This book can be found in:
Language & Reference > Language usage & writing guides > Language: history & general works

Spell it Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling (Paperback)

David Crystal

Be the first to write a review

£8.99

Paperback Published: 19/09/2013

10+ in stock

We can send it to you within 24 hours

Click & Collect From your local shop

Synopsis

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.

Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781846685682