Page:The Diothas, or, A far look ahead (IA diothasorfarlook01macn).pdf/126

 Anglian current in the latter part of the second chiliad. But such knowledge as his and yours is as rare as was, in that time, the ability to decipher Accad or Himaritic inscriptions."

"But what language is this I am now speaking?" I inquired with surprise. I had hitherto spoken and understood the speech of those around me with all the unconsciousness of a child, who utters his thoughts without giving a thought to the means of utterance.

"The present universal language is based upon the Anglian of your day much as that was based upon Saxon. The introduction of a rational orthography, at a period when it was already the mother-tongue of more than one hundred millions of people, led to its rapid adoption as a universal means of communication. The language first became modified in the direction of greater grammatical simplicity. subsequently in increased harmony of pronunciation. The greatest change arose from the enormous increase of the vocabulary by the adoption of a great variety of synonymes from many languages. In your time there were about a dozen different words signifying a dwelling. Now there are more than a hundred; each, when appropriately employed, conveying a different shade of meaning.

"Such a language," he continued, "necessarily demands careful study if its full capabilities are to be elicited. Arithmetic, again, is greatly simplified among us by the universal use of the duodecimal system. No fractions but duodecimals being employed, our entire arithmetical instruction is comprised in a thorough drill in the use of the four fundamental rules and their appli-