S P E L L I N G   MATCHING LETTERS AND SOUNDS The introduction of spelling, that is of the use of an alphabet, has a calming influence on changing of sounds in languages. But this influence is limited. Scholars responsible for official spelling, for example in my mother-tongue Dutch, encounter enormous problems in matching letters with real sounds. They never make it fully. In fact, f.e. a final d is to be pronounced as t. And there are many more examples of this kind.   DIFFERENT CHOICES The distinction in spelling between ch and g, s and z, c and k etc. has not always been too clear. Early texts, in Middle-Dutch, show that the people or scholars who started their "lawless" writing, had various opinions about the sounds they wanted to represent. We are not even sure how clearly distinct the sounds were in the past.   RULES Yet, the efforts of governments to regulate spelling remain an indispensable condition for proper communication between people. If they go too far in adapting the writing of words to their sound, the comprehension of their origin is reduced. But if, like in English and French, adaptation of spelling to reality is fairly absent, the result is that the kids ( or foreigners ) in practice have to learn two versions of the language itself : the written and the spoken one.   LOCAL PRACTICE It is hard to say which is better.Let us look once more at two Germanic words meaning respectively "human being" and "bush". This shows a rather wide variety of local pronunciations.   Old/MiddleEnglish mennisc -busc Old/MiddleEnglish mennesc bushhe Old/MiddleEnglish menisc New English N.A. ( man ) bush Dutch : Modern pronunciation mens bos Modern spelling mens bos Spelling before 1934 mensch bosch Amsterdam dialect (phon) minsh bosh West Flemish (phon) menskh boskh Middle Dutch mensche bossche minsche busch mensch bosch High German (phon) mensh bush Old High German/td> mennisko busk mannisko Swedish (phon) menniska büske <   Also in Hebrew there has been this lack of clear distinctions. The invention of the alphabet took place between North-West Semitic speakers nearly four thousand years ago, but the speaking of the language of course was well established. And many roots had lived their differentiations with the shaping of new words that came to have new roots. For example roots with 3 consonants, as today is usual, based on shorter ones from before.     PROCEDING WITH SELECTIVITY In order to be reasonably certain in concluding about common origins, one should find at least a considerable nearness in both factors : in meanings as well as in sounds/spelling .That is what we propose to do in our comparison between a number of words. In this the writer will have the considerable advantage of not being hampered by excessive prejudice.