The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules (52 page)

His deep interest in spelling began when he was teaching English in Barcelona, Spain, where he found that many students who spoke and read English quite well, disliked writing in English because they had serious trouble with English spelling. They were, in fact, adamant that there is no logic to English spelling. Fulford argued otherwise and when he returned to North America, he delved deeper into the history of the English language and gradually worked out the many rules that govern English spelling.

This book is the result of twenty years of serious research into English spelling, including a study of the writings of Noah Webster, post-graduate courses in linguistics and a unique computer program. It also gave the author an excuse to acquire a valuable collection of dictionaries.

1
  All quotations are taken from Noah Webster’s twenty page preface to his
Compendious Dictionary of the English Language,
New York: Crown Publishers, 1970 (originally published in New Haven, Connecticut, in January, 1806).

2
  Webster, 1806, p. xxii.

3
  Webster, 1806, p. vii.

4
  Webster, 1806, pp. viii-ix.

5
  Webster, 1806, p. ix.

6
  Webster, 1806, p. ix.

7
  Webster, 1806, p. 15.

8
  Webster, 1806, p. 4.