December 24, 1891] 



NATURE 



187 



names vowels should have their Italian significance, and 

 consonants that which they have in the English language. 



This broad principle required elucidation in its details, and a 

 system based upon it was consequently drawn up with the 

 intention of representing the principal syllabic sounds. The 

 object aimed at was to provide a system which should be 

 simple enough for any educated person to master with the 

 minimum of trouble, and which at the same time would afford 

 an approximation to the sound of a place-name such as a native 

 might recognize. No attempt was made to represent the 

 numberless delicate inflexions of sound and tone which belong 

 to every language, often to different dialects of the same 

 language. For it was felt not only that such a task would be 

 impossible, but that an attempt to provide for such niceties 

 would defeat the object. 



The adoption by others of the system thus settled has 

 been more general than the Council ventured to hope. 

 The charts and maps issued by the Admiralty and War Office 

 have been, since 1885, compiled and extensively revised in 

 accordance with it. The Foreign and Colonial Offices have 

 accepted it, and the latter has communicated with the colonies, 

 requesting them to carry it out in respect to names of native 

 origin. Even more important, however, than these adhesions is 

 the recent aciion of the Government of the United States of 

 America, which, after an exhaustive inquiry, has adopted a 

 system in close conformity with that of the Royal Geographical 

 Society, and has directed that the spelling of all names in their 

 vast territories should, in cases where the orthography is at 

 present doubtful, be settled authoritatively by a committee ap- 

 pointed for the purpose. The two great English-speaking nations 

 are thus working in harmony. 



The Council, by printing the rules in " Hints to Travellers," and 

 by other means, have endeavoured to insure that all travellers 

 connected with the Society should be made aware of them ; but 

 as it is possible that some bodies and persons interested in the 

 question may still be in ignorance of their existence and general 

 acceptance, they feel thai the time has come to again publish 

 them as widely as possible, and to take every means in their 

 power to aid the progress of the reform. 



To this end, and with a view to sliU closer uniformity in 

 geographical nomenclature in revisions of editions of published 

 maps, a gigantic task requiring many years to carry out, the 

 Council have decided to take steps to commence tentatively 

 indexes of a few regions, in which the place-names will be 

 recorded in the accepted form. 



Rules. 



The rules referred to are as follows : — 



1. No change is made in the orthography of foreign names in 

 countries which use Roman letters : thus Spanish, Portugue-e, 

 Dutch, &c., names will be spelt as by the respective nations. 



2. Neither is change made in the spelling of such names in 

 languages which are not written in Roman character as have 

 become by long usage familiar to English readers : thus Calcutta, 

 Cutch, Celebes, Mecca, &c., will be retained in their present 

 form. 



3. The true sound of the word as locally pronounced will be 

 taken as the basis of the spelling. 



4. An approximation, however, to the sound is alone aimed 

 at. A system which would attempt to represent the more 

 delicate inflexions of sound and accent would be so complicated 

 as only to defeat itself. Those who desire a more accurate 

 pronunciation of the written name must learn it on the spot by 

 a study of local accent and peculiarities. 



5. The broad features of the system are : — 



(a) That vowels are pronounced as in Italian and consonants 

 as in English. 



(b) Every letter is pronounced, and no redundant letters are 

 introduced. When two Vowels come together, each one is 

 sounded, though the result, when spoken quickly, is sometimes 

 scarcely to be distinguished from a single sound, as in ai, 

 au, ei. 



(c) One accent only is used, the acute, to denote the syllable 

 on which stress is laid. This is very important, as the sounds 

 of many names are entirely altered by the misplacement of this 

 "stress." 



6. Indian names are accepted as spelt in Hunter's " Gazetteer 

 of India," 1881. 



The following amplification of these rules explains their 

 application : — 



Pronunciation and remarks. 



ah, a as la father 

 eh, a as mfate 



English e; /as in ravine; the sound of ee in 

 beet Thus, not Feejee, but 



o as in mote 



long « as m flute ; the sound ai 00 in boot. 00 

 or on should never be employed for this 

 sound Thus, not Zooloo, but 



All vowels are shortened in sound by doubling 

 the follo'Mins consonant 



Doubling of a vowel is only necessary where 

 there is a distinct repetition of the single 

 sound 



English / as in zcs 



ow as in how ... Thus, not Foochow, but 



is slightly difiFerent from above 



as in la7u. 



is the sound of the two Italian vowels, but is 

 frequently slurred over, when it is scarcely 

 to be distinguished from ey in the English 

 they 



English b. 



is always soft, but is so nearly the sound of s 

 that it should be seldom used 



\i Celebes were not already recognized it would 

 be written SeUbes. 



is always soft as in church 



English d. 



English /. ph should not be used for the 

 sound ofy" Thus, not Haiphong, but 



is always hard. (Soft g is given by y) 



is always pronounced when inserted. 



Sis'vmvhat; better rendered by hiv than %uh, 

 or h followed by a vowel, thus, Hwang ho, 

 not Whang ho, or Hoang ho 



English/. Dj should never be put for this 

 sound 



English k. It should always be put for the 

 hard c Thus, not Corea, but 



The Oriental guttural 



is another guttural, as in the Turkish 



As in English. 



has two separate sounds, the one hard as in the 

 English word finger, the other as insinger. 

 As these two sounds are rarely employed in 

 the same locality, no attempt is made to dis- 

 tinguish between them. 



As in English. 



As in loophole 



stands both for its sound in thing, and as in 

 this. The former is most common. 



should never be employed ; qu (in quiver) is 

 given as kiv 



When qu has the sound of k as in quoit, it 

 should be given by k. 



As in English. 



is always a consonant, as in yard, and there- 

 fore should never be used as a terminal, i or 

 e being substituted as the sound may require. 

 Thus, not Mikinddny, but 

 not Kwaly, but 



English z _ 



The French/, or as .? in treasure 



Accents should not generally be used, but 

 where there is a very decided emphatic syl- 

 lable or stress, which affects the sound of 

 the word, it should be marked by an acute 

 accent 



Examples. 



So- 



Java, Banal 



mSli, Bari. 

 Tel-el Kebir, Olileh. 



Yezo, Medina, Le- 



vuka, Peru. 



Fiji, Hindi. 

 Tokyo. 



Zulu, Sumatra. 



Yarra, Tanna, Mec- 

 ca, Jidda, Bonny.' 



Nuuliia, Oosima. 



Shanghai. 



Fuchau. 



Macao. 



Beirut, Beih'it 



Celebes. 



Chingchin. 



Haifong, Nafa 

 Galapagos. 



Hwang ho, Ngan 

 hwi. 



Japan, Jinchuen. 



Korea. 

 Khan. 

 Dagh, Ghazi. 



Chemulpho, Mokpho 



Bethlehem. 



Kwangtung. 



Sawilkin. 

 Kikuyu. 



Mikindanl. 

 Kwale. 

 Zulu. 

 Muzlidaha. 



Tongatiibu, Gald- 

 pagos, Pal.lwan, 



' The j^ is retained as a terminal in this word under Rule 2 above. The 

 word is given as a familiar example of the alteration in sound caused by the 

 second consonant. 



NO. I I 56, VOL. 45] 



