SPELLING BY SOUND.

SYSTEM OF ORTHOGRAPHY, whereby superfluous letters could be dispensed with, educational reformers have long sought to introduce. Of these, the following method of Spelling by Sound was published some time since by the Hon. Joseph Medill, edilorof theChicago Tribune, itsadvantage over the strictly phonetic system being that the same alphabet is employed as that in general use, which makes it much easier to introduce. 1* is at the same time more agreeable to the eye. By this system the student can spell any word after learning the sounds, and the reader can readily pronounce any word when reading. The great advantages gained are less space used in writing, less time, correct pronunciation, and correct spelling.

The application of this system of spelling is shown as follows:

A Specimen of His System.

The extreme iregularittes ov our orthografy hav long ben a sours ov inconvlniens and anoians. Men eminent az skolars and statsmen hav often pointed out thezc absurdities ov speting. Yet the eVil remanes. It encumbers our primary edUcasion and robs our yuth ov yeresov time that shod be deV6ted tu the acquizision ov nolej. It impozes a burden upon the literary man thru life in th; u»e ov siiperfliius leters, and compels meny persons tu study speling from the cradle tu the grave or fale tu spel corectly. It iz a fercful barter tu formers hu wish to lern our langwaje; and wors than aul, it hinders thousands ov persons from lerning tu rede and rite, and thus largly augments the ranks ov ignbrans and depravity.

Thezc eVils ar so dnormus in theagrtfgate that we fele compeled tu endors the words ov the distinguished President ov the American Filolojical Asosiasion, Prof. F. A. March, fized in hiz opening adres at the last anOal mating ov the Sosfcty:

"It iz no Use tu try tu caracterize with filing epithets the monstrous speling ov the English langwaje. The time lost Tjy it is a larj part ov the hole skule time ov the most ov men. Count the ours which ech person wlists at skule in lerning tu rede and spel, the ours spent thru life in klping up and perfecting hiz nolej ov speling, in consulting dicshunaries — a work that never ends—the ours that we spend in rfting silent leters; and multiplying this time by the number ov persons hu speak English, and we hav a total ov milyuns ov yeres wasted by ^ch jenedUion. The cost ov printing the silent leters ov the English langwaje iz tu be counted by milyuns ov dolors for ech jenerasion."

"Suner or later English orthografy must be simplified and reformed." —benjamin Franiclin.

'* I fele very hopeful that a begining wil be made before long in reforming, not indede everything but at lest sumthing in the unhistorical. unsistematic, unintelijiblc, unreliable, but by no menes unamendable speling now curt-nt in England.''—Prop. Max Mullkr.

In spiking ov the disgrasful state ov English orthografy and the best mode ov reforming it. the grate American lexicografer, Dr. N6ah Webster, in the intrOducsion tu hiz Quarto Dicshunary, says:

"Nothing can be more disrepiitabte tu the literary caracter ov a nasion than (he history ov English orthografy, unles it is that ov our orth6epy." * * •

*' Dr. Franklin compiled a dicshunary on hiz skeme ov reform, and procured tfpes tu be cast, which he ofered tu me with a vfi tu ongaie me tu prosecute hiz dezine. This ofer I declined tu acsept; for I wos then, and am stil, convinsed that the skeme ov introducing nu caracters intu the langwaje is ndiher practicable nor expedient. Eny atempt ov this kind must sertenly fale of sucses."

"The mode ov aM-naning the pronunsiasion ov words by marks, points or trifling olterasion* ov the present caracters, semes tu be the 6nly won which can be recused tu pr..ctis.'*

"Delitful task ! to rere the tender thaut,
Tu ttfch the yung Idea hou tu shutCj
Tu pore fresh instrucsion 6'er the mind,
Tu brethe the enlivening spirit, and tu fix
The jenerus purpos in the gibing brest.1'

"O, thautles mortals! ever blind tu fate,
Tu sune dejected and tu sune Hate.1'

"Worth makes the man and want ov it the felo *
The rest is aul but lether or pninela."

Where there iz a wil there iz a wa; and while the evil continues the nesesity for orthdgrafic reTorm wil never cese. If there ar eny among us hu hav tu Htle regard for there One children tu smuthe for them the path on which there infant fete must stumble, we conjure them in the name ov God and humanity tu beware ov the grater sin ov crushing by opdzing inflflens the rising hopes ov milyuns les fortunate, hu hav ndther mooy nor time tu squonder, but hu nede aul the ades pos'ible tu enable them tu take a pozision among the in'elijent, vertfius and hapy sitizens ov our grate and glbrius cuntry.

The foregoing will suffice to represent Mr. Medill's idea of simplified orthography. It is almost phonetic and yet preserves most of the analogies and peculiarities of the English language. He retains the general rule that t ending a word and preceding a consonant indicates that the vowel is "long." Thus he spells such words as

bel iVve, beleve, guide, gide, prove, pru ve,

receive, reseve, course, corse, proof, prufe,

release, relese, pique, peke, through, thru,

fierce, terse, chaise, shaze, school, skule,

repeal, rcpcle, paid, pade, door, dore,

feel, fele, repair, repare, four, fore,

sleeve, sieve. gauge, gaKe, boar, bore,

league, lege, pear, pare, blow, bio.

Where the t sound does not indicate the long vowel

sound, he proposes to use accented vowels, viz.: a, e, i, 6, ft,

and for the sound of u in full, should, etc, he uses u: thus,

ful, shud. t*or the broad sound of a heard in c«ght, taught,

awful, all, broad, he employs au and spells them out: caut,

auful, aul, braud, etc. For the terminals tion, sion, cian,

scion, etc., he uses sion. He retains td as the sign of the past

tense, and s as that of the plural of nouns and singular of

verbs. Bit as a terminal is also retained. K is written for ch

in all words in which ch has the sound of k. Ex.; arkitect,

monark, skule. etc. All double consonants are reduced to

single ones, as only one of them is heard in pronunciation. In

all words now spelled with tk, as back, beck, lick, rock, luck,

he drops the c as being wholly superfluous. In words ending

in ous, he omits the o, as in curius, spurius, and when ou has

the sound u he also drops the o, as in duble, jurny. He retains

y at the end of nouns in the singular, as copy, foly. He writes

f for f>h in alfabet, fonetics, flosofy, etc. He omits all silent

vowels in digraphs, and writes

head, hed said, sed, tongue, tung,

earth, erth heifer, hefcr, sieve, siv,

though, tho, leopard, lepard, built, bilt,

phthisic, tizic, cleanse, clens, myrrh, mer.

The proposed system is very easily writlen. After an hour's

practice the pen runs naturally into it. The plan is one which

would cost adults scarcely an effort to learn to write, and no

effort at all to learn to read it. He thinks it is the simplest

and most rational compromise with existing usage, prejudice,

and etymologies, which can probably be devised with any hope

of acceptance, and if accepted and adopted it would secure to

the Anglo-American race throughout the world one of the

simplest and best orthographies in existence. •

CAPITAL LETTERS.

[ANY people greatly disfigure their writing, and stamp themselves as illiterate, by the omission or improper use of capital letters.

What do we think of the man who, wishing to place his son in the care of a teacher, wrote a letter, introducing his boy, thus?

"deer sur yeW Bein a man of noleg i Wish tu Put Mi son in yure skull."

Or, of the mother who sends a line by her child to the boot and shoe merchant as follows?

"mister Grean Wunt you let mi Boay hev a Pare ov Esy toad shuz."

Fortunately the rules for using capitals are few, and once acquired, are easily remembered.

Rules for the Use of Capitals.

Begin every paragraph with a capital letter.

Begin every sentence following a period with a capital letter.

Begin each proper name with a capital letter.

Begin the names of places, as Boston, Newport, Niagara, with capital letters.

Begin the words. North, South, East, West, and their compounds and abbreviations, as North-east, S. W„ with capital letters, when geographically applied.

Begin the names of the Deity and Heaven, or the pronoun used for the former, as, in His mercy — Thou, Father, etc., with capital letters.

Begin all adjectives formed from the names of places or points of the compass as English, Northern, each with a capital letter.

Begin each line of poetry with a capital letter.

Begin all quotations with a capital letter.

Begin all titles of books, and usually each important word of the title, as Hume's History of England, with capital letters.

Begin the name of any historical event, as the French Revolution, with capital letters.

The pronoun I and the interjection O must invariably be capital letters.

Begin names of the month, as June, April, with capital letters. Also the days of the week, as Monday, Tuesday, etc.

Begin all addresses, as Dear Sir — Dear Madam, with capital letters.

Capital letters must never be placed in the middle of a word.

PUNCTUATION.

HILE the omission of punctuation may not mar the appearance of writing, as do bad spelling and improper use of capitals, its correct use is, nevertheless, essential to the proper construction of a sentence.

Very ludicrous, and sometimes serious mistakes result from improper punctuation. In the following sentence, the meaning is entirely changed by the location of the semicolon.

"He is an old and experienced hand; in vice and wickedness he is never found; opposing the works of iniquity he takes delight."

"He is an old and experienced hand in vice and wickedness; he is never found opposing the works of iniquity; he takes delight."

Punctuation Marks.

The following are the principal characters or points used in punctuation:

Rules for Punctuation.

The Comma (,). Wherever occurs a distinct natural division of a sentence; or where two or more words are connected, without the connecting word being expressed, the comma is used; as

"Dealer in hats, caps, boots, shoes, etc." "Hedges, trees, groves, houses, and people, all went rushing by." "Towering far above us stood the pines, silent, majestic, and grand." "Verily, verily, I say unto you."

The Semicolon (;) is used where a sentence consists of several members each constituting a distinct proposition, and yet having dependence upon each other; as

"Some men are born great ; some acquire greatness; some have greatness thrust upon them." "Contributors: Will. M. Carleton; Wm. C. Bryant; B. F. Taylor; John G. Saxe." "Contents: Riches; Poverty; Religion."

The Colon (:) is used to divide a sentence into two or more parts, which, although the sense is complete in each, are not wholly independent; as

"Temperance begets virtue : virtue begets happiness." "Two questions grow out of the subject: 1st: What is the necessity of a classical education? 2d: How far can a classical education be made applicable to the ordinary business affairs of life?"

The Period (.) is placed at the end of every complete and independent sentence; before decimals; between pounds and shillings; after initial letters, and for abbreviations; as

"Man, know thyself." "Chas. Williams, M.D." "J. Q. Adams." "Genl. Supt. of C, B., and Q. R. R." "£25. 8s. 4d." "4.24 miles."

The Exclamation Point (!) denotes sudden

or violent emotion: as

"O blissful days ! Ah me! How soon ye passed!" "Charge, Chester, charget On, Stanley, on!" "Great bargains! Clothing sold at forty per cent, below cost!" "Rejoice! Rejoice! the summer months are coming."

The Note of Interrogation (?) is used after every sentence in which a question is asked ; as

"What season of the year do you enjoy most?"

It is also used to denote sneeringly the unbelief of the speaker; as

"His wise counsels (?) failed to accomplish their end."

Brackets [ ] and Parentheses ( ) are employed

to enclose words thrown into a sentence by way

of explanation, which could be omitted without

injury to its construction; as

"I have met (and who has not) with many disappointments." "Eight (8) miles and one hundred (100) yards." "In conclusion, gentlemen, I am for the constitution, the whole constitution, and nothing but the constitution." [Great applause.]

The Bash (—) is used when the subject breaks off suddenly, and to show the omission of words, letters and figures; thus:

"I would — but ah! I fear it is impossible — I would — I will reform." "The pulse fluttered — stopped — went on — stopped again — moved — stopped."

"This agreement entered into this day of , 18—,

between of the first part, and of

the second part, witnesseth, etc."

Th* Hyphen (-) is employed as a character between two words to show that they are connected together as a compound word; thus:

Thirty-fold, super-heated, four-leaved, etc.

It is also used at the end of a syllable when the remainder of the word follows on the next line. Also in dividing a word to show its pronunciation; as

Pro-cras-ti-nate; val-e-tud-i-na-ri-an; co-op-e-rate.

The Ellipsis (....) is used to represent the omission of words, syllables, and letters, and is sometimes represented by a dash; thus, k — g for king: occasionally by stars; thus, * * * *:

and sometimes by periods; like these

The following examples illustrate its use.

tunate individual." "This was in 1850. * * * * Twenty years later, in 1870, we gather up, again, the thread of our discourse." "If he had married .... Ah, well! it was not so to be."

The Apostrophe (') is employed to distinguish the possessive case; thus:

"John's Book." "Superintendent's Office." "Wells' Grammar:"

And the omission of letters in the beginning or

middle of a word , thus,

"I'll," for "I will." "Thou'lt," for "Thou wilt." "Prop'r," for "Proprietor." "In'st," for "Interest," etc.

See rules for punctuation, in the chapter relating to "Sign Painting."

The Caret (A) is employed, in writing, to show where a word, or several words have been omitted in the sentence, and have been placed above the line; as

handmaid of e

"Temperance is the virtue." "Improvment"

A A

Quotation Marks (" ") are used by the writer to designate a word or sentence quoted or copied from another author; as

"Three things bear mighty sway with men,
The Sword, the Sceptre, and the Pen."

The Marks of Reference (* t t § II IF) are used to call attention to notes of explanation at the bottom of the page. If many notes are used and these are all exhausted, they can be

doubled. Some writers use letters, and some figures, for reference.

Marks of Pronunciation.

For the purpose of giving inflection to certain words, or to designate the prolongation of occasional syllables in a word, the author frequently finds it convenient to use certain characters to denote such accents. To illustrate:

The Acute (a) gives the rising inflection; as

"Will you ride?"

The Grave (a~) the falling; as "Will you walk or ride."

The Circumflex (a) indicates the rising and falling inflection in the same syllable; as,

"Machine," Montreal," etc.

The Macron (-) placed above a letter designates a full, long vowel sound; as "Fate." "Home." "Note." "Eve," etc

A Breve (w) denotes a short sound, when placed above a vowel; as

"A-dore.' "Glo-n-ous. The LHxresis (a) is used for the purpose of dividing a diphthong, or syllable into two distinct syllables; as

"AvengBd." "Beloved."

Also when two vowels come together, this character is sometimes used to show that they are not contracted into a diphthong; as

"Cooperate." "Reiterate." "Reappear."

The Cedilla (p) is a mark placed under the c to denote that its sound is the same as the letter *; as

"C/haise." "Facade." The Tilde (il) placed over an n gives it the sound of ny; as

"Miflon." "Seflor."

Marks Directing Attention.

The Index (JJC) is used to call special attention to an important line or clause in the writing or printing , as:

"t3T" F've per cent discount for cash."

The Asterism or Stars (»%) is used to designate a general reference; as

"*** The teacher should 'make frequent use of the blackboard."

The Brace j is employed to unite two or

more parts of speech or names that are brought into juxtaposition ac

( Mar culiim. , w c . .

Gender i Feminine, Committee \ Wm- 5.m,th

{ Neuter. 'John Brown"

A Paragraph (^[) is used by the author frequently to designate, in the middle of a sentence, when he re-reads his manuscript, those words that he wishes to have commence a paragraph. It shows where something new begins.

A Section (§) usually designates the smaller distinct parts of a book.

As references they are frequently used with numbers; thus:

"If 87. Wedding Ceremonies in Different Countries." "§ 172. The Law of Usury in Different States."

Leaders ( ) are employed to lead the eye

from one portion of the page to another across blank space; as

London 123

Paris 84

New York. 304

Underscoring.

Words and sentences that the writer desires should be emphatic, are designated by lines drawn beneath the words that are to be emphasized. Thus one line indicates italics; two lines, Small Capitals; three lines, LARGE CAPITALS; four lines, ITALIC CAPITALS. The words

"To arms! to arms!! to arms!!! they cry,"

Underscored will appear in print thus —

"To arms/ To Arms!! TO ARMS!! 1 they cry." "Upward and upward we went! gradually the scene grew more and more entrancing! until at length, faster, RICHER, WILDER, GRANDER the weird objects came and went, fading away at last in the long dim distance."