Freedom of Action
In the meantime, while the spellings of the Handbook ar in every case those that the Board recommends for use in the present stage of the advance, it is assumed that individuals wil feel free to use other forms that they prefer. For example, the Board now recommends the spelling scool as at any rate better than school. Those, however, who believ that the final choice of the letter invariably to indicate the k sound should be k, and not c, and who wish to set an example for others to follow, wil write skool.
The first condition of rational progress in spelling reform is that persons who know, or who think they know, how words should be speld, should recover something of their former freedom to spel in accordance with individual judgment. Only in that way can there be a wholesome rivalry of forms with ultimate survival of the best.
The Board does not expect any one to adopt a spelling that, to him, suggests a pronunciation at variance with his usage.
Those whose temper moves them to act as pioneers, or as skirmishers ahed of the main column, render exceptionally valuable service if they lead in the indicated direction. They wil find the Board prepared and eager to enlist them and to equip them, to point out the way, and to fortify its counsel with reasons based on scolarship and practical experience.
Charles H. Grandgent,
Calvin Thomas,
- Filology Committee.
