The-Man-Who-Made-Spelling-Simple

TheManWhoMadeSpellingSimpleInEnglishthespellingofwordsdoesnotalwaysrepresentthesound.Sopeoplesay/raIt/butspellitright,orwrite,orevenrite.Combinationsofletters(likeough)maybepronouncedinanumberofways.Andsomewordsjustseemtohavetoomanyletters.ForAmericansthingsarealittlebiteasier,thankstotheworkofNoahWebster,ateacherwhograduatedfromYaleUniversityin1778.AsayoungmanhehadfoughtagainsttheBritishintheAmericanWarofIndependence,andhefeltthatwrittenEnglishinthenewlyindependentUnitedStatesshouldhaveadistinctiveAmericanlook.SohebeganhisworkonAmericanEnglish.Hisfirstbook,TheElementarySpellingBook,suggestedsimplifyingthespellingofEnglishwords.Thebookwasextremelypopular.Bythe1850sitwassellingonemillioncopiesayear,makingitoneofthemostpopularschoolbooksever.Manyofthesuggestionswerequicklyadopted.Centerinsteadofcentre,programinsteadofprogramme,andflavorinsteadofflavour.Others,however,suchasremovingsilentletterslikethesinislandorthefinaleinexamine,werenot.WebsterisbestknownforhisAmericanDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,whichfirstappearedin1828.ItintroducedlotsofnewAmericanwords,withinformationabouttheirpronunciationanduse,and,ofcourse,thenewspelling.TheBritishcriticisedthedictionary,butitquicklybecameastandardreferencebookintheStates.Today,Webster'sdictionaryisstillthenumberonedictionaryforAmericanstudents.SamuelJohnson'sDictionarySamuelJohnson(1709–1784)publishedhisbookADictionaryoftheEnglishLanguagein1755afterworkingforsevenyearstoprovidedefinitions,examplesofuseandprovenanceforaround40,000words.Thiswasabouthalfofthewordshehadintendedtoinclude,butheranoutofspace!Thebooksoldverywell,andwasthemostimportantdictionaryinBritainformostofthe19thcentury.Itwasthefirstexampleofgoodlexicography,althoughmanyofthewordswerenotincommonuse,andmostoftheexamplescamefromliterature.Itwasadictionaryfortheeducatedminority,notthemasses.