The History of English Spelling

The History of English Spelling PDF Author: Christopher Upward
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444342975
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
The History of English Spelling “Fifty years ago, G. H. Vallins contributed a book on spelling to the Language Library. Since then, there have been several major surveys, and new opportunities to explore the history of English words. The time is therefore ripe for a fresh presentation, and this is what George Davidson has done, building on the huge collection of historical data amassed by Christopher Upward, and giving it narrative shape. I have been waiting for a source-book like this for a long time, and I’m delighted that it has found a place in this series.” David Crystal, Language Library series editor Few languages are riddled with as many spelling inconsistencies and irregularities as English. Why is there such dissonance between the sounds of English and the spelling used to represent them? The answer lies in the history of the language itself. The History of English Spelling reveals the rich and complex history of Modern English spelling, tracing its origins and development from Old English up to the present day. The book provides a highly detailed, letter-by-letter analysis of the Old English basis of Modern English spelling, followed by in-depth coverage of the contributions from French, Latin, Greek and the many other languages that have contributed to current orthography. Upward and Davidson also explore events in the socio-political history of England as the setting for developments in spelling, along with the works of a number of lexicographers (especially Johnson and Webster), and various proposals for spelling reform. The History of English Spelling reveals the richness of the complex and often frustrating alphabetic spelling system used in the English language. A complementary website with additional research material can be found at www.historyofenglishspelling.info

The History of English Spelling

The History of English Spelling PDF Author: Christopher Upward
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444342975
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 394

Get Book Here

Book Description
The History of English Spelling “Fifty years ago, G. H. Vallins contributed a book on spelling to the Language Library. Since then, there have been several major surveys, and new opportunities to explore the history of English words. The time is therefore ripe for a fresh presentation, and this is what George Davidson has done, building on the huge collection of historical data amassed by Christopher Upward, and giving it narrative shape. I have been waiting for a source-book like this for a long time, and I’m delighted that it has found a place in this series.” David Crystal, Language Library series editor Few languages are riddled with as many spelling inconsistencies and irregularities as English. Why is there such dissonance between the sounds of English and the spelling used to represent them? The answer lies in the history of the language itself. The History of English Spelling reveals the rich and complex history of Modern English spelling, tracing its origins and development from Old English up to the present day. The book provides a highly detailed, letter-by-letter analysis of the Old English basis of Modern English spelling, followed by in-depth coverage of the contributions from French, Latin, Greek and the many other languages that have contributed to current orthography. Upward and Davidson also explore events in the socio-political history of England as the setting for developments in spelling, along with the works of a number of lexicographers (especially Johnson and Webster), and various proposals for spelling reform. The History of English Spelling reveals the richness of the complex and often frustrating alphabetic spelling system used in the English language. A complementary website with additional research material can be found at www.historyofenglishspelling.info

A History of English Spelling

A History of English Spelling PDF Author: D. G. Scragg
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719005534
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description


Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary PDF Author: John A. Simpson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195218893
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Oxford English Dictionary is the internationally recognized authority on the evolution of the English language from 1150 to the present day. The Dictionary defines over 500,000 words, making it an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, pronunciation, and history of the English language. This new upgrade version of The Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM offers unparalleled access to the world's most important reference work for the English language. The text of this version has been augmented with the inclusion of the Oxford English Dictionary Additions Series (Volumes 1-3), published in 1993 and 1997, the Bibliography to the Second Edition, and other ancillary material. System requirements: PC with minimum 200 MHz Pentium-class processor; 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended); 16-speed CD-ROM drive (32-speed recommended); Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 200, or XP (Local administrator rights are required to install and open the OED for the first time on a PC running Windows NT 4 and to install and run the OED on Windows 2000 and XP); 1.1 GB hard disk space to run the OED from the CD-ROM and 1.7 GB to install the CD-ROM to the hard disk: SVGA monitor: 800 x 600 pixels: 16-bit (64k, high color) setting recommended. Please note: for the upgrade, installation requires the use of the OED CD-ROM v2.0.

The American Way of Spelling

The American Way of Spelling PDF Author: Richard L. Venezky
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 9781572304697
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Can ghoti really be pronounced fish? Why is "o" short in glove and love, but long in rove and cove? Why do English words carry such extra baggage as the silent "b" in doubt, the silent "k" in knee, and the silent "n" in autumn? And why do names like Phabulous Phoods and Hi-Ener-G stand out? Addressing these and many other questions about letters and the sounds they make, this engaging volume provides a comprehensive analysis of American English spelling and pronunciation. Venezky illuminates the fully functional system underlying what can at times be a bewildering array of exceptions, focusing on the basic units that serve to signal word form or pronunciation, where these units can occur within words, and how they relate to sound. Also examined are how our current spelling system has developed, efforts to reform it, and ways that spelling rules or patterns are violated in commercial usage. From one of the world's foremost orthographic authorities, the book affords new insight into the teaching of reading and the acquisition and processing of spelling sound relationships.

A History of the English Language

A History of the English Language PDF Author: Elly van Gelderen
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027270430
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
The English language in its complex shapes and forms changes fast. This thoroughly revised edition has been refreshed with current examples of change and has been updated regarding archeological research. Most suggestions brought up by users and reviewers have been incorporated, for instance, a family tree for Germanic has been added, Celtic influence is highlighted much more, there is more on the origin of Chancery English, and internal and external change are discussed in much greater detail. The philosophy of the revised book remains the same with an emphasis on the linguistic history and on using authentic texts. My audience remains undergraduates (and beginning graduates). The goals of the class and the book are to come to recognize English from various time periods, to be able to read each stage with a glossary, to get an understanding of typical language change, internal and external, and to understand something about language typology through the emphasis on the change from synthetic to analytic. This book has a companion website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/z.183.website

Dictionary of the British English Spelling System

Dictionary of the British English Spelling System PDF Author: Greg Brooks
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
ISBN: 1783741074
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
This book will tell all you need to know about British English spelling. It's a reference work intended for anyone interested in the English language, especially those who teach it, whatever the age or mother tongue of their students. It will be particularly useful to those wishing to produce well-designed materials for teaching initial literacy via phonics, for teaching English as a foreign or second language, and for teacher training. English spelling is notoriously complicated and difficult to learn; it is correctly described as much less regular and predictable than any other alphabetic orthography. However, there is more regularity in the English spelling system than is generally appreciated. This book provides, for the first time, a thorough account of the whole complex system. It does so by describing how phonemes relate to graphemes and vice versa. It enables searches for particular words, so that one can easily find, not the meanings or pronunciations of words, but the other words with which those with unusual phoneme-grapheme/grapheme-phoneme correspondences keep company. Other unique features of this book include teacher-friendly lists of correspondences and various regularities not described by previous authorities, for example the strong tendency for the letter-name vowel phonemes (the names of the letters ) to be spelt with those single letters in non-final syllables.

Spell It Out

Spell It Out PDF Author: David Crystal
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250003474
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Presents a history of English spelling through chapters that cover such topics as the introduction of the Roman alphabet, each letter's origins, and the development of long and short vowels.

Understanding and Teaching English Spelling

Understanding and Teaching English Spelling PDF Author: Adam Brown
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351621866
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
Concise and engaging, this text provides pre-service and practicing English language teachers with the knowledge they need to successfully teach the spelling of English. Offering context and explanation for the English spelling system as well as uniquely addressing specific problems in learning the spelling of English words, this book empowers readers with strategies for coping with these problems. Divided into six accessible sections, Brown covers the history of English spelling, the influence of technology on spelling, the role of punctuation, the features of present-day English spelling, teaching strategies for coping with difficult spelling, and the future of spelling and literacy. The short, digestible chapters include practical learning objectives and end-of-chapter exercises to help teachers understand and explain English spelling concepts.

Spell It Out

Spell It Out PDF Author: David Crystal
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847658229
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Why is there an 'h' in ghost? William Caxton, inventor of the printing press and his Flemish employees are to blame: without a dictionary or style guide to hand in fifteenth century Bruges, the typesetters simply spelled it the way it sounded to their foreign ears, and it stuck. Seventy-five per cent of English spelling is regular but twenty-five per cent is complicated, and in Spell It Out our foremost linguistics expert David Crystal extends a helping hand to the confused and curious alike. He unearths the stories behind the rogue words that confound us, and explains why these peculiarities entered the mainstream, in an epic journey taking in sixth century monks, French and Latin upstarts, the Industrial Revolution and the internet. By learning the history and the principles, Crystal shows how the spellings that break all the rules become easier to get right.

American English Spelling

American English Spelling PDF Author: D. W. Cummings
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801834431
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 606

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Book Description
In this study of the English language as it is spelled in America, D. W. Cummings demonstrates that behind the apparent disorder of spelling in American English lies a self-regulating and self-reorganizing system that is responsive to four kinds of imperative: phonetic, semantic, etymological, and systemic. Cummings offers a systematic theory of orthography and applies this theory to the American English vocabulary with numerous examples. Cummings also describes the explication of written words into their elements, particles, and processes, and he sets out the tactical and procedural rules that control the distribution and sequencing of vowels and consonants. In the largest section of the book, he provides an exhaustive description of the major and minor correspondences between the sounds of American English words and their spellings. An essential reference work, American English Spelling moves beyond questions of how words are spelled to an understanding of why they are spelled as they are.