 cases,
also the words with aunch (4), aund (2), aunt (9), e.g. launch,
laundry, haunt, in which some give au the value of a in father.
a, e.g. bald, 52 cases :
before Id (8), It (14), 11 (13), mute 1 (7), final 1 (1), 1 + various
consonants (7), and in water, wrath.
aw, e.g. claw, 54 cases :
final (22), before k (6), 1 (10), n (12), sundry (4).
Uncommon : awe, awe ; oa, broad ; ough, e.g. bought, 7 cases.
II. or, final, stressed, e.g. nor (5), unstressed, very many cases ;
before b (6), ce (2), ch (4), d (15), g (1), ge (2),k (4), m (7), n (20),
p (6), s (9), t (24), th (3).
ore, e.g. more, 28 cases.
Uncommon : ar, quart, war, wharf ; oar, e.g. boar, 9 cases ; o'er, o'er ;
oor, door, floor; our, e.g. four, 7 cases, and suffix -our, e.g. honour,
35 cases.
Suggested spelling : au, but before r write o.
Note 1. o'er might remain.
Note 2. The troublesome distinction exemplified by the spelling
decolour, but decolorize ; dolour, but dolorous ; labour, but laborious
falls away.
Examples : haul, bauld, clau, braud, baut ;
horn, bor, dor, lorel.
44 Vowel Sounds
The spelling of the diphthongs oi and ou, by means of these
signs, commends itself at once ; nothing would be gained by
retaining the representations oy and ow, which, though fairly
common, do not serve to indicate a pronunciation differing in
any way from that of oi and ou.
Statistics.
Sound oi in coin, oier in emploier.
Present spelling : oi, e.g. coin, many cases :
before d (3 + -oid suffix), 1 (13), n (6), nt (3), t (4), sundry (5).
oy, '2,1 cases :
final, e.g. boy, 13 cases ;
before vowel (4) and derivatives of -oy words (4).
Uncommon : oig, coign ; uoy, buoy.
Suggested spelling : oi.
Examples : coin, boi.
Sound ou in count, our in sour.
Present spelling : ou, e.g. count, many cases :
before ch (6), d (4), nee (6), nd (18), ount (7 + counter- prefix),
r (6), se (7), t (18), sundry (8).
ow, 58 cases :
final, e.g. cow, 12 ; before 1 (8), el (6), n (9), er (9), s (5), sundry (11).
Uncommon : ough, e.g. bough, 4 cases.
Suggested spelling : ou.
Examples : count, cou, bou.
There is finally a vowel sound in stressed syllables which is,
in many forms of English, closely akin to the vowel in the
unstressed syllables in traveler. It is spelled er in fern, ir in
fir, ur in fur. Although some speakers make a distinction, as
a general rule there is the same sound in these words.
The choice of er (in the first draft of these Proposals) was
determined by the fact that er is very common as the repre-
sentation of the unstressed sound ; thus it is regularly added
oi, oier; ou, our; ur, er 45
to verbs in order to express the agent (e.g. speaker, learner)
and to adjectives for the formation of the comparative, and
it occurs in such extremely common words as father, mother,
brother, sister. It was proposed, then, to write cerv (curve) as
well as serv (serve), hert (hurt) and dert (dirt) as well as pert,
ferm (firm) as well as fern.
Something, however, may be said for the spelling ur in
stressed positions and er in unstressed endings. This would
necessitate a change in fewer words, and would differentiate
the stressed and unstressed forms of the sound ; compare, in the
present spelling, further, murder turner, etc. It would also
suggest the relation of this sound to the u in but.
Statistics.
Sound in fur, father.
Present spelling : er, very many cases :
final (unstressed) very many cases ; before b (5), d (4), ge (6), m
(13), n (24), s (15), t (23), sundry (14).
ear, 12 cases.
ir, 46 cases :
final, 7 cases ; before k (7), t (10), th (4), sundry (18).
ur, many cases :
final, 15 + sur- prefix ; before b (10), ch (4), d (8), f (4), g (12),
k (4), 1 (12), n (18), p (5), r (6), s (11), y (10), v (7), sundry (11).
Uncommon : re, e.g. centre, 21 cases [after b (4), c (4), g (1), ch
(2), t (10)] ; or (after w or wli), e.g. word, 11 cases ; also in attorney ;
our, journ-, scourge ; olo, colonel ; yr, e.g. myrtle, 5 cases.
Suggested spelling : ur when stressed, er when unstressed.
Examples : fur, furn, surli, hurt, wurd ; father, senter.
The treatment of vowels in unstressed endings is difficult.
The matter is discussed on pp. 49-52.
46 Mute Vowels ; Summary
Omission of mute vowels.
The scheme of suggested spellings of the vowels implies the
omission of the following mute vowels :
a in aar (bazaar) ; ea (head, etc.) ; oa (boar, etc.), (cocoa, etc.).
e in ea (heart, etc.) ; ei (forfeit, etc.) ; ey (barley, etc.) ; ie (kerchief,
etc.) ; oe (toe, etc.) ; ye (dye, etc.).
Final e disappears from the combinations : a + cons. + e (babe,
etc.) ; (are) ; (mauve) ; e + cons. + e (cede, etc.), (ewe), (eye) ;
i + cons. + e (ice, etc.) ; o + cons. + e (ode, etc.), (more, etc.),
(move, etc.) ; u + cons. + e (cube, etc.) ; y -\-cons. + e (type, etc.).
i in ei (heifer, leisure) ; io (marchioness).
in eo (leopard, etc.) ; oo (door, etc.) ; ou (double, etc.).
u in au (draught, etc.) ; ua (guarantee), (guard) ; ue (guest, etc.) ; ui
(build, etc.), (guide, etc.) ; uy (buy, etc.) ; uoy (buoy) ; ou (four,
etc.), (though, etc.).
In addition to the above, there is a mute final e in the follow-
ing endings, apart from those dealt with above and in connection
with double consonants, p. 25; mute consonants (stle, p. 27);
consonants requiring change (ce, pp. 15, 19 ; ge, dge, p. 21).
Stressed vowel + ble (feeble, 3) ; suffixes -able (capable, very many),
-ible (flexible, many), -uble (soluble, voluble, chasuble) ; -mble (amble,
21) ; -rble (garble, 3) ; -acle (oracle, 13) ; -icle (article, 14) ; -ocle
(monocle) ; cons. + cle (uncle, 5) ; vowel + die (needle, 7) ; -ndle
(candle, 11) ; -rdle (curdle, 3) ; -gle (eagle, 5; -ngle, 23); -kle (sparkle;
-nkle, 8) ; vowel + pie (triple, 4) ; -mple (ample, 11) ; vowel + tie
(beetle, 4) ; -ntle (gentle, 3) ; -rtle (startle, 5) ; -ine (famine, 24) ; -se
(dense, 74) ; -ite (definite, 7); -ve (carve, 50) ; -ive suffix (festive, very
many) ; -ze (baize, 14).
There is also a mute final ue (e.g. fatigue) in 15 cases.
Note. Final -re after consonant becomes -er, see p. 45.
Vowel Sounds 47
Summary of Suggested Spellings of Vowel Sounds.
/. a in bat (see p. 29).
*-, e in bet (see p. 29).
3 , i in pit (see p. 30).
v . o in pot (see p. 30).
j . u in but (see p. 30).
. oo in good (see p. 40). N.B. tu, ful.
7. aa in faather, ar in far (see p. 35).
, ee in feel, eer in beer; but e before vowels (see p. 37). *
N.B. me, he, she, we, be, the.
7 ie in cries, ier in crier ; but i before vowels (see p. 38). 1 N.B. I.
/0 oe in goes : but o before vowels (see p. 39). 1
. uu in fu^d, uur in puur ; but u before vowels (see p. 40). 1
/ju,yu in hyu, yur in pyur (see p. 40).
1 3 ai in maid, air in fair (see p. 42).
/v , au in haul, or in port (see p, 43).
, oi in coin, oier in emploier (see p. 44).
/, . ou in count, our in sour (see p. 44).
,-j. ur in fur, er in sister (see p. 45).
1 And when final (see p. 36).
THE SIMPLIFIED SPELLING IN BRIEF
CONSONANT SOUNDS
bin pin din tin got cot
met net sing N.B. anger, thane
win whim vat fat this thing
zest so vizhon shut jet chat
laid raid yet hot
VOWEL SOUNDS
bat bet pit pot but good
faather far maid fair haul port
ieel fdie /foe rbruud dyu
seing \ dial j going \ ruin
we I mi [no (thru
coin count fur sister
Unstressed Vowels 49
Vowels in Unstressed Positions.
In ordinary speech the vowels in unstressed positions are ^ **
often reduced to a dull sound, while in public speaking, andPSy
generally when speech is deliberate, as also in the ordinary^ -
speech~of very precise speakers, a 'fuller vowel sound may be
heard.
On the question of how these vowels should be represented,
it is probable that two views will be held. There are many
who deplore this reduction of the unstressed vowels, and strive
to counteract it in their speech. They consider the weaker
forms as indicating carelessness, and describe a pronunciation
in which they are common as slipshod. It must be confessed,
however, that their own speech frequently contains a much
larger number of reduced vowels than they are willing to
acknowledge.
Others regard this reduction of unstressed vowels as a
perfectly legitimate development. They point to kindred
languages, such as German, where the spelling has (in the
main) kept pace with the pronunciation, and suggest that in
English we should not be compelled to utter sounds that
indicate an attempt to resuscitate in the spoken language what
should long have disappeared from its written form.
These views are obviously irreconcilable ; only a considerable
period of earnest thought on the part of many about these
problems will be likely to turn the balance one way or the
other. In the meantime there will probably be some divergence
in the spelling of these sounds.
To give some examples : few, if any, make a difference in
the pronunciation of the endings -ent and -ant (as in latent and
blatant), and -ent might therefore be suggested as a suitable
spelling in all such cases. The same is true of the endings
-ence and -ance (as in silence and Constance), where -ens would
seem to be the suitable spelling.
D
so Vowel Sounds
The syllables -ni-, -ne-, and -ri-, -re- occur frequently in certain
endings (-nial, -nian, -nious, etc.), without being differentiated in
the spoken language. The forms with i are more common than
those with e ; i therefore appears preferable in all cases.
[The ending -nial occurs in 8 cases (e.g. menial), -neal only
in lineal (as usually, only common words are here taken into
account). The endings -nian and -nean are both rare. The
ending -nious occurs in 9 cases (e.g. ingenious), -neous in 9 cases
(e.g. miscellaneous). The ending -rial occurs in 15 cases (e.g.
imperial), -real in 5 cases (e.g. funereal). The ending -rian
occurs in 12 cases (e.g. barbarian), -rean is rare. The ending
-nous occurs in 28 cases (e.g. curious), -reous is rare.]
The ordinary pronunciation of the endings -am (as in balsam)
and -om (as in idiom) is the same ; in both cases the vowel is
reduced. But here we have a complication: certain of these
words have derivatives (e.g. balsamic, idiomatic), and some
may consequentIy~T i egard it as desirable tcTretain -am and
-om in the spelling, and perhaps even to restore it in the
pronunciation.
[The ending -am occurs in 5 cases (e.g. balsam), -om (apart from
the -dom suffix) in 4 cases (e.g. venom).]
The ending -an is common, even apart from the cases con-
sidered under -nian, -rian, etc., above. The ending -en is also
very common : and there are many cases of -on.
The ordinary pronunciation of these endings is the same ;
but here also the existence of derivatives (e.g. organ, organic ;
canon, canonical) will make some think it inadvisable to use
-en for all of them, as might otherwise be suggested.
There is no difference in the usual pronunciation of the
termination of label and fable, chattel and cattle, chapel and apple,
mantel and mantle ; nor in bridle and bridal, conventicle and
identical, eagle and legal, gentle and dental; nor in gamble and
gambol, thimble and symbol, idle and idol, crystal and pistol.
In Unstressed Positions 51
While, however, in the case of -le the omission of e is desirable
and unobjectionable, the omission of the vowel in the remaining
endings will not commend itself to some, on account of the
derivatives (e.g. symbolic, idolatry, legality).
In the case of -ar, -er, -or it would be helpful to the learner if
there were only one form (preferably -er). A case of special
difficulty is presented by the names of agents. Thus we find
jailer beside sailor, soldier beside warrior, deliverer beside con-
queror, dissenter beside inventor, deserter beside assertor, baker beside
beggar, teacher beside scholar.
To the general use of -er some will doubtless object on account
of the derivatives (e.g., regularity, professorial) ; but even these
might agree to the use of -er in words designating an agent.
In this connection the endings -art, -ert, -ard, -erd may be
considered. Of these -art is rare, -ert occurs in some 6 cases,
-ard in about 30, and -erd in the past of the many verbs (at
least 90) in -er. As there is no difference in pronunciation, it
is desirable that -erd, -ert be used throughout.
Further cases are mentioned in. the section on word forma-
tion (see pp. 54-57).
In some of the cases just considered, the vowel of the
unstressed syllable is the so-called neutral vowel, which is
somewhat similar in quality to the (Southern English) sound
written er in fern the two vowels in further are very much
alike, except in length.
For this vowel the International alphabet makes use of the
symbol 9, an inverted e. This is a very convenient symbol to
write.
In other cases the vowel has disappeared altogether ; thus in
, label the sound following the & is a syllabic I.
52 Vowel Sounds
There are some other cases, in which the vowel in the un-
stressed syllable has the value of a short, loose i ; the second
vowel of lily is an example of this sound. It is often written e,
as in the first syllable of because, emit, return, demand, prevent,
and in the second syllable of houses, goodness. Some speakers
incline to give this e the value of e in bed, and many more are
under the impression that they do so ; and for the present the
spelling with e may be retained. The same vowel sound is
heard in the unstressed syllables of cottage, manage, etc., and of
mountain, captain. Those who are familiar with the fact will
prefer to write the endings of such words -ij and -in (e.g. manij,
mountin), forms which will appear strange to those who have
not realised what the pronunciation really is.
EFFECT OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES IN CONNECTION
WITH WORD FORMATION.
(a) Prefixes.
It is desirable that these should have a fixed form, in spite of
variations in the pronunciation of the vowel ; thus pro- should
still be written in protest (noun) as well as protest (verb), in
produce (noun) as well as in produce (verb). The following
prefixes would retain their present form :
a- ab- abs-
contra- counter-
in- im-
pro
ad-
de- 1
inter-
re- 1
ana-
demi-
mal- male-
retro-
ante-
di-
meta-
semi-
anti-
dia-
mis-
sub-
apo-
dis-
non-
trans-
auto-
e- 1
ob-
un-
be- 1
en-
pan- panto-
under-
bene-
epi-
para-
up-
bi- bis-
for-
per-
with-
co- com- con-
hemi-
pre- x
The following prefixes would be changed :
arci- [present spelling archi-] sin- [present spelling syn-]
bac- [present spelling back-] syuper- [present spelling super-]
hieper- [present spelling hyper-] ser- [present spelling sur-]
oever- [present spelling over-] sercum- [present spelling circtim-]
The following prefixes would have two forms, according to
the pronunciation :
arc- and arch- (present spelling arch-),
ecs- and egz- (present spelling ex-),
ecwi- and eecwi- (present spelling equi-).
hipo- and hiepo- (present spelling hypo-).
1 See p. 52.
53
54 Effect of the Changes
(b) findings.
Here the changes are more numerous than in the case of the
prefixes, mainly owing to the' presence of mute letters in the
current spelling.
The difficulties connected with the representation of vowels
in unstressed syllables have been referred to above, and a
number of endings were mentioned. These are marked with
an asterisk in the following lists. The forms given in square
brackets would probably be preferred by those who do not
object on principle to the reduction of the vowels, and, indeed,
regard it as a sign of progress in language.
The following endings contain long vowels or diphthongs, and
no difficulty arises as to their spelling :
Present Spelling. Suggested Spelling. Examples.
-ate -ait imitait
-ane -ain mundain
-ee -e refere
-ene, -ine -een screen, crinoleen
-eer, -ier -eer charioteer, gondoleer
-fy -fi magnifi
-ile -iel 1 hostiel
-ine -ien divien
-ise, -ize -iez authoriez, dogmatiez
-oid -oid tabloid
-ose -oes moroes
-tude -tyud magnityud
The following endings contain short i or y, and here too no
difficulty arises :
Present Spelling. Suggested Spelling. Examples.
-cy, -sy -si legasi, heresi
-fie -fie prolific
1 Those who pronounce this ending with short i will write it -il.
Word Formation 55
Present Spelling. Suggested Spellng. Examples.
*-ial, -eal -ial menial, corporial
*-ian, -ean -ian barbairian
-ic -ic comic
-ice -is justis
-ine -in heroin
-ish -ish chieldish
-ism -izm critisizm
-ist -ist botanist
-ity -iti breviti
-ive -iv pen si v
-kin -cin napcin
-ling -ling darling
-ly -li frendli
-ry -ri pedantri
-ship -ship lordship
-trix -tries inheritrics
-y -i wooli
The following endings contain vowels not subject to change :
Present Spelling. Suggested Spelling. Examples.
-asm -azm fantazm
-ful -ful (see p. 40) plentiful
-hood -hood manhood
-logue -log epilog
No one would object to the dropping of e from the endings
-ble, -de, -die, -gle, -kle, -pie, -tie, e.g. :
Present Spelling.
Suggested Spelling.
Examples.
-ble
-bl
vizibl
-cle
-cl
oracl
-pie
-pi
multipl
The endings -al, -el, -ol were discussed on p. 50.
56 Effect of the Changes
In the following endings e will be retained :
Present Spelling.
-ment
-meter
-ster
Suggested Spelling.
-ment
-meter
-ster
Examples.
raiment
thermometer
songster
In the following endings many will prefer to write the forms
with e (in square brackets) even where the present spelling has
other vowels :
Examples.
veteran [veteren]
strengthen
vizhon [vizhen]
servant [servent]
eminent
familiar [familier]
coiner
captor [capter]
infurmari [infurmeri]
archeri
prefatori [prefateri]
mustard [musterd]
halberd
bragart [bragert]
filbert
upwordz [upwerdz]
naityur [naicher]
preshyur [presher]
Present Spelling.
Suggested, Spelling.
*f-an
-an [-en]
- -en
-en
[-on
-on [-en]
*/-ant
-ant [-ent]
\-ent
-ent
*f-ar
-ar [-er]
fer
-er
[-or
-or [-er]
r-ary
-ari [-eri]
J-ery
-eri
[-ory
-ori [-eri]
*/-ard
-ard [-erd]
\-erd
-erd
*f-art
-art [-ert]
\-ert
-ert
-wardz
wordz [-werdz]
J-ture
-tyur [-cher]
\-ssure
-shyur [-sher]
These were discussed on pp. 50, 51.
Word Formation 57
In the following endings many will prefer to write the forms
with e (in square brackets) :
Present Spelling. Suggested Spelling. Examples.
-dom -dom [-dem] freedom [freedem]
-logy -loji [-leji] antholoji [antholeji]
-oc, ock -oc [-ec] buloc [bulec]
-ous -us [-es] vishus [vishes]
-some -sum [-sem] handsum [handsem]
In the following endings many will prefer to write the forms
with i (in square brackets) :
Present Spelling. Suggested Spelling. Examples.
f-age -aj [-ij] manaj [manij]
^-ege, -edge -ej [-ij] privilej [privilij]
-ed -ed [-id] greeted [greetid]
-es -ez [-iz] houzez [houziz]
-ess -es [-is] empres [empris]
-less -les heedles [heedlis]
-let -let ringlet [ringlit]
-ness -nes [-nis] meennes [meennis]
-est -est [-1st] sweetest [sweetist]
(c) Changes in the Stem.
Generally speaking, it is desirable that derivatives should
keep the stem of the main word from which they are derived
unchanged, or changed but little, so that the connection may be
obvious.
No attempt has been made to classify all cases, but a few
examples may be given to show that in some cases the proposed
changes would tend to obscure the connection, while in other
cases they would render it clearer. It is probable that the
latter outnumber the former.
58 Effect of the Changes
(i) Some cases in which the proposed changes tend to obscure the
connection between related
Present Spelling. Proposed Spelling.
say says sai sez
vice vicious vies vishus
will would wil wood
(ii) Some cases in which the proposed changes tend to make more
similar the stem in related words:
Present Spelling. Proposed Spelling.
bid bidding bid biding
cat kitten cat citen
complex complicate complecs complicait
duke ducal duec duecal
gay gaiety gai gaieti
propel propelling propel propeling
speak speech speec speech
vicious vitiate vishus vishiait
EFFECT OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES ON THE
RULES OF THE ACCIDENCE.
(a) Inflexion of Nouns (genitive, plural) and verbs (3rd sing,
pres. indie.) ; (6) plurals in -en and irregular plurals ; (c) Adjectives:
degrees of comparison ; (cZ) Formation of Adverbs ; (e) Verb : form in
-ing ; (/) Verb : formation of past and of perfect participle of weak
verbs ; (g) Verb : formation of past and of perfect participle of strong
verbs.
The addition of inflexions follows certain rules to be found
in all grammars. These would be to some extent modified
Accidence 59
if the proposed changes were adopted, and would run as
follows :
(a) Inflexion of nouns (genitive, plural) and verbs (3rd sing. pres.
indie.) :
Noun. Verb.
When the stem ends in a voiceless cats hits
sound other than s, sh, ch : add s
When the stem ends in a voiced dogz bidz
sound other than z, j, or in a daiz paiz
vowel digraph (ai, oi, au, ou) : boiz emploiz
add z clauz drauz
bouz bouz
The vowel digraphs ee, ie, oe, uu, which are reduced to e,
i, o, u when final, resume their full form when z is added, e.g.
cri : criez, go : goez.
When the stem ends in s, sh, ch, z horsez praizez
or j : add ez dishez cachez
aijez waijez
Special cases :
Nouns in / have fs in genitive,
fs or vz in plural.
The plural of lious is houzez.
There are a few plurals in -en :
ocs : ocsen ; chield : children.
Irregular plurals :
man : men foot : feet mous : mies
wooman : wimen guus : gees lous : lies
tuuth : teeth
60 Effect of the Changes
Note 1. There is nothing in the spoken language corresponding to
the apostrophe in the genitives dog's, dogs', and its absence is not
missed. In the written language there is no more need for it than
in the spoken. If it be argued that there are cases in which its
omission would lead to ambiguity, the obvious answer is that the
' Saxon ' genitive is inappropriate in such cases, as the passage if read
aloud would be ambiguous, and every written passage should bear
reading aloud without obscurity of meaning.
Similarly, the apostrophe in ' for conscience' sake ' may well be
omitted.
Note 2. For the treatment of the ending -es, see p. 57.
(b) Adjectives. The degrees of comparison are formed by adding
-er, -est, e.g. :
fair
fairer
fairest
hi
hier
hiest
larj
hot
larjer
hoter
larj est
hotest
sili
fre
silier
freer
siliest
freest
tru
truer
truest
lo
loer
loest
fyu
fyuer
fyuest
Note. For the treatment of the ending -est, see p. 57.
(c) Formation of Adverbs :
to the adjective add -li, e.g. bad : badli ; vain : vainli ;
but if it ends in / add -i, e.g. final : finali ; teribl : teribli.
The adverbs hoelli ( = wholly), soelli ( - solely) have II.
(d) Verb : form in -ing :
No rules required.
Examples: propel, propeling ; se, seing; fli, fliing; go,
going.
(e) Verb : formation of past tense and perfect participle of weak
verbs :
Eule : add t or d (ed after d, t), according to sound.
Note. For the treatment of the ending -ed, see p. 57.
Accidence 61
Special cases :
(i) With e in past :
breed : bred ceep : cept creep : crept deel : delt
dreem : dremt feed : fed feel : felt flee : fled
leed : led leen : lent leep : lept leev : left
meen : ment meet : met neel : nelt reed : red
sleep : slept speed : sped sweep : swept weep : wept
Note. It is instructive to compare the simplicity of these forms
with the confusing variety which they show in the present spelling.
Note : sai : sed.
(ii) with au in past :
bi : baut bring : braut each : caut seec : saut
beseech : besaut teech : taut thine : thaut
(iii) luuz : lost shu : shod.
Note : hav : had.
(g) Verb : formation of past tense and perfect participle of strong
verbs. (The present spelling of the infinitive is given in brackets).
(abide)
abied
aboed
aboed
(awake)
awaic
awoec
awoec
(bear)
bair
bor
born
(behold)
behoeld
beheld
beheld
(bid)
bid
bad
biden
bid
bid
(bind)
biend
bound
bound
(blow)
bio
blu
bloen
(chide)
chied
chid
chiden
(choose)
chuuz
choez
choezen
(cleave)
cleev
claiv
cloev(en)
(crow)
cro
cru
[croed]
(come)
cum
cairn
cum
(dig)
dig
dug
dug
62
Effect of the Changes
(draw)
drau
dru
draun
(drive)
driev
droev
driven
(drink)
drinc
dranc
drunc
(eat)
eet
et
eeten
(fly)
Hi
flu
floen
(fling)
fling
flung
flung
(forget)
forget
forgot
forgoteii
(forsake)
forsaic
forsooc
forsaicen
(get)
get
got
got
(give)
giv
gaiv
given
(grow)
gro
gru
groen
(hang)
hang
hung
hung
(hew)
hyu
[hyud]
hyun
(lade)
laid
laiden
(lie)
li
lai
lain
(mow)
mo
[moed]
moen
(rive)
riev
riven
(ring)
ring
rang
rung
(wring)
ring
rung
rung
(see)
se
sau
seen
(seethe)
seeth
sod
soden
(sow)
so
[soed]
soen
(shake)
shaic
shooc
shaicen
(shear)
sheer
[sheerd]
shorn
(shine)
shien
shon
shon
(show)
sho
[shoed]
shoen
(shrink)
shrine
shranc
shrunc
(sing)
sing
sang
sung
(sink)
sine
sane
sune
(sit)
sit
sat
sat
(slay)
slai
slu
slain
(slink)
slinc
slunc
slunc
(smite)
smiet
smoet
smiten
(spin)
spin
spun
spun
Accidence
(stand)
(steal)
(stride)
(strive)
(swear)
(swell)
(tear)
(thrive)
(throw)
(wake)
(wear)
(weave)
(win)
Note:
(be)
(go)
stand
steel
stried
striev
swair
swel
tair
thriev
thro
waic
wair
weev
win
be
go
stood
stoel
stroed
stroev
swor
[sweld]
tor
throev
thru
woec
wor
woev
wun
woz
went
stood
stoelen
striden
striven
sworn
swoelen
torn
thriven
throen
woec
worn
woeven
wun
been
gon
WORDS NOW DIFFERING IN SPELLING TO WHICH
THE PROPOSED CHANGES WOULD GIVE THE
SAME FORM.
(a) In a number of cases the present spelling differentiates
words which are pronounced alike. In the spoken language no
difficulty arises, as the context makes it clear which meaning
is intended.
It is sometimes urged against attempts to simplify the spelling
that words now spelled differently would, in a simplified spelling,
become identical in form. This is, of course, true ; but there is
no force in the argument. It may fairly be expected that what
is written should bear reading aloud ; and if a passage, when
read aloud, is ambiguous owing to a word being used which in
the spoken language has two meanings, it is a just criticism that
the passage is badly written.
In fact, however, such cases are extremely rare ; and a con-
sideration of the examples given below will show that the
meanings are so divergent that it would be tolerably difficult to
construct sentences in which ambiguity would arise from this
cause.
Present Simplified Present Simplified
Spelling. Spelling. Spelling. Spelling.
aught, ought aut knight, night niet
bare, bear bair knot, not not
be, bee be know, no no
bean, been been knows, nose noez
bogie, bogy boegi meat, meet meet
born, borne born peace, piece pees
canvas, canvass canvas practice, practise practi&
coarse, course cors praise, prays, preys praiz
cockscomb, coxcomb cocscoem reck, wreck rec
64
Same Sound, Different Meaning
Present
Simplified
Present
Simplified
Spelling.
Spelling.
Spelling.
Spelling.
dew, due
dyu
right, rite, write
riet
die, dye
di
rote, wrote
roet
draftsman,
draaftsman
rung, wrung
rung
draughtsman
rye, wry
ri
fair, fare
fair
scent, sent
sent
grate, great
grait
sight, site
siet
hart, heart
hart
son, sun
sun
heard, herd
hurd
stake, steak
staic
hour, our
our
steal, steel
steel
knave, nave
naiv
taught, taut
taut
knead, need
need
weak, week
weec
knew, new
nyu
wood, would
wood
Note. The only case in which ambiguity would arise (at least in
Southern English) appears to be that of oral and aural, and this
difficulty is naturally felt in the spoken language If both words are
retained (and it seems very desirable to adopt a substitute for the
latter), the form aural would probably have to remain unchanged.
See the note on p. 43.
(b) Less numerous, without doubt, are the cases in which the
present spelling represents in the same way words which differ
in pronunciation. Here the simplified spelling naturally shows
a difference of form. Some examples are contained in the
following list:
Present Spelling.
abuse (noun, verb)
bow (noun, verb)
house (noun, verb)
lead (verb, noun)
lower (adj., verb)
read (present, preterite)
row (of houses ; uproar)
slough (noun, verb)
sow (verb, noun)
Simplified Spelling.
abyus, abyuz
bo, bou
hous, houz
leed, led
loer, louer
reed, red
ro, rou
slou, sluf
so, sou
66 Spelling of
(c) A third and by no means inconsiderable list might be
drawn up of words which according to the present spelling
have the same form and are pronounced alike. A few examples
may be given :
art (thou art ; the art) found (to found ; past of to find)
bear (to bear ; a bear) lie (to lie down ; to tell a lie)
bound (to bound ; past of spoke (he spoke ; a spoke)
to bind) stole (he stole ; a stole)
fell (past of to fall ; adj.) well (a well ; adv.)
felt (past of to feel ; noun)
NOTE ON THE SPELLING OF COMPOUND WORDS.
The treatment of compound words in English is very incon-
sistent, and presents many difficulties to the learner.
The only authority is the dictionary, and even the New
English Dictionary shows many inconsistencies, a few of which
have been given in the appended list. It is not an exaggera-
tion to say that no educated person would write out all these
words from dictation in the form approved by the N.E.D.
As a further example of inconsistencies met with in that
dictionary may be mentioned the treatment of words com-
pounded with co- ; thus we find : coarticulate, coefficient, coeternal
without hyphens, co-education, co-operate, co-ordinate with hyphens.
Compound Words
67
Examples of the spelling of compound words in the New English
Dictionary.
Hyphen.
heather-bell
book-keeping
ice-cream
by-lane, -road,
-street
cat's-cradle
lamb's-wool
coal-field
counter-claim
grand-niece
half-crown
honey-bee
horse-tail
home-brewed
house-agent
hare-lip
horse-radish
farm-house
knick-knack
horse-fly
lock-out
long-hand
One Word.
bookbinding
buttermilk
bypath
cockscomb
cornfield
counterbalance
granddaughter
halfpenny
honeycomb
horsehair
homespun
householder
humpback
lighthouse
gewgaw
highway
foxhound
shorthand
Two Words.
blue bell
cat's paw
lamb's fry
kidney bean
high road
look out
It is suggested that when a compound word has the chief
stress on the first part (as in coalfield, shorthand) it should be
written in one word, without hyphen ; and that when both
parts are stressed (as in horse radish, ice cream) they should be
separated, also without hyphen.
E*
68 Simplified Spelling
Specimens of Simplified Spelling.
[In the following passage the vowels in the unstressed
syllables have been treated in a conservative spirit (see p. 49).]
Objecshonz tu a Chain j in the Speling.
We instinctivli shrine from eni chainj in whot iz familiar ;
and whot can be mor familiar than the form ov wurdz that we
hav seen and riten mor tiemz than we can posibli estimait ?
We taic up a booc printed in America, and honor and center
jar upon us everi tiem we cum acros them ; nai, eeven tu se
forever in plais ov for ever atracts our atenshon in an unplezant
wai. But theez ar iesolaited caisez ; thine ov the meni wurdz
that wood hav tu be chainjd if eni real impruuvment wer tu
rezult. At the furst glaans a pasij in eni reformd speling
loocs " cweer" or " ugli." This objecshon iz alwaiz the furst tu
be maid ; it iz purfectli natyural ; it iz the hardest tu remuuv.
Indeed, its efect iz not weecend until the nyu speling iz no
longer nyu, until it haz been seen ofen enuf tu be familiar.
The second objecshon ofen urjd iz that wurdz which sound
aliec but hav at prezent a diferent speling, wood no longer be
distingwishabl, and confyuzhon wood ariez. Night and knight,
right, write and rite, for instans, wood hav tu be spelt in the
saim wai. But whot ov that 1 Aafter aul, whot iz riten shood
bair reeding aloud. Ar we unsurtain in the spoecen langwij
whether night or knight iz ment in eni particyular contecst 1
Good yu maic up sentensez in which thair wood be ambigyuiti,
in which, for instans, right, write and rite wood eech giv sens ?
Eeven in the langwij az it iz nou spelt caisez ov wurdz iedenti-
cal in form but diferent in meening ar not rair ; art mai be a
noun or a vurb (thou art), bound mai be an infinitiv or a paast
tens, bear mai be a noun or a vurb. Further, thair ar caisez in
which the prezent speling haz iedentiti ov form, aultho thair iz
diferens ov pronunsiaishon (which in a consistent speling wood
nesesitait diferens ov form) ; e.g., lead (vurb) and lead (noun),
Specimens 69
row (ov houzez) and row (cworel), read (prezent) and read
(paast).
The aanser, then, tu this objecshon iz that whot givz no
trubl in the spoecen langwij can not giv trubl in its riten form ;
and that if in wun or tu caisez trubl aroez, it wood be
counterbalanst bi the avoidans of ambigyuiti in uther caisez.
The objecshon to which moest wait iz jenerali atacht iz the
"etimolojical " : a chainj ov speling wood obscyur the deri-
vaishon. It miet sufies tu point tu the fact that Profesor
Skeat, huuz syupreem pozishon amung English scolarz iz
yuniversali recogniezd, haz long been a champion ov speling
reform ; tu meni this wil seem a sufishent aanser. But thair
iz so much misaprehenshon on this point, and such strainj
staitments ar maid, that it becumz nesesari tu deel with this
objecshon in sum deetail.
We recwier the langwij az an instrooment; we mai aulso
studi its histori. The prezens of unpronounst leterz, thre or
for diferent waiz ov reprezenting the saim sound, thre or for
yusez ov the saim leter : aul this detracts from the valyu ov a
langwij az an instrooment. When we plais this instrooment
in the hand ov the chield, we du not at the saim tiem teech it
historical gramar.
Again, let us not forget hu form the grait majoriti ov thoez
that lurn tu reed and riet. Thai ar the children that atend
elementari scuulz ; thair tiem iz limited. We hav no riet tu
impoez on them a caiotic speling for the saic ov posibli
teeching them a litl historical gramar.
But it mai be sed that it iz misleeding tu speec in this con-
necshon of historical gramar ; that it iz the derivaishon that iz
obscyurd, and that this iz a real los. Whot iz ment iz, that it
wil becum les eezi tu connect the English wurdz with French
or Latin wurdz and with Teutonic wurdz.
It must be born in miend that the mas ov the naishon lurnz
no forin langwijez, and the oportyunitiz for comparison ar
wonting. But let us consider the cwiet apreeshiabl number ov
70 Simplified Spelling
thoez hu no wun or several forin langwijez ; wil thai not
luuz sumthing if the connecshon between English and forin
wurdz iz obscyurd ?
Our vocabyulari haz meni elements ; but in the main it con-
sists ov wurdz ov Teutonic orijin and wurdz which go bac,
directli or indirectli, tu Latin. A larj number of the de-
rivativz from Latin (probabli the grait majoriti) prezent litl
dificulti ; thai hav undergon comparativli litl soundchainj sins
thai enterd the langwij. A reezonabl simplified speling wood
leev them veri much az thai ar nou. (Thus, selecting wurdz
from this paragraaf, thair iz seen tu be litl or no chainj in
vocabyulari, element, consist, orijin, directli, derivativ, probabli,
majoriti, no chainj calcyulaited tu obscyur the derivaishon.)
The wurdz that giv trubl ar the wurdz ov Teutonic orijin.
Theez (speecing cwiet jenerali) wood recwier much mor
ecstensiv chain jez in eni sceem ov simplified speling. The k
of knave wood disapeer, and the connecshon with the German
Knabe wood becum les obvius ; the omishon ov gh from night
maics the wurd les liec Nacht. Undoutedli thair iz a fair
number ov wurdz that belong tu this categori.
Asyuming that the obscyuring ov derivaishon z went much
farther than it iz liecli tu du in eni acseptabl sceem ov
simplified speling, duz this reprezent a los 1
Befor repliing, it mai be wel tu consider anuther objecshon
which iz ofen urjd : the introducshon ov anuther speling wood
maic aul the egzisting boocs yusles. I am not cwiet cleer whi
this objecshon shood be so redili urjd ; for shuerli it iz cwiet
unreezonabl. The introducshon ov a nyu speling iz not the
wurc ov daiz or weecs; it wood be imposibl (even if it wer
dezierabl) at wuns tu suplie in the nyu speling aul the boocs
that ar wonted, and tu remuuv aul the oeld boocs in the oeld
speling. Everibodi wood be aibl to reed the oeld speling
without dificulti ; thoez braut up on the nyu speling wood be
familiar with the oeld, tho thai wood hardli looc upon it with
admiraishon.
Specimens 71
Tu the lurner interested in the histori ov the langwij the oeld
speling wood be eezili acsesibl ; far mor eezili than the speling
ov Chaucer or eeven Shakespeare. He wood be aibl tu trais
derivaishonz cwiet az eezili az nou; and he wood enjoi this
grait advaantaj, that he cood not escaip the soundz and deel
with leterz oenli which iz at prezent so seerius a dainjer in
the paath ov the yung styudent ov langwij. He wood aasc
himself again and again whi the oeld speling (unliec the nyu)
deeviaited so freecwentli from the pronunsiaishon. Whot he
nou acsepts without thincing he wood analiez and egzamin.
The studi ov filoloji iz bound tu gain grait advaantij when the
speling ov a langwij iz a fair reprezentaishon ov the soundz.
I hav not yet directed atenshon to the fact that the prezent
speling iz not aulwaiz a saif gied in materz ov derivaishon.
Those hu thine that the speling shood not oenli reprezent the
soundz, but aulso sujest the orijin ov the wurd, shood surtainli
not continyu tu riet with the prezent misleeding speling scent,
sovereign, and meni uther wurdz ; and if a sielent b iz cept in
debt " tu shoe the derivaishon," whi not insert a sielent c in
lettuce (from lactuca)1 and if ph iz cept in philosophy tu shoe that
the wurd cumz from the Greec, whi not be consistent and riet
phancy 1 A simplified speling wood giv us sent, not scent, and
wood thus prezent a form etimolqjicali, az wel az foneticali,
mor corect ; it wood giv us det, not debt, which again wood be
mor corect, for the wurd iz derievd directli from French dette,
and oenli indirectli from Latin debita ; and az for the ph, wil
it be maintaind that the Italian hu riets filosofia iz on that
acount les liecli than we ar tu noe that the wurd iz derievd
from the Greec ?
Tu sum up the aanser tu the " etimolojical" objecshon.
The langwij az an instrooment wood be impruuvd bi the
adopshon ov a simplified speling ; for purposez ov studi the
prezent speling wood stil be abundantli availabl. The connec-
shon ov form between English and French or Latin wurdz
wood be veri litl obscyurd in the nyu speling; wurdz ov
72 Simplified Spelling
Teutonic orijin wood hav tu be chainjd mor, but the styudent
compairing, let us sai, English and German wood be in no
wai inconveenienst.
The laast objecshon that I hav hurd and tu mi miend it
hardli dezervz menshon iz that it iz good disiplin tu maic
children lurn such a speling az ourz. I shood be the laast tu
dezier the weecening ov wil or the relacsing ov efort in our
scuulz ; but I hav no simpathi with the iedea that dificultiz
hav an intrinsic valyu. We d.u not teech children tu riet with
thair feet, becauz ov the moral and intelectyual advaantajez tu
be gaind from oeve'rcuming dificultiz. We teech them tu grapl
with dificultiz becauz in the proses sertain valyuabl pouerz ar
being ecsersiezd becauz thair iz sum definit end tu bi ataind
when the dificultiz ar oevercum. We giv them practis in drau-
ing deducshonz, in formyulaiting ruulz, in apliing them. Whot
ov aul this iz thair in the teeching ov the curent speling ? We
hav tu sai : bed spelz bed, and head spelz head. If the chield
aascs : whi not h e d ? we can giv no reezon. Thair iz no ruul
tu gied the chield. The soundz du not help. This iz a difi-
culti for the chield and remainz a dificulti until repetishon haz
maid the unreezonabl speling head familiar. Whot haz been
the gain ? It wood be hard tu sai ; but the los iz obvius ; tiem
and efort hav been spent which miet hav been beter emploid
utherwiez.
[It will be noticed that 4 is used for final -y, and that
" apply " is therefore spelt aplie ; see below, p. 76.]
Specimens 73
[In the following passage the vowels in unstressed syllables
are given the value usual in the spoken language, e and i being
used to represent the vowels in unstressed prefixes and end-
ings, and the remaining unchanged even when pronounced thiJ\
At the outset ov scuul lief, we hav tu giv the chield an in-
strooment ov the moest vairid yutiliti. Reeding and rieting ar
the cee tu aul subsecwent wurc. Yet this veri subjict iz in its
prezent form aultugether unedyucaishenel. The chield is toeld
that thair iz i (pronounst az a difthong) in bind that seemz
reezenebl. But he aulso meets with i in bid (whair thair
iz a simpl short vouel, veri diferent from the difthong).
Similerli we sai thair iz o in go but we aulso sai thair iz o in
gone, and in done. We teech the chield that the leter I standz
for the sound I ; but in could we icsplain that it standz for
nuthing. We maic inormes claimz on the memeri; we dimaand
acyuresi at the icspens ov inormes efert. In order tu fics in
the miend spelingz tu which the soundz aloen ofer no adicwit
giedens we hav tu ripeet again and again. It iz heer that tiem
iz waistid with no coresponding edyucaishenel advaantij.
PARTIAL ADOPTION OF THE SCHEME FOR
PROVISIONAL USE.
Some friends of the movement for simplified spelling may
wish to give it their support by adopting in their letters (and
perhaps in print) certain obvious simplifications which are in
accordance with the suggested scheme, preferring to wait until
the scheme is more widely known before they adopt it in its
complete form. The following rules are suggested for pro-
visional use :
1. Drop silent letters when this does not involve a change of
pronunciation; e.g. write dout for doubt, activ for active, definit
for definite, program for programme, pick for pitch, but not brit
74 Simplified Spelling
for bright. (Do not adopt brite, which is contrary to the spelling
ie suggested for the diphthong in the scheme.)
2. Where a consonant is doubled in a simple word (not in a
compound) drop one letter, when this does not involve a change
in pronunciation ; e.g. write ball for battle, teror for terror, begining
for beginning, but keep the two letters in coattail, lamppost,
interrupt, batted, latter. (The forms bated, later in the present
spelling do not have this value, and confusion would arise.)
3. Write t in place of the ending ed of many verbs, whenever
t represents the pronunciation ; e.g. past for passed, prest for
4. Substitute / for ph.
In the following passage these rules have been adopted.
Their adoption may prove to indicate the readiness to accept
change, but (as this passage shows convincingly) the net gain
to the child learner would be trifling.
It is idle for the highly educated to retort that they do not
remember any efort on their part when they lernt to spel.
We must think of the bulk of the nation, the thousands and
tens of thousands who atend our elementary scools and come to
scool with the very poorest intelectual equipment. Children
from refined homes and the children of the poor do not start
with the same groundwork of nolege, the same vocabulary, or
the same powers of observation and reasoning. The scool life
of the great majority of these children is regretably short.
There is much that we ought to teach them for which we lac
the time. If we coud realy simplify the task of speling, how
much time this woud set free for reading ! If we giv them
a simpl but equaly efectiv instrument, we can devote our
atention to the use to which it can be put.
APPENDIX TO THE FOURTH EDITION
A SCHEME based on these Proposals was adopted by the
Simplified Spelling Society towards the end of 1911, and has
been extensively subjected to criticism, as may be seen from
the pages of the " Pioneer ov Simplified Speling" the Society's
monthly journal, first issued in March, 1912.
The following notes embody some of the more important
criticisms of detail that have been made ; there have been no
serious attempts to invalidate the principles which underlie
these Proposals. That some critics should regard the scheme
as too radical and others as too conservative, was only to be
expected.
C or K (p. 8) : A good many have expressed their preference
of k, on the ground (a) that its present value is un-
ambiguous, (b) that it is a tall letter, and hence of value in
giving words a characteristic form. See Pioneer, No. 2,
p. 23.
Y (p. 16) : The use of final y (as in very} has been objected to
by many ; see below.
TH (p. 17) : Several have expressed the opinion that dh should
be adopted for the voiced sound.
NG (p. 18) : Attention has been drawn to the disadvantage of
using ng in linger as well as in singer, in longer as well as in
long.
Vowel plus consonant plus e (p. 32) : No well-considered
attempt has been made to urge the adoption of this
method of designating long vowels and diphthongs.
AR (p. 35) : It has been pointed out that the spelling of starry
and tarry (adj. of tar) presents difficulty. There seem to
75
76 Appendix to the Fourth Edition
be two ways of indicating the pronunciation : staari, taari,
or starri, tarri.
Reduction of Digraphs (p. 36) : Little objection has been raised
to the reduction of a digraph before another vowel (seing,
ruin, etc.). It has, of course, been noticed that quite and
quiet would both become cwiet (as is mentioned on p. 36),
and that the spelling miety, etc., might lead to a mispro-
nunciation of sosiety, etc. The matter is discussed in the
Pioneer (No. 3, p. 40).
The reduction of the digraph when final has given rise
to considerable adverse comment. As long as final -y is
retained (as is the case in the scheme provisionally adopted,
e.g. in very), final -i can be used with the value of -ie, e.g. in
cri, deni, etc. If it be decided to use -i for -?/ (e.g. veri), then
-i cannot well take the place of -ie ; and it will then follow
that final -ee, -oe, -uu, -yue (see below) should not be
reduced. An exception might, however, be made in the
case of the following monosyllables :
pronouns : me, he, she, we ; /, mi, thi ; hu ; yu ;
prepositions : bi, thru ; numerals : tu, thre ;
adverbs : no, so, whi ; and the, o (interjection) and be (?).
To reduce the final digraphs of all monosyllables (as is
suggested on p. 36) would lead to some awkward inconsistencies,
e.g. lo, but beloe, cri, but decrie : and goe, goez, crie, criez, free,
freedom, are obviously better than go, goez, cri, criez, fre, freedom.
UU, YU (p. 40) : The scheme provisionally adopted by the
Society, as far as this group of sounds is concerned, is as
follows :
[Short : good, volyum]
buun dyuety
juel dyual
thru dyu
shuer pyuer
The notation which has aroused most adverse comment is
that exemplified by dyuety. In the first place the substi-
Appendix to the Fourth Edition 77
tution of three letters where the present spelling has only
one is regarded as a doubtful " simplification " ; in the
second place, if uu represents the vowel sound of loon, it is
urged that yuu should represent the vowel sound of tune.
In the Proposals (p. 40) it is suggested that yu might well
represent both the short and the long varieties, in spite of
the difficulty (mentioned on the same page) that young and
youth would both be spelt with yu-. This will perhaps
prove the best solution of the difficulty.
The Pioneer, No. 4, contains some contributions to this
question.
AI (p. 42) : The use of ai for the vowel part of aim has been
generally approved, except by those who would like the
vowels throughout to have what are known as the " conti-
nental " values. Some of those who would use ai and au
for the diphthongs of buy and bough do not seem to realize
that the use of a must then be confined to such words as
father, calm, another symbol becoming necessary for the
vowel in hat.
OR (p. 43) : The case when or (long) is followed by a vowel
presents some difficulty, e.g. in glory (cp. sorry). On p. 43
of the Proposals the spellings coral, oeral and aural are
suggested for representing varieties found in the pronuncia-
tion of coral, oral and aural, and it may be necessary to
arrive at some decision which of these spellings should be
adopted in the case of glory, story, soaring, snoring, roaring,
flooring, etc.
UR,, ER (p. 45) : The use of ur in stressed, er in unstressed
syllables has been generally approved.
A difficulty similar to that mentioned under AB, and OB is
presented by furry (cp. hurry). Perhaps furri, huri will serve
to show the difference.
Vowels in Unstressed Positions : The difficulties encountered
in attempting to represent the unstressed vowels, discussed
at some length on pp. 49 to 52 of the Proposals, have as yet
7 8 Appendix to the Fourth Edition
failed to receive the attention they deserve. How far
"platform speech " is to be considered in the retention of
various unstressed vowels is one of the most troublesom*
problems that the reformer has to face ; for it raises the
whole question of what is to be taught as standard speech.
Few critics seem to have grasped the intimate connection
between the reform of our spelling and the standardising
of our speech.
Homonyms (pp. 64-66) : See Pioneer, No. 2, p. 28.
TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH
JAN 10
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
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