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Why spelling matters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2014

Valerie Yule
Valerie Yule*
Affiliation:
formerly of Monash University
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Extract

Does spelling matter? Simon Horobin says that it matters because spelling shows ‘the richness of our language and its history’. He argues for retaining spelling unchanged as a testimony to the ‘richness of our linguistic heritage and a connection with our literary past’. His book shows that until the last two hundred years it was constantly changing, but ‘rather than lamenting the inconsistencies and complexities of English spelling’, Horobin traces ‘how these developed and what they tell us about the fascinating history of our language’.

Type
Reviews
Information
English Today , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 59 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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