Alexander Melville Bell
Teacher of phonetics, creator of Visible Speech, father of Alexander Graham Bell.
Alexander Melville Bell was a Scottish-born teacher and researcher of physiological phonetics who wrote extensively on proper speech and elocution. He invented Visible Speech, a system of graphic symbols representing the positions and movements of the lips, tongue, and mouth, designed to help deaf people learn to speak. He was also the father of Alexander Graham Bell.
Bell was born in Edinburgh and trained under his father, Alexander Bell, an authority on phonetics and speech disorders, eventually becoming his principal assistant. From 1843 to 1865, he lectured on elocution at the University of Edinburgh, then at the University of London until 1870. He married Eliza Grace Symonds, the daughter of a British naval surgeon, in 1844; they had three children. After moving to Canada, he lectured at the Lowell Institute in Boston in 1868, 1870, and 1871. In 1870, he became a lecturer on philology at Queen’s College in Kingston, Ontario. In 1881, at his son’s suggestion, he moved to Washington, D.C., to focus on educating the deaf using Visible Speech and other orthoepic methods.
Before leaving Scotland, Bell had published at least 17 works on speech, vocal physiology, and stenography. He lectured at universities in Boston, Montreal, Toronto, London, and elsewhere, including a series of 12 lectures at Boston’s Lowell Institute. When the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (later King George V and Queen Mary) visited Brantford, Bell was asked to greet them. He became a Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland, the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and held memberships in other societies. He married twice: first to Eliza Grace Symonds, then to Harriet G. Shibley.
Bell published his first works on Visible Speech in 1864. His system used 29 modifiers and tones, 52 consonants, 36 vowels, and a dozen diphthongs, and he created two shorthand forms: World English, similar to the International Phonetic Alphabet, and Line Writing, for stenographers. Édouard Séguin called Visible Speech “a greater invention than the telephone of his son.” Bell hoped it would become a universal language. It was promoted at the 1880 Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf in Milan, but after about a dozen years, it was found cumbersome and faded from use.
In 1887, Alexander Graham Bell sold the assets of the Volta Labo
- born
- 1 March 1819, Edinburgh, Scotland
- died
- 7 August 1905, Washington, D.C., US
- field
- Physiological phonetics, orthoepy, elocution
- nationality
- Scottish
- known_for
- Creator of Visible Speech; father of Alexander Graham Bell
Lore & Background
Melville Bell died at age 86 in 1905 due to pneumonia after an operation for diabetes, and was interred in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Cemetery. His voice, reciting a sentence from Hamlet, can be heard at the Smithsonian Institution from an 1881 graphophone recording. The Bell House at Colonial Beach, Virginia was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
Reader's Guide
Alexander Melville Bell's significance lies primarily in his creation of Visible Speech, a phonetic notation system intended to aid the deaf in learning to speak. Although the system was initially promoted internationally, it was eventually found to be cumbersome compared to other methods and faded from use. His work contributed to the broader field of phonetics and elocution, and he authored numerous publications, including the widely reprinted 'The Standard Elocutionist'. His legacy is also tied to his son, Alexander Graham Bell, and to the Volta Bureau, which was built with Melville's financial assistance to further knowledge relating to the deaf. His contributions to the education of the deaf, though ultimately superseded, represent an important chapter in the history of special education and phonetic science.
Did You Know?
- Alexander Melville Bell was the father of Alexander Graham Bell.
- He created Visible Speech, a system of graphic diagrams to help the deaf learn to talk.
- His voice, reciting a sentence from Hamlet, is preserved at the Smithsonian Institution from an 1881 graphophone recording.
- He contributed US$15,000 to help build the Volta Bureau building in 1893.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Alexander Melville Bell?
He was a Scottish phonetics scholar and elocution teacher born in Edinburgh in 1819 who became best known for devising a visual notation system for speech sounds. He spent decades lecturing on proper pronunciation and studying the mechanics of human speech production.
What is Visible Speech and how does it work?
Visible Speech is a set of graphic symbols that map the physical positions and movements of the lips, tongue, and mouth during speech. Bell created it as a practical tool to help deaf individuals learn to produce spoken language by seeing exactly how to shape their articulators.
What is Alexander Melville Bell's connection to Alexander Graham Bell?
He was the father of Alexander Graham Bell, the famous inventor of the telephone. His deep expertise in phonetics and speech mechanics provided the intellectual environment in which his son grew up.
Why is Alexander Melville Bell significant in the history of writing systems?
He designed one of the earliest systematic notations that translates the physical mechanics of speech into a visual symbolic language. His work laid groundwork for later phonetic alphabets and influenced how speech sounds are recorded and taught.
Where did Alexander Melville Bell study and teach?
He trained under his own father, Alexander Bell, a recognized authority on phonetics and speech disorders, eventually serving as his principal assistant. From 1843 to 1865 he held a lecturing position on elocution at a university, and he later lived and died in Washington, D.C. in 1905.
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