Principles of Spelling Reform (Classic Reprint) - Hardcover

Inhaltsangabe

Excerpt from Principles of Spelling Reform

In all these cases any attempt to conform the spelling to the established pronunciation of these words would not only be impractical, but would nul lify the effect for which the suffixes have been created. Invariability of form and of the suggested meaning teaches the mind to neglect the sound and depend upon visual impression alone for the thought. This has created a definite consciousness of the meanings of visible word elements, and the mere general form of the suffix is sufficient to indicate to the reader the particular sense conveyed by the word. This is one of the most extraordinary phases of the developments of modern English. The classification, in lists, of suffixes and prefixes in the schoolbooks for the teach ing of language has become nearly universal, and the child is taught that a certain group of letters occurring in a word indicates a certain idea or group of ideas.

The consciousness of this may become so definite that we write of isms, doxies, ologies, and anas. But it is not alone suflfxes and prefixes that vary in pronunciation while the form and sense remain the same. Whole compound words so vary. Thus, in the word geography the o in the accented syllable is distinctly o as in not; but in the derivative geog graphical, the 0 assumes a new value. Yet the consciousness of this alteration is entirely absent in reading; and any calling of the attention to it would undoubtedly interfere with the intelligibility of the word as a symbol of an idea.

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