SPELLING—TURKISH AND ENGLISH [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I
am' pained by the conclusion of your note on Turkish spelling. Are you aware that in holding up to scorn those Turks who claim " the right to spell chaotically," you are really attacking one of the most cherished traditions of our race ? Every Englishman claims as part of his birthright " the right to spell chaotically." Is not our language a by word amongst the nations for the eccentricities of its ortho- graphy ? People who tolerate and support such weird com. binations of letters as yacht, eight, eyot, limn, victuals, scythe, sovereign, debt—to mention a few out of hundreds—ought to have great sympathy with patriotic Turks who object to alterations being made in their traditional alphabet and orthography for the benefit of foreigners who wish to learn their tongue—most of whom find that tongue difficult probably only on account of their own stupidity. In the very para. graph about which I write I find write and right, representing exactly the same sound, whether, doubt and death containing superfluous letters and such oddities as word, rhyming to curd, some rhyming to hum, money rhyming to bunny. One is not surprised that you do not like the idea of old-fashioned people being condemned to death for asserting " their right to spell . chaotically." If the practice spreads to this country, whose head would be safe on his shoulders ? Editors might be the first to suffer.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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