S Jeo- 
n) in 
rules 
-opean 
rakota; 
afic etc. 
racter, 
1guajes 
1d pin, 
includ- 
ady by 
jointly 
as wel 
in live 
leather 
tongue 
1s TOUGH 
honor 
words, 
ied by a 
. bailiff 
(lookt) 
SIMPLER SPELING RULES 
63 
8 gh, ph Chanje gh and ph to £f when so sounded; e.g. enough (enuf), 
laughter (lafter) etc. ; phonetic (fonetic) etc. 
0 s Chanje s to z when so sounded, specialy in distinctiv words and in 
4se; e.g. abuse (noun), abuze (verb), advertise (advertize) 
10 t Drop ¢ in ich; e.g. catch, pitch etc. 
Comments 
Rule 1 givs us I, m, n and r as silabls without the useless e which no 
authority pronounces as writn; e.g. singl, eatn 
Rules 3 and 4 giv us u for o and ou pronounst like u in us; e.g. cum, 
handsum, obvius, perilus 
Rules 3, 4, 9 and 10, while not in S S B short list, ar fully approved. 
It was merely choice of which chanjes to make 1st with those who havn't 
the curaj to make all at once. When all leading skolars of the English 
world, including editors of all great dictionaries, recommend shortr forms, 
why shud we continue to write the worse than useless letrs? Every child 
and forener who has lernd rave, wave, dive, alive etc. is sure to pronounce 
have, give and live (verb) wrong unless we omit the useless e. 
Sugjestions 
We shud be glad to hav any practical sugjestions, but to save time and 
gard agenst elaborate presentation of varius fine spun theories, we ad that 
we hav wacht for many years the results of elaborate and wonderfuly 
delicate experiments in our best sykolojic laboratories. We hav red care- 
fuly all the ‘ arguments’ that sum wil deduce for retaining certain useless 
letrs. But these refinements, while very interesting to the specialist, 
hav no practical bearing whatever on languaj as the greatest tool with 
which man works. Its function is to convey meaning clearly, as quikly 
and cheaply as posibl. Microscopic verbal milinery has no propr place 
in this vast enjin. When one tels us that he has proved that o is uzualy 
pronounst with a slyt vanish which cud be represented by w we admire 
his observant analisis, but when he wishes to argue that we shud therefore 
ad w to go we hav no time for his vagaries. To attach sum mark to sho 
every refinement which modern reserch cud establish wud result in sum- 
thing quite too complex for daily use. Melville Bell's visibl speech was a 
marvelus invention but only an unbalanst mind wud advocate its use 
for infinit demands of daily life. 
By evolution, not revolution, we shal stedily move toward the ideal, 
when the greatest languaj the world has yet seen wil hav 4o distinct syns 
for its 40 distinct sounds, and becauz of its manifold advantajes wil becum 
the common tung of the world, known in adition to his vernacular by every 
intelijent inhabitant. 
LAKE Pracip Cru N Y 
Dec. 10. 1026