The beginners' drill-book of English grammar

Inefficiency of the English Alphabet. 61

CHAPTER II.

Inefficiency of the English Alphabet.

§ 99. Seeing that the very principle of alphabets is the representation of sounds, the objections so persistently made to phonetic spelling must be considered irrational.

The confusion in English spelling (= representation of sounds) is a disgrace to the language.

§ 100. The following are the causes of this confusion:

(1) Six letters are superfluous :

c = k or s, j = dzh, q=k, x= = ks, y=i, w (2) Two letters represent compounds, f (= fh), v (= vh).

(3) The same letters are used to represent various sounds.

(4) The same sounds are variously represented; c.7. "the twelve simple vowel-sounds are represented in ninety-six ways."

(5) Letters are used which represent no sounds, which hence are called silent letters.

N.B.-The principle of this arrangement of analysis is, that principal relations (29) are expressed by writing words large in the same horizontal line, and subordinate relations by writing words smaller and vertically under the words they qualify. Analysis should always precede parsing. The sign is used to express apposition, and () to enclose words understood.