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We are aware that it is considered a beauty in the language, by some people, that we do make a difference in the heterography, on certain occasions, corresponding to a change of meaning in the word, although we make no difference in speaking. We grant to the full that it might be a great advantage to the language if a different sound were employed for the conveyance of a different idea; but this principle is not by any means acted upon in English. Independently of those words which have a difference in heterography corresponding to a difference in meaning, there is an immense number of words which have totally different meanings, but are the same in orthography and in pronunciation; thus,
By the help of a dictionary, this list may be extended almost infinitely, as nearly every word in our language has one or two meanings, some being clearly derived from an original one, others barely traceable to obscure analogies, and others apparently derived from perfectly different roots.
To those, then, who object to phonotypy on the ground of its confusing words which are discriminated in the present heterography, the answer is, first, the error lies in the language itself; second, the error is, however, not found to be (generally) productive of confusion in speaking[1] and no more care would be required in writing than in speaking; third, there
- ↑ The punster makes it productive of much amusement. The context can hardly fail to determine which of the meanings of a word is intended; and if the context does not suffice, it is the fault of the speaker or writer, and shows that he is not sufficiently master of the language in which he is endeavouring to deliver his ideas.
