368 LYMAN— A PRACTICAL RATIONAL ALPHABET. [Oct. s, 



occurs in the French acute-accented c and ai. The second degree 

 of openness (written with a single letter, provisionally, ^e, an e with 

 a small upright mark, or figure i, above at its left) occurs in Eng- 

 lish in unaccented syllables only, as in guinea, valley, carried, city. 

 The third degree of openness (likewise a single letter) differs so 

 slightly from the second as hardly to need a separate character, 

 though it might be marked with a small abbreviated 3 put to the 

 right and upper part of the letter e. It occurs in the unaccented 

 syllables goodness, college. 



In group IX, the first degree of openness, to be marked with a 

 double letter (provisionally, ii), is found in the i of pique, machine. 

 When this is labially modified by stift'ening the lips, it becomes the 

 French u, as in ruse, and the German ue, as in ueber, to be marked 

 with a small stroke, an abbreviated /, at the right of the letter. The 

 second degree of openness, to be marked by a single letter, occurs 

 in unaccented syllables as in divine, vehicle, mitigate. The fourth 

 degree of openness does not occur in English. 



We have, then, for the vowels nineteen letters ; distinguishing all 

 ihe readily distinguishable vowels used in English. In two or three 

 cases the distinction is indicated by the accent as in certain unac- 

 cented syllables, as in fulfill, goodness; and in other cases by the 

 subsequence of the sound r, as in girl. Even these slight differ- 

 ences could be indicated by a scrupulous writer with an abbreviated 

 figure J alongside, to the right, and at the upper corner, of the 

 letter. 



Having thus made possible the writing of English with unmis- 

 takable' letters, each letter for a single sound, and each readily dis- 

 tinguished sound by a single letter, a strong. reason is advanced in 

 favor of the general adoption of English as a universal language. 

 Indeed, it is ardently to be hoped that eventually some one language 

 may become universal, and known to the whole human race. Latin 

 was formerly so widely known and extensively used among the 

 more civilized nations as to give some color to its claim to become 

 the universal language. But the gradually increased refinement of 

 ideas in modern times has apparently made it impossible to be 

 satisfied with so bald and rude a method of communication. The 

 numerous artificial languages proposed for this purpose, even if not 



