_chirurgeon_ insted ov _surgeon_,
_furhlong_ (that iz, f[u]row lo[n]) insted ov _furlong_, _feordhing_ (that
iz four[t] part) insted of _farthing_? If we reit piuni _puisne_, we meit
az wel reit _post-natus_. We meit spel koi, _quietus_; pert, _apertus_;
priest, _presbyter_; master, _magister_; sekston, _sacristan_; alms,
_eleemosyne_, ets. If enibodi wil tel me at hwot date etimolojikal
speli[n] iz tu begin, hwether at 1,500 A. D. or at 1,000 A. D., or 500 A.
D., ei am wili[n] tu disk[u]s the kwestion. Til then, ei beg leav tu say
that etimolojikal speli[n] wud play greater havok in I[n]glish than
fonetik speli[n], even if we wer tu draw a lein not more than feiv
h[u]ndred yearz ago.

The two stro[n]gest argiuments, therefor, agenst fonetik speli[n], nameli,
that it wud destroi the historikal and etimolojikal karakter ov the
I[n]glish la[n]gwej, ar, after all, b[u]t veri parshali true. Here and
there, no dout, the etimoloji and histori ov an I[n]glish w[u]rd meit be
obskiurd bei fonetik speli[n]; az if, for instans, we rote "Y[ue][o]p"
insted ov _Europe_. B[u]t even then analoji wud help [u]s, and teach thoze
who no Greek, ov whom ther ar not meni, that "Y[ue]r" in s[u]ch w[u]rdz az
_Europe_, _Eurydice_, reprezented the Greek {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. The real anser,
houever, iz, that now[u]n kud onestli kall the prezent sistem ov speli[n]
either historikal or etimolojikal; and, ei believ, that, taken az a hole,
the los oka[z]ond bei konsistent fonetik speli[n] wud not be greater than
the gain.

An[u]ther objekshon [u]rjd agenst fonetik speli[n], nameli, that with it
it wud be imposibel tu disti[n]gwish homonimz, m[u]st be met in the same
way. No dout it iz a serten advantej if in reiti[n] we kan disti[n]gwish
_right_, _rite_, _write_, and _wright_. B[u]t if, in the h[u]ri ov
konversashon, ther iz hardli ever a dout hwich w[u]rd iz ment, shureli
ther wud be m[u]ch les danjer in the slow proses ov readi[n] a
kontiniu[u]s sentens. If vari[u]s speli[n]z ov the same w[u]rd ar nesesari
tu point out diferent meani[n]z, we shud rekweir eight speli[n]z for
_box_, tu signifei a chest, a Kristmas gift, a h[u]nti[n] seat, a tree, a
slap, tu sail round, seats in a [t]eater, and the fr[u]nt seat on a koach;
and this prinsipel wud hav tu be apleid tu ab[u]v 400 w[u]rdz. Who wud
[u]ndertak