STUDIES IN ENGLISH SPELLING. 5 
is accented, because it contains a short vowel which would other- 
wise be lengthened. I think the same reason should lead us to 
continue the practice of duplicating the “ p 
and the ‘‘1” in such words as ‘‘ traveller,” in spite of the example 
set by the late Thomas Carlyle and American writers generally ; 
although in these words, where the syllable in question is not 
accented, there may be no actual necessity to duplicate the 
” 
in ‘* worshipper ” 
consonant. 
The method of altering the sound of a vowel by adding a 
mute ‘‘e” to the syllable seems to have led to two delusions. 
First, it is a delusion to suppose that the vowel is really altered. 
Next, it is a delusion to suppose in the case of the duplicated 
consonant that both letters are pronounced. But I do not say 
that all duplicated consonants are formed in the way I have 
described. 
In conclusion, a few words on what is usually known as the 
‘phonetic ” system may not be out of place. Even amongst the 
educated the modes in which the same word is pronounced are 
many and various, for which reason the phonetic spelling of 
different persons would vary very much. Moreover, the same 
person would spell the same word sometimes one way and some- 
times another. This would produce complete confusion. But 
supposing some such system had been devised, and that every- 
one pronounced every word precisely in the same way, it would 
be found that the grammar of the language had been complicated, 
and that there was no real simplification of spelling. 
At present, for instance, there is a very simple general rule for 
the formation of the plural of substantives, viz., you add an “5”? 
to the singular. In the word “cats” this is pronounced “ s,” 
whereas in ‘‘dogs” it is pronounced “z.”’ To enable us to 
spell phonetically we should have to learn when to put ‘‘s” and 
when to put “z,” involving a rather intricate study of the dis- 
tinction between “‘surd” and ‘‘sonant” consonants. And the 
same reasoning applies to other grammatical formations besides 
the plural substantives. 
Again, the phonetic system is specially inapplicable to our 
