DOCUMENT RESUME ED 226 325 CS 006 994 ,AUTHOR Grover, Susan Hendri6ts;'Cranney, A. Garr TITLE Reading on the Utah Frontier', 1850-1877:The History of the Deseret Alphabet. PUB DATE 82 NOTE 95p.; Some examples in appendix willnot be legible. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE' MEP1/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Alphabets; Diachronic Linguistics;Educational History; *Letters (Alphabet); *OrthograpfiicSymbols; *Reading Instruction; *Spelling;State of the Art Reviews; Written Language IDENTIFIERS *Deseret Alphabet; 'Mormons; Utah ABSTRACT This report presents a*.historyof-the Deseret "alphabet,.beginnjing.witha chapter on English orthography in general and the various attempts that have beenmade in orthographic reform. The second chapter examines the motives behindthe creation of the Deseret alphabet, including,the possibilities ofa secret Mormon code, a protection fromunwholesome'literature, a case of being in the 'right place at the right time,a phonetic English orthography, ana ayreriaration fona pure language. The third chapter traces the- roots of the Deseret alphabet: the roots (pre-1850),the' developmental period (185?-1857), and the risesand falls (1858-181Z7). The remaining threechapters examine the practical applicatiOn of the alpflabet,' its,successesand failures, and the 6rfett the alphabet had,on Englishorthography. Appendixes includea table of common English,,spellings, the initialteaching alphabet, the Deseret=alphabet, an alphabet.comparison table:Remy's version, a title page to exercises inPhonography, a flyer on secret "Mormon Laeg §e," txacings of a coin with theDeseret alphabet, the Deseret alph bet Firstliook, a sectioeon play from the Deseret Second Book,4 "Tw.nkle, Twinkle Little Star" in Deserefcharacters, the title page" ,and table of contents of "The Book of Mormon".inDeseret characters, th minutes of the Parowan State 1,855 inthe Deseret alphabet wlth tr nslation, a journal page of Thomas Haskell 'addhis version of the D seret alphabet, tracings froma tombstone with Deseret characters, nd the "Deseret Nevi" printing of the"Sermon/on. the Mount." HOBO *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRSare the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INTpRMATION CENTER ERICi . document hds beenreptodticed r nreed fro, tee pp/1,g, 00 orgdosrahoq Onybattnq it %fee bd.)t rr h.bre been ro,fde to lerrObve reprrelw !Kin ,4t1J1if y Poorts tO ot a co oportony st...111,1ti thIS dock, 'bent do not n rely rvpreyent officral Nil Reading on the Utah Frontier, 1850-1877: ,,,,a.t,otLir pt co. y The History of/theDeseret Alphabet Susan Hendricks Grover A. Garr-Cranney A "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHI9 MATERIAL HASBEEN'GRANTED BY Susan HendricksGrover A. Garr Cramney TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" Brigham Young UniverSity 1982 Contents Page Chapter 1. English Orthography 1 Attempts at English OrthographicReform 3 The Mormon Attempt . 5 2.. The Motives Behind:theCrea,tion of the Deseret Alphabet -12 A Secret Code. 12 A Protection from UnwholesomeLiterature 13 ,The Right Place at the RightTime 14 A Phonetic English Orthography 16 A Preparation for a Pure Language 20 3. The Hisibry of the Deseret Alphabet 23 The Roots, pre-1850 23 The Developmental Period, 1852-1857 24 Rises and'Falls, 18581877 27' 4. Practical Application of the DeseretAlphabet 35 5. Successes and Failures of the /DeseretAlphabet . ; 41 6. The Effect of the Deseret Alphabet 49 References 55 Appendixes , A. Tablef Common English Spellings P , 56-57 B. The'LltAtial Teaching Alphabet ' 58 C. The Deseret Alphabet 59-60 , I Contents (Contisnued ) , ; Page D. Alphabet Cornpar,i son Table 61-62 , E. Remy's _Version 63 F. Title Rage to Exercises in Phonography . 64 1 G. Flyer. on Secret "Mormon Language" .65 H. Coin with the Deseret 'Alphabet 66 I.Deseret Alphabet First Book 67-68 J.Section' on Play from. Deseret , Second Book 69 % K; "Twinkle, Twinkle Little .Sta'rl'inDeseret Characters... 70 L. The Book of. Mormon in Deseret Characters 71-72 M.". .The Minutes ofthe Parowan Stake 1855 in theDeseret Alphabet with Translation 73-81 N. Journal Page of Thomas Haskell 'sand, His Versio.n of the Deseret Alphabet 4 i, 82 .0. Tombttone with Deseret Character.S ;I: 83 P. Deseret Ne4ws Printing of the "Sermon On s. the Mount"...-. 84 , ( 1 4 / i ii I cf4 4 .1 :Kr Chapter-1 1' English Orthography . As both a teacher of critTcal readihg and asa tutor in the Reading Lab at BYU,I often work with students, who have problemswith English phonetics. RecenVy Jerry:--a bright student with a poor readingand vocabulary background--lOokeb atme Over the,top offa drilin spotting the silent e and complained: "Why'do they make Englishso hard? Why don't they have oneway.to do it that fits all thetime?" Jerry is not alone in her'frustrationover English orthography. George and Evelyn-Spache, two nbtedr'authoritieson reading skills, point out that "thereare a disturbing numbe.r of exceptions to almostany [phonetic] geheralizktiov [or rule] thaican be framed."1 In other words, the phonetic rules of English orthography do not apply inmany cases. Spache cites a study by Theodore Clymeras support for his statement. ' Clymer first studied commonly used.basal readei.s angworkbooks to deter- . mine what phonetic generalizations or rules theyteach. He ;round over 121 different phonetic generalizations.. He narrowed down theserules.to those that he considered the most reatonable and Useful. Next Clgner compared these rules with word lists from the texts. He suggests that thephonetic rule should apply in 75% of the C'aSes if it is to.be.considered a sound generalization. Of thirty-seven phonetic rujes, only nine were foundto be "sufficiently valid andwidely applicable."2 John Widstpe also criticizedtheunphonetic nature of English: "English spelling must be memori3N rather than'carned from thesounds of t'he words. Therefore, bad spelling isa very kmon fault among 2 English-sPeaking people.'"3 Indeedwthe're are a variety\of ellings for the sounds ih English as reference to a dictionary k will show. For examplythe American College Dictionary lists 44 sounds' ofthe English 1Vguage (see Appendix A). Only one sound the th soundas in thin has one spelling. '.However, the letter combination of t I1d h has two possible sounds:th as in thin and th as in then. A iew of the sounds have only two possible spellings such as the a sound. If can be spelled withan a as in hat or $ an ai as in plaid. However, the spelling ai also can be used to makethe. a sound as in rain and the a sound as in chair.Most Of the sounds in the English language have multiple spellings. According to American, -tne most possible spellings per sound.is 14. The sh sound has 14 possible spelling. combinations. In addition, sii English sounds--eas in ebb, -6 as in see, k as. in kill, o as in oh,u as in use, and a as in alone--have eleven Yr possible spellings. As one considers this list with its multiple spellin6 'combinations, one appreciates.the complaintsof students about English orthography. Written English is clearly not dominantly phonetic.- These irregularities alsocause havoc for students learning to read English. When confronted with the letters ai, shouldthe student read 5-, or T? Or when'confronted with the homophonehear should the reader' think of his ears or.his location? In the profession of teaching reading there is a lot of controversyover the role of English phonetics in learn- ing to read. A 1982 issue of U. S. News and WorldReport illustrates this debate with interviews froM Rudolf Fleikh and StanleySharp. Flesch supports the learning of Englishphonetics as a valuable approach to reading. In answer to the queition: "Isn't the widespread , 3 a, . 4 difficulty that many people have wfthspellimg proof ttiat Engfish is not phonetic?"k Flesch replied; ' No. Poor spelling is the result of toomany years ofe' improper reading instructionnot the faultof the language. Let's take the word "independence, for example. A phonics-trained student-will read it offthe page immediately, and.so will a 106k-and-say-trainedstudent--if he has seen it many times. Now, suppose tpey come across the word "interdependence." Phonics-triained students w114 read it , and understand what it-means, but look-and-saystudents--90 ,percent of the time--will read itas "independence." 'They . will never see the "ter," becausefor yeaes and years they have had drummed into their minUs toguests a word by its general shape and appearance. You see, look-and-say doesn't ,teach reading or spelling; it teaches guessing. He concludes: "It is an unforgetable moment,whena Child first discovers the key to the secret code of reading." Sharp'disagrees withFlesch. In answer to the question: "Can't a phohics-based reading curriculum compensatefor illogical spelling?", , Sharp answered; 4 ND, and that is a principalreason why phonics reading classes are so tedious for-many children. Basal readers--the textbooks used in. the eafly grades--areobliged to use as many words as possible thatare spelled regularly or phonetically. The result is that most of the readingmatter is horribly boring or inane to many pupils. Some educators are convinced that children resist getting involved inreading because the early texts are so insipid. He concludes: "Eventually, children should be taught ietter-sound relationihips thatare reliable, but theydeould also be madeaware from the beginning that most words don'tconform to the r'Ules of phonics."4 -Attempts at Englich Orthographic Reforms Mahy'scholars have recognized thesediscrepancies and have attempted . to reform English orthography. Reformation have ranged from minor modi- fications in the present'romanic system tOthe use of completely new characters. * 7 4 \ Early in the United States, therewere several attempts at reforma- , . ..7 tion. Benjamin Franklin noted the existence ofmore soUnds in the 4, English language than letters in the romplic alphabet,so he des ned six new symbols.