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Spell it Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling
David Crystal
€ 13.00
€ 11.70
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Description for Spell it Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling
Paperback. 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 cars, and it stuck. This book takes you on a journey through English spelling. Num Pages: 336 pages, Illustrations. BIC Classification: 2AB; CBX. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 132 x 202 x 21. Weight in Grams: 276.
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 ... Read more
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 ... Read more
Product Details
Publisher
Profile Books Ltd
Number of pages
224
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2013
Condition
New
Number of Pages
336
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781846685682
SKU
V9781846685682
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-99
About David Crystal
David Crystal is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written many books and articles in fields ranging from forensic linguistics and ELT to the liturgy and Shakespeare. He is the author of The Story of English in 100 Words [9781846684272], published by Profile, and his Stories of English is a Penguin Classic.
Reviews for Spell it Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling
Entertaining ... Crystal's many examples show that the development of English spelling is as random, unsystematic and anomalous as the British constitution. English spelling is as rich a mixture of anachronism, privilege and fashion as the House of Lords
Sunday Times
A prolific author ... he can write with authority on trends in the spelling of rhubarb and ... Read more
Sunday Times
A prolific author ... he can write with authority on trends in the spelling of rhubarb and ... Read more