25. The Reformed Mode of Spelling: Presentation and Analysis

The objective of Chapter 25 is to provide contextualization for Franklin’s Reformed Mode of Spelling. The chapter is divided into three main sections. The first section provides background on Franklin’s editor, friend, and fellow Whig, Benjamin Vaughan (1751–1835), as well as his motivations for compiling and publishing Franklin’s writings under the title Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces written by Benjamin Franklin. The RMS composes the final chapter of this volume.While Franklin’s many other accomplishments far outweigh his contributions to orthography, both he and Vaughan evidently regarded the RMS as sufficiently important to include in the publication, and this despite the fact that it never went beyond a draft proposal. The second section reviews all previous linguistic studies dedicated to Franklin’s RMS. These extend from the eighteenth century to 2025. That being said, Charles Wise’s 1948 article was the single most significant contribution of the 20th century. Here, I outline the input these scholars have made to our understanding of Franklin’s alphabet and the phonological system it reflects. However, virtually all prior scholars have assumed that Franklin’s RMS reflected his native colonial accent. From this assumption, many concluded that Franklin’s English—and, by extension, colonial American English—was close to educated 18th century London English.The third section provides a page-by-page summary of the RMS and is designed to give readers insight into how Franklin organized his scheme and to highlight the scientific contributions of his proto-phonemic alphabet. With few exceptions, Franklin’s impact on phonetics has been overlooked (cf. Joan Beal’s Preface to this book). This section also discusses a previously missing letter Franklin wrote to Polly Stevenson on July 20, 1768. Written in his new orthography, the letter contains many beginner errors, the significance of which is examined in Chapters 27 and 28. In it, Franklin asks Stevenson, a native Londoner, to correct any errors she observes, providing further evidence that he wished his RMS to be representative of London English rather than his own provincial accent. This is also of significant relevance because this is the first study to identify Polly Stevenson as a partner in the conception of his RMS. The remainder of the chapter analyzes two additional manuscript letters (not see before) exchanged between Franklin and Stevenson, both written in his alphabet, offering further insight into his orthographic system and its practical uses.