carried on between the Doctor and Miss Stephenson, on this subject, and in winch the former urges the utility of his scheme, and endeavours to answer the objections raised against it."[1]
Mr. Noah Webster, another American author, has proposed a more moderate innovation, u to render our orthography sufficiently regular and easy."
1. The omission of all superfluous or silent letters. Thus bread, head, give, breast, built, meant, realm, friend, would be spelt, bred, hed, giv, brest, bilt, ment, relm, frend.
2. A substitution of a character that has a certain definite sound, for one that is moie vague and indeterminate. Thus, mean, near, speak, grieve, zeal, would become, meen, neer, speek, greeve, zeel. Thus key should, be written kee; laugh, laf; daughter, dawter; blood, blud; character, karacter; chorus, korus, etc.
3. A trifling alteration in a character, or the addition of a point would distinguish different sounds, without the substitution of a new cha-
- ↑ Mr. Webster states, that the Doctor, amidst all his other employments, public and private, actually compiled a Dictionary on this scheme of reform, and procured types to be cast for printing it. But it never was printed.
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