Next book

The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules

A supremely useful spelling resource for native and non-native speakers alike.

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT

A volume examines the quirks of English in a logical, no-frills manner.

In this work, Fulford (To Reach the Sea: The Creation of Bolivia and Its Extraordinary Struggle to Survive, 2014, etc.) asserts that despite the English language’s reputation as a lawless territory, there are certainly patterns to be found and studied. He begins with a brief history of the language and notes the contributions of familiar figures such as Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, Benjamin Franklin, and Melville Dewey. The author also explains why spelling reform movements have met with varying degrees of success over the years, for reasons both linguistic and sociological. Early chapters may resurrect memories of long-forgotten school lessons on syllabification, apostrophes, plural formation, and doubling the consonant. But the bulk of the text focuses on the workings of individual letters or common letter groupings. The author identifies illogical usages, sharing a student’s understandable frustration with the more difficult spelling groups. For instance, he writes: “Without a doubt, the most annoying spellings in the English language are the ancient igh, ough, and augh. They are thousand-year-old relics that should have vanished centuries ago, but never did.” Near the end of the book, Fulford straightens out potential confusion concerning homographs, homophones, homonyms, and heteronyms. One minor quibble involves formatting issues, whereby some boldfaced passages featured in the margins of one chapter actually refer to text in a different chapter. Nonetheless, the author strikes a difficult balance, as each chapter presents a well-chosen number of examples that fit the patterns discussed alongside notable exceptions. Thus, the guide is not as dry as one might imagine. Fulford wryly remarks on the exceptional pronunciation of the NBA’s Boston Celtics (Seltics, not Keltics) and includes the following historical note: “In the overly quaint Ye Olde Tea Shoppe, the word ye was originally pronounced the. The y takes the place of an ancient letter called a thorn, now no longer used, that had the th sound.” For those who have always wondered about such matters, the mystery is solved.

A supremely useful spelling resource for native and non-native speakers alike.

Pub Date: April 24, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-9831872-1-9

Page Count: 146

Publisher: Astoria Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016

Categories:
Next book

THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...

Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").

Pub Date: May 15, 1972

ISBN: 0205632645

Page Count: 105

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

Categories:
Next book

NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:
Close Quickview