Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling and Extraordinary Story of English Spelling
Language: English
Published by St. Martin's Press, 2013
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books (was SecondSale)
AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007
Condition: Used - Good
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Add to basketItem description from seller
The fascinating and surprising history of English spelling from David Crystal, everyone's favorite expert logophileWith>The Story of English in 100 Words, David Crystal took us on a tour through the history of our language. Now, with>Spell It Out, he takes on the task of answering all the questions about how we spell: Why is English spelling so difficult? Or Why are good spellers so proud of their achievement that when they see a misspelling they condemn the writer as sloppy, lazy, or uneducated? In thirty-seven short, engaging and informative chapters, Crystal takes readers on a history of English spelling, starting with the Roman missionaries' sixth century introduction of the Roman alphabet and ending with where the language might be going. He looks individually at each letter in the alphabet and its origins. He considers the question of vowels and how people developed a way to tell whether or not it was long or short. He looks at influences from other cultures, and explains how English speakers understood that the o in hopping was a short vowel, rather than the long vowel of hoping. If you've ever asked yourself questions like Why do the words their, there and they're sound alike, but mean very different things? or How can we tell the difference between charge the verb and charge the noun? David Crystal's>Spell It Out will spell it all out for you.…
Seller Inventory # 00106688970
- Title
- Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling and Extraordinary Story of English Spelling
- Author
- David Crystal
- Publisher
- St. Martin's Press
- Publication year
- 2013
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1250003474
- ISBN 13
- 9781250003478
The fascinating and surprising history of English spelling from David Crystal, everyone's favorite expert logophile
With The Story of English in 100 Words, David Crystal took us on a tour through the history of our language. Now, with Spell It Out, he takes on the task of answering all the questions about how we spell: "Why is English spelling so difficult?" Or "Why are good spellers so proud of their achievement that when they see a misspelling they condemn the writer as sloppy, lazy, or uneducated?" In thirty-seven short, engaging and informative chapters, Crystal takes readers on a history of English spelling, starting with the Roman missionaries' sixth century introduction of the Roman alphabet and ending with where the language might be going. He looks individually at each letter in the alphabet and its origins. He considers the question of vowels and how people developed a way to tell whether or not it was long or short. He looks at influences from other cultures, and explains how English speakers understood that the "o" in "hopping" was a short vowel, rather than the long vowel of "hoping". If you've ever asked yourself questions like "Why do the words "their", "there" and "they're" sound alike, but mean very different things?" or "How can we tell the difference between "charge" the verb and "charge" the noun?" David Crystal's Spell It Out will spell it all out for you.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
DAVID CRYSTAL, is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to the English language. He lives in the United Kingdom.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
World of Books (was SecondSale)
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007
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