A Minniature ov Inglish Orthoggraphy | Page 3

James Elphinston
being respective coincidents; clear indeed to' dhe eye, boath ov boddy and mind. Ow final iz dipthongal in how, now! bow bend; cow, noun or verb; sow, the noun; in vow, verb or noun; and in allow, endow. Dhe dipthong distinguishes also slough, plough, and bough branch. O remains merely simpel in dough, az if dow. _Bo!_ or _boh!_ interjeccion, coincides widh boe and bow, boath nouns: dhe latter leving dhe dipthong to' dhe verb, or its accion, hwence dhe ball derives it in _bowl_; dhe open vowel distinguishing dhe bowl or bason, coincident widh boll and bole.
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3. VOCAL SUBSTITUCION.
Dho won semblance may exhibbit, not onely two' senses, but two' sounds; won symbol must not pretend to' paint anoddher, unles by distinctive substitution. E proovs dhus dhe lawfool substitute ov a, in _heigh-ho!_ moddernized _hey-ho!_ in heighday, now _hey-day!_ weigh, wey, hwey, prey, bey, _dey_; dhey, dheir, eir, eight, and _freight_; widh obey, inveigh, convey, survey, and _purvey_; az wel az hwen febel, in parley, barley, Harley, Chudleigh, and dheir fellows.
But e cannot be a, widh dhe servile dhat distinguishes _e_: tear cannot be clas-mate, at wonce to' fear and fair. If dherfor e cannot be a, widh a servile; and a need no substitute in dhe verbs tair, wair, swair, and _bair_; peir, dhe fruit, and beir, dhe beast, claim dhe substitute vowel, widh due servile; pair, pare, bair and bare, being engaged. For like rezon, braik and grait admit no vocal substitute. Where and there no more puzzel dhan bely, in dheir own shape, ov hware and dhare.
E fairly substituting dhe forrain i, in pier, bier, mien, lief, widh belief, _believ_; relief, _reliev_; and dhe rest; so distinct from peer, _beer_; mean, _leaf_; or so connected by alliance, forrain or domestic; dhe substitucion simmilarly prevails in shriek, fiend, fief, brief, chief, _atchiev_; thief, _thiev_; repriev, _retriev_; pierce, fierce, and _tierce_: ettymollogy howevver, scorning alike substitucion and superfluity, in receiv, receit, and dheir collaterals.
Forrain semblance belied dhe adoptives, oblige, marine, machine, magazine, fatigue, intrigue, antique, and _shire_; til Londoners began to' treat dhem az natives ov Ingland; not dreaming dhat dheir essence cood not here be prezerved, but in dhe guize ov oblege, marene, mashene, maggazene, fategue, intregue, anteke (or anteek, mareen, and dhe rest,) joined by legue, twegue, and _shere_: hwich last, dho dhus sevvered from sheer and shear, boath coincident in sound, waz beguinning, in dhe false shape ov shire, (like oblege, in dhat ov oblige,) to' violate Inglish harmony in evvery British nacion. Dhe same propriety, dhat dhus gards dhe Inglish vowel (_e_), prezervs, no les piously, dhe parental equivvalent (_i_), in obligacion, marriner, mackinate, mackinacion, indefattigabel, anticquity, az wel az _antiquary_; and evvery forrain buty, consistent widh domestic truith.
If dhe prezzent century hav made manny improovments, in orthoggraphy and elsehware; it haz certainly made manny alteracions, dhat wer dhe verry reverse ov improovment. Som eying truith, onely in her parents, wood allege dhat virtue alone cood _persuade_; havving lernedly perfwaded dhemselvs, dhat vertue might hav sweetnes, widhout partaking suavity, by hwich dhey pictured swavvity. It seems howevver high time dhat a certain kingdom, at length panting after evvery propriety, shood know and confes, dhat her name iz no more England, dhan Engelonde or _Angland_; or dhan her sovverain iz king ov France!
Since won symbol must no more usurp dhe office ov anoddher, o wil no longuer pretend to' paint A braud open (_au_); in ought, nought, brought, thought, sought, fought, _bought_; for aught (now indeed _aut_), and dhe rest: nor wil groat and broad expect anny more, to' be acknolleged graut and braud.
Nedher tongue nor tong (alreddy won ov a pair) can picture _tung_; dho u stil employ dhe distinctive substitucion ov o in son, male issue; nor les propperly dhe ettymolodgic in yong, mong, mongrel, monk, (widh monkey,) and _Monday_; in monney, bonney, conney, condit, _constabel_; az in yolk, so in covver, hovver, _plovver_; in lovver and glovver, from lov and glov. Cullor (nevver _colour_) avoids coincidence equally widh collar and _coller_; dhe latter greekly, not frenchly, affected choler.
But surely a vocal groop cannot shrink into' an Inglish shut vowel: nor cood dhe following French, or almoast French, be suppozed Inglish words: souple, _couple_; double, _trouble_; nourish, _flourish_; courage, courteous, country, _cousin_; journey, _journal_; sojourn, adjourn, and _touch_; more dhan such oddities claim continnuance, az young, rough, or _tough_: for suppel (alreddy almoast Inglish in supple,) _cuppel_; dubbel, _trubbel_; nurrish, _flurrish_; currage, _curteous_; contry (ettymolodgical substitute ov _cuntry_; like yong, ov _yung_;) cozzen az dozzen, no more dozen! jurney, _jurnal_; sodjurn, adjurn, widh _tutch_; tuf and _ruf_: not to' reprezent dhe so duly exploded, az authour, succour, superiour for author, succor, _superior_; hweddher agent, accion, or adjective.
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4. OV OPEN AND SHUT VOWELS.
Az vocallity must often depend
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