Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 5: Miscellaneous Later EssaysMüller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Religion
Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 5: Miscellaneous Later Essays
Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Comparative linguistics; Folklore; Literature -- History and criticism; Mythology; Religions
This, no dout, iz a nashonal misfortiun, but it iz inevitabel. Litel az we
perseive it, langwej iz, and alwayz m[p]st be, in a state ov fermentashon;
and hwether within hundredz or thouzandz ov yearz, all living langwejez
m[p]st be prepared tu enkounter the difik[p]lti hwich in Ingland starez us
in the fase at prezent. “Hwot shal we do?” ask our frendz. “Ther iz our
hole nashonal literatiur,” they say, “our leibrariz aktiuali b[p]rsting
with buks and nuizpaperz. Ar all theze tu be thrown away? Ar all valiuabel
buks tu be reprinted? Ar we ourselvz tu [p]nlern hwot we hav lernd with so
much tr[p]bel, and hwot we hav taught tu our children with greater
tr[p]bel stil? Ar we tu sakrifeiz all that iz historikal in our langwej,
and sink doun tu the low level ov the _Fonetik Nuz_?” Ei kud go on
m[p]ltipleiing theze kwestionz til even thoze men ov the w[p]rld who nou
hav onli a shrug ov the shoulder for the reformerz ov speling shud say,
“We had no eidea hou strong our pozishon reali iz.”
But with all that, the problem remainz [p]nsolvd. Hwot ar peopel tu do
hwen langwej and pron[p]nsiashon chanje, hweil their speling iz deklared
tu be [p]nchanjabel? It iz, ei believ, hardli nesesari that ei shud prove
hou kor[p]pt, efete, and [p]terli irrashonal the prezent sistem ov speling
iz, for now[p]n seemz inkleind tu denei all thát. Ei shal onli kwote,
therefor, the j[p]jment ov w[p]n man, the late Bishop Thirlwall, a man who
never uzed ekzajerated langwej. “Ei luk,” he sez “[p]pon the establisht
sistem, if an aksidental k[p]stom may be so kalld, az a mas ov anomaliz,
the growth ov ignorans and chans, ekwali rep[p]gnant tu gud taste and tu
komon sens. B[p]t ei am aware that the p[p]blik kling tu theze anomaliz
with a tenasiti proporshond tu their abs[p]rditi, and ar jel[p]s ov all
enkroachment on ground konsekrated tu the free play ov bleind kaprise.”
It may be useful, houever, tu kwote the testimonialz ov a fiu praktikal
men in order tu show that this sistem ov speling haz reali bek[p]m w[p]n
ov the greatest nashonal misfortiunz, swolowing [p]p milionz ov m[p]ni
everi year and bleiting all atempts at nashonal ediukashon. Mr. Edward
Jones, a skoolmaster ov great eksperiens, having then siuperintendens ov
the Heibernian Skoolz, Liverpool, rote, in the year 1868:
“The G[p]vernment haz for the last twenti yearz taken ediukashon [p]nder
its kare. They diveided the subjekts ov instr[p]kshon intu siks gradez.
The heiest point that woz atempted in the G[p]vernment Skoolz woz that a
piupil shud be abel tu read with tolerabel eaze and ekspreshon a pasej
from a niuzpaper, and tu spel the same with a tolerabel amount ov
akiurasi.”
Let [p]s luk at the rez[p]lts az they apear in the report ov the Komíti ov
Kounsil on Ediukashon for 1870-71:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account