Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling And Extraordinary Story Of English Spelling (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
This isn't so much an overview of orthography as it is a overview of English history as it relates to spelling. I guess I was looking more for the "how" than the "why" behind why English spelling is so unpredictable. Crystal would say that it's not so unpredictable once one understands the origins of words. While that might be true and even interesting, it's highly impractical in most cases. When I taught ESL, I really couldn't expect to spent time explaining the French, Anglo-Saxon, Latin or Germanic origins of words to people whose immediate need was to become fluent enough to function in their new language and who needed a reliable took set for deciphering a puzzle like "cough, dough, through" or why the present and past tense of "to read" are pronounced differently. It's not a bad introduction to the influence of conquests, inventions and plain old accents on English spelling, but there's not much here that you can use when trying to remember if the past tense of "cancel" has one l or two. I'm going to just say that this book is not for everyone. It is an ENTIRE book on...spelling. Well written in an engaging way that didn't make this seem like a textbook subject. Explained the orthography history of English spelling and now I can add more linguistic knowledge to my linguistic database inside my head! I think I probably enjoyed this more than other reviewers as it seems to have been written for an experienced linguistic audience.
What do You think about Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling And Extraordinary Story Of English Spelling (2013)?
Fascinating. Can't wait to read more of his work. Is it too late for me to become a linguist?
—judean
There are lots of good writers on English linguistics, but none as clear as Crystal!
—faithxoxo
Interesting if a bit dry. Fun to skim and skip around.
—winter_collins15
