PROPOSED SPELLING REFORM: A BOLD SUGGESTION

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 47, 31 March 1877, Page 3

PROPOSED SPELLING REFORM: A BOLD SUGGESTION

The London School Board, says a Home paper, has taken the initiative m a movement the aim of which seems to be to introduce the system of phonetic spelling. A circular has been sent round to Provincial Boards 'declaring that, m the opinion of the London Board, a great difficulty is placed m the way of education by our present method of spelling, and that it is highly desirable that the Government should be moved to issue a Royal Commission for considering the best manner for ref or- . ming and simplifying it. County Boards ; are asked to unite m a joint representation to the Education. Department on the subject. There can be no doubt that our method of spelling is a trial sometimes even to men of education. The same sounds are often represented by a perplexing variety of combinations of .letters, while frequently the written word seems' to have no sort of natural relation tb the same word as spoken. We' say nothing of proper names. The • vagaries of spelling and pronunciation are m their case bewildering m the. extreme. No man for instance, could by the mere light of reason ever make "Beecham " out of Beauchamp, or. " Marchbanks " out of Marjoribanks, or "Mannering" out of Mainwaring. Where our method is really troublesomb is m the spelling of words of common and everyday use. Take for example, those which terminate m "ough." In each of the words " bough," " enough," " cough," and " through," the combination has a different sound. Then there are such words as " receive,'' arid " believe "—curiosities of transposition m the collocation of letters • which have been fatal to the ambition of probably thousands of candidates for Spelling Bee honours. The anomalies of our present method are sufficiently patent, but - whether they can be cured by'a royal commission is a very debatable point.