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Events CAN OUR BABEL OF TONGUES BE SYSTEMATIZED? R e f e r r in g to the results obtained by the use o f the Cherokee alphabet o f Oklahoma, the Cree alphabet o f Canada, and others as p roof that one can be taught to “ write, print, and read his own language” in an astonishingly short time and calling attention to the fact that expert linguists, as reported by Lepsius, found “ only about 50 primary vocal sounds employed in 600 languages and dialects, including those o f Asia, Europe, A frica, and the Western Hemisphere,” R. L. Owen, former senator from Oklahoma, proposes a “ global alphabet” that would reduce to one speech the multitudinous languages o f the world. Forced as we now are to communicate with nations, peoples, and tribes whose tongues we do not understand, Mr. Owen, in the twinkling n n 'i'h J d J uly 24, 1943 L n i f ■f The experience o f Turkey in changing to the Roman alphabet and then adopting a strictly phonetic spelling o f Turkish words is interest ing in this connection. Turkey has been re markably successful in reducing illiteracy by goes on to say: In phonetic spelling by syllables, spelling pre sents no difficulty and requires only the memory of the 41 Tetters. . . . The phonetic spelling of the - / KA SCH OOL A N D S O C IL T Y global alphabet with accurate pronunciation would stabilize speech. . . . In applying this system to writing a foreign language, the sounds of the letters or symbols should be expressed in terms of the words employed in the foreign language using the system. Prob ably every single sound in English has a corre sponding sound in Chinese or Russian, . . . [but] this system has provided 1C unallocated letters which can be employed to print 16 additional, ele mental sounds or tones. . . . The Global Alphabet opens wide the door to illiterates. The Global Alphabet comprises a mechanical agency through which to make effective the dream of the great men now leading the people of the United Nations in a struggle for peace, abundance, good will, justice, and happiness. The Four Free doms, the Atlantic Charter . . . could be quickly put before the world by this system. this means. o f an eye, so to speak, would change all that by teaching the English language to the whole world. There would be no such confusion as now exists in the teaching o f English, with its enigmatic spellings and silent letters. The 41 “ phonetic” symbols o f the global alphabet each representing “ one immutable sound” would cover every word in Webster’s Unabridged. The name o f each letter is identical with the sound it stands for, and, according to Mr. Owen, the language that requires more than 40 phonetic letters is rare. “ A ll the modern lan guages combined do not include over 58 dis tinct, primary, elemental, vocal sounds.” He -> V
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