2& PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



to be represented by those already existing, by the somewhat profuse 

 use of compounds and diacritical marks.* 



" The necessity of a reform is very apparent from an examination of 

 our present alphabet, as used to express the sounds of our language. 



" I. Our alphabet is inadequate ; there being thirty-eight or forty 

 sounds, and several combinations of sounds, to be expressed, and only 

 twenty-six characters. 



" II. It is redundant ; three of these twenty-six, namely, k, q, and x, 

 standing for sounds which are represented by other letters ; and q be- 

 ing by itself without significance. 



" III. It is uncertain, contradictory, and false ; each of the vowel- 

 signs representing several sounds,t namely : — 



a, not less than 9 

 e, " " 7: 



i, itself a diphthong, 5 : 

 o, not less than I 

 u, also a diphthong, 8 : 

 y, not less than 5 : 

 and each of these sounds being represented by other letters or combi- 

 nations of letters, the first sound of 



a, by 19 different combinations of letters. 



e, by 21 " " 



i, by 17 " 



o, by 16 " 



u, by 17 



y, by 4 " "t 



* See his Dissertation on the Orthography of Asiatic Words in Roman Letters, 

 in the first volume of his works, edited by Lord Teignmouth, 1st ed., p. 175. 



t The sound of a is diflFerent in each two of the following words : imaging, 

 mating, many, paring, father, fat, fall, want, dollar ; of e, in the following : he, 

 pretty, met, clerk, rendezvous, burden, blame; of i, in admiration, stir, sin, bind, 

 business ; of o, in women, nor, hop, work, sow, go, do, woman, compter ; of m, 

 in busy, bury, cur, but, unruly, pull, usage, persuade ; of y, in pity, physic, 

 myrrh, fly, yard. — See Ellis's Plea for Phonotyprj, p. 8. 



t As in the following words : of a, by a in mating, a-e in mate, a-ue in 

 plfflgwe, ai in pffiin, aigh in straight, ao in gaol, au in gfflwging, au-e in gauge, ay 

 in pray, aye in prayed, ca in great, ei in veil, eig in reign, eigh in weigh, eighe in 

 •weighed, ey in they, eye in conveyed, eye in eyot, ez in rendezvous ; of e, by as in 

 CtBsar, c in be, c-e in complete, ea in each, ea-e in leave, ee in feet, eg in impreo-n, 

 ei in conceit, ei-e in conceive, eo in people, ey in key, eye in keyed, i in albino, 

 i-e in magazine, ia in parliament, ie in grief, ie-e in grieve, ce in fa»tus, uay in 



