SlMl'LIFKATiOX OF ENGLISH. 593 



not yet won universal acceptance, though they are admitted in 

 French schools and Universities, are enumerated in grammars 

 of ever}' kind, and even recognised by our own University. 



Nevertheless they have naturall}' met with much opposition, 

 and their present position is one of some difficulty. 



That ultra-conservative l)od\", the French Academy, has 

 fought hard against some of the tolerances, though even it has 

 accepted others. The moral is that any improvements of a 

 language, however necessary or expedient, will have to face the 

 most active opposition of inveterate prejudice. 



As regards my second precedent. Dutch, we know that the 

 ■' Reformed " spelling recommended by the Vereniging tot Vcr~ 

 ecnvoudigiiuj van dc Scliryftaal, as well as the simplifications 

 in grammar advocated b}' the same Association, have secured 

 general acceptance in University circles. Luckily they have 

 not had to face the opposition of any moth-eaten Academy, 

 though even in Holland there are many individual opponents 

 still unconverted. 



The necessity for the economy of space prevents me from 

 giving special instances of French and Dutch simplifications. 

 T will simply state my conviction that changes in similar direc- 

 tions would help English better to fulfil the function of world- 

 tongtie. 



Method of Simplification. 



It is a difficult task to state in what way the simplification of 

 English could be brought about most eft'ectively. 



Owing to the nature of the case, any changes must be 

 carried otit under the authority of the Imperial Government in 

 conjunction with the Universities and great educational insti- 

 tutions of the Empire. In any case the French bureaucratic 

 method is better than the Dutch private one, because the one 

 who pays the piper can best call the tune. If once the reforma- 

 tion were accepted in the State-aided schools of the Empire, 

 its further progress would be rapid. 



The decision of particular changes to be adopted would 

 have to be made by a fitly-constituted Commission acting under 

 Government control. In any such simplification the co-operation 

 of the United States should be secured, for uniformity of Eng- 

 lish throughout the English-speaking world is certainlv desir- 

 able. 



Why should we not aim at an entente cordial e of this 

 nature? At present we seem to be rapidly drifting apart in 

 grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. 



Conclusion, 



I have dealt with the simnlification of grammar and spelling, 

 but so far I have said nothino- about the simplification of pro- 

 nunciation. At present there are many thousands of cases of 

 words which have two or even three so-called " correct " pro- 



D 



