VOICE, LANGUAGE, PHONETIC SPELLING. 155 



In reference to the Aztec, Chinese, and Egyptian writ- 

 ings, and the cuneiform characters of the Assyrians and 

 Persians, it was stated that all include specimens of ideo- 

 graphs and phonographs, but that the proportion of the 

 second class of signs increased successively in these 

 languages in the order given. Finally, in the Hebrew, 

 Phoenician, and Samaritan writings we first meet with an 

 alphabet consisting of phonographs only. From these 

 alphabets the Greeks and Ancient Romans derived theirs, 

 and our own was a slight modification of the later Roman. 



Sounds are the essential elements of language, while the 

 true and only function of letters is to represent these sounds. 

 With our present very defective alphabet it is quite im- 

 possible to do this truthfully, and an utterly chaotic condition 

 of spelling is the result, more especially because every letter 

 is used to represent various sounds, and most sounds are 

 variously represented by many letters. Thus, the letter 

 is used to represent five different sounds, while the sound 

 of (as in the word " no ") is represented in at least 

 12 different ways. 



A complete analysis of the signs employed for different 

 sounds shows that the five simple vowel letters and 83 

 combinations thereof have together no less than 281 values ; 

 and, as regards the consonants, there are 119 different 

 arrangements, with 251 values. With such confusion, it 

 is certain that, as Dr. Morell states, "The ear is no guide 

 in the spelling of English ; rather the reverse." Professor 

 Max Mtiller says, " English spelling is a national misfortune, 

 and in the keen international race between all the countries 

 of Europe, it handicaps the English child to a degree that 

 .seems incredible till we look at statistics." Rapp, a dis- 

 tinguished German writer, says: "Did not a whimsical, 

 antiquated spelling stand in the way, the universality of 



