Page:Handbook of simplified spelling.djvu/17

Rh Noah Webster Carries Out Reforms

Noah Webster, whose "American Dictionary" (1828) is the basis of all the later revizions and amplifications that bear his name—and of some that do not—was a radical and outspoken advocate of spelling reform. He set forth his views in an essay on "The Reforming of Spelling", first printed in 1789, and now available in a reprint issued by the Old South Association, Boston. He ventured to simplify several classes of words in his dictionary, and by so doing arousd a storm of protest that gradually died down in the United States as the shorter forms made their way into print and general usage, and now mark the difference between the so-cald "American" and "British" stiles. Yet many, who today habitually use the simplified spellings Webster introduced, regard any deviation therefrom as a mark of illiteracy, and denounce all proposed deviations in the direction of further simplicity, and of Webster's recorded preferences, as iconoclastic, fantastic, and destructiv of English literature.

Dictionary Editors for Simpler Spelling Some of the earlier editors of Webster, more timid than he, wer slow to follow his example, but the leading English lexicografers of the present day hav openly exprest themselvs in favor of simplifying English spelling, and hav given place, and sometimes preference, in their dictionaries (Century, Oxford English, Standard, Webster's) to many of the simpler spellings that hav been recommended by the learned societies of which they wer members.

Other eminent scolars and writers of Webster's day and later who cald attention to the imperfections of English spelling wer William Mitford, Archdeacon