Excerpt from A Manual of Phonography, or Writing by Sound: A Natural Method of Writing by Signs That Represent Spoken Sounds, Adapted to the English Language as a Complete System of Phonetic Shorthand We have here [in a scheme which Sir John Herschel] had just given] the fewest letters with which it is possible to write English. But, on the other hand, with the addition of two or three more vowels, and as many consonants, every known -anguage might dprobably be effectually reduced to writing, so as to preserve an exact correspon ence between the writmg and renunciation, which would be one of the most valuable acquisitions, not only to p ilologists, but to mankind; facih tating the intercourse between nations, and laying the foundation of the first ste towards a universal language, one of the great desiderata at which mank ought to aim by common consent. Sir J ohn Hsascnnn. Article Sound. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.