Salt Lake Telegram | 1928-05-07 | Page 7 | Know Utah

I KNOW UTAH By ALBERT F. F PHILIPS What was the Deseret alphabet Who Vho suggested It What were tile the reasons reason for having such an analphabet analphabet analphabet alphabet These were questions asked yesterday together to together to- to gether ether with another Was another Was there ever such an alphabet alphabet alpha alpha- bet It was back In 1853 that this alphabet was suggested by Brigham m Young If It indeed It was was was' no not ordered by him In a message which he delivered to the general a assembly of 1863 1113 Said the pioneer leader and governor of the t territory of Utah While the world Is progressing with steam engine power and speed sneed In lii th the tiu accumulation of ot wealth ex ex- tension of science communication and dissemination of letters and principle why may not the way y bep be p paved ved for tor the easier acquisition of the tue guage combining as us It does great extension and varied expression with beauty and simplicity and power am and being unquestionably the most useful and beautiful In ip tile tWe world But while whilo we WI fr freely ely admit this we also have to acknowledge that It Is perhaps s as much abused in its use and nd as complex In Its attainment as any other C The Tue question of having an alphabet bet was almost like tho creating ot of a code and was discussed by bythe bythe bytho the tho board of regents of the University of Deseret The jIo question finally culminated in the selection 01 of ofa ofa a a- committee a of the board In October when Parley P. P Pratt Heber C. C Kimball and George D. D W Watt tt were directed to prepare preparo a small school chool book In characters founded on some zoine new system m of orthography orthography orthography raphy whereby the tho spelling and pronunciation of the English language might be made uniform and easily acquired A furth further r object was exclusiveness a separate people wishing to have a separate language and perhaps in time an independent literature I IThe The question was discussed at length by the committee committee com corn mitten and It was finally decided that each regent should prepare an alphabet of his own contrivance and present It to the full board Bancroft in his History of Utah in speaking of tho proposed Deseret Deseret Deseret Des Des- eret alphabet says sars Parley Pratt was In favor of adopting one ono to which each letter should represent a a. single sound but as some of the letters represent no sound except when in combination with other lettera letters letters let let- tera and others are of uncertain sound depending upon such combination the task would seem to bea bo be boa a difficult one Finally continues Bancroft at a session held in December 1854 chai characters actors were adopted known as the Deseret alphabet This had two thirty-two letters letters letters let let- let let- or rather sounds In this alphabet alphabets the long sound of ot the letter c in meter was represented by bya a character resembling the Greek Greel Sigma reversed the double sound of woo in wood by one resembling omega the aspirate by phi and the articulate sound of ot f 1 by rho These characters are apparently borrowed from from flom the Greek This also alo was the case in the plates from front which the tho Book Dook of ot Mormon is said to have hao been translated where the letters pi rho tau phi chi some of them as in manuscript and others as in printed Greek can be distinctly traced a a a aIn In 60 1839 the Deseret alphabet was used In l keeping keep keep- pIng p- p ing the ledger of Brigham ham Young and to some extent ex ex- tent in the historians historian's office and in journalism