Chapter I: Front Matter

ENGLISH SPELLING
AND
SPELLING REFORM

BY
THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY, LL.D., L.H.D.
Emeritus Professor of English
in Yale University

NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
MCMIX

BOOKS BY

THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY

ENGLISH SPELLING AND SPELLING REFORM.

Post 8vo. net $1.50

THE STANDARD OF USAGE IN ENGLISH.

Post 8vo. net $1.50

THE STANDARD OF PRONUNCIATION IN ENGLISH.

Post 8vo. net 1.50

STUDIES IN CHAUCER. 3 Vols. 8vo. 9.00

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, N. Y.

Copyright, 1909, by HARPER & BROTHERS.

_All rights reserved._

Published October, 1909.

TO

BRANDER MATTHEWS

AS A TRIBUTE TO A FELLOW-COMBATANT IN
A COMMON CAUSE, AND A TESTIMONIAL OF
THE LONG-CONTINUED FRIENDSHIP OF YEARS

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. CONFESSIONS OF A SPELLING REFORMER 1

II. ATTITUDE OF THE EDUCATED 56

III. THE ORTHOGRAPHIC SITUATION 94

I. THE PROBLEM 94
II. MOVEMENT OF VOWEL-SOUNDS 100
III. THE VOWELS 113
IV. THE DIGRAPHS 134
V. THE CONSONANTS 160

IV. THE QUESTION OF _HONOR_ 194

V. METHODS OF RELIEF 238

VI. OBJECTIONS, REAL OR REPUTED 280

I. LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE OF DERIVATION 283
II. LIKENESS OF SPELLING IN WORDS WITH UNLIKE MEANINGS 307
III. EXISTING BOOKS RENDERED VALUELESS 314
IV. IMPOSSIBILITY OF PHONETIC SPELLING 320

VII. THE FINAL CONSIDERATION 331

INDEX 343