Chambers's twentieth century dictionary
The Arrangement of the Words. — Every word is given in its alphabetical order, except in cases where to save space, derivatives are given after and under the words from which they are derived. Each uncompounded verb has its participles, when irregular, placed after it. Exceptional plurals are also given.
When a word stands after another, with no meaning given, its meanings can be at once formed from those of the latter, by adding the signification of the affix : thus the meanings oi Darkness are obtained by prefixing the meaning of ness^ state of being, to those of Dark. Many words from French and other tongues, current in English usage, but not yet fairly Anglicised, are inserted in the list of Foreign Phrases, , at the end, rather than in the body of the Dictionary. The Pronunciation
The Pronunciation is given immediately after each word, by the word being spelled anew. In this new spelling, every consonant used has its ordinary unvarying sound, The consonant being employed that has more than one sound.
The same sounds are always represented by the same letters, no matter how varied their actual spelling in the language. No consonant used has any mark attached to it, with the one exception of ///, which is printed in common letters when sounded as in thick, but in italics when sounded as in //zen. Unmarked vowels have always their short sounds, as in lad led, lid, lot, but, book. The marked vowels are shown in the following line, which is printed at the top of each page: — fate, far ; me, her ; mine ; mote ; mute ; moon ;
The vowel u when marked thus, ii, has the sound heard in Scotch bluid, gude, the French du, almost that of the German ii in MUller. Where more than one pronunciation of a word is given, that which is placed first is more accepted. The Spelling. — When more than one form of a word is given, that which is placed first is the spelling in current English use.
Unfortunately, our modem spelling does not represent the English we actually speak, but rather the language of the 1 6th century, up to which period, generally speaking, English spelling was mainly phonetic, like the present German. The fundamental principle of all rational spelling is no doubt the representation of every sound by an invariable symbol, but in modern English, the usage of pronunciation has drifted far from the conventional forms established by traditional orthography, with the result that the present spelling of our written speech is to a large extent a mere exercise of memory, full of confusing anomalies and imperfections, and involving an enormous and unnecessary strain on the faculties of learners.
Spelling reform is indeed an imperative necessity, but it must proceed with wise moderation, for, in the words of Mr Sweet, ' nothing can be done without unanimity, and until the majority of the community are convinced of the superiority of someone system unanimity is impossible.' The true path of progress should follow such wisely moderate counsels as those of Dr J. A. H. Murray: — the dropping of the final or inflexional silent
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