CORRESPONDENT E Reynolds raised a fascinating point about spelling when he asked why Germany was spelt with a "G" and not a "J" as in Jerusalem (HAS, Sept 5).

My Chambers' 20th Century Dictionary says that "German"

comes from the Latin "Germanus".

"Jerusalem" will surely have a totally different word history - with perhaps a slightly different pronunciation to which the hearing of those with English as their mother tongue might not be naturally tuned.

Words surely come into any language from all times in history and from all directions. This is why, in a worldwide context, attempts at standard spelling may produce more confusion than help.

For example, the destination boards of some continental trains may show "Oslo - S" which may lead people returning to France and the UK to look in vain for an "Oslo South" station when, in fact, this is just because the Norwegians have tried to eliminate the letter "C" by spelling the name of the station "Sentral" instead of "Central".

E Turnbull, Newcastle.