This list, the object of which is to make the reader easily acquainted
with the actual defect of the language in this particular, does not
pretend to be complete or scientific; and in the identification of
doubtful words the clue was dictated by brevity. _s._, _v._, and _adj._
mean _substantive_, _verb_, and _adjective_. The sections were made to
aid the conspectus.
The main indictment is contained in sections i, ii, and iii. These
three sections contain 505 entries, involving some 1,075 words.
The homophones in the other sections, iv, v, vi, vii, viii and ix,
are _generally_ of such a kind that they would not of themselves
constitute a very peculiar case against the English language; but
their addition to the main list does very much strengthen the case.
One intention in isolating them from the main list was to prevent
their contaminating it with their weaker quality; but their
separate classification crosses and sometimes overrides that more
general distinction. Section iv has some literary interest; vi is
inconsistent; the other sections are more or less scientific. These
six sections contain some 330 entries involving about 700 words, so
that the total of words involved is about 1,775.
The order in this section is that of the phonetic alphabet.