Essay On Spelling Reform

This research paper will attempt to scratch the surface of the subject of spelling reform and the Americanization of the English Language in America. For hundreds of years there has been many attempts to differentiate American English from our former rulers, the British. A precious few of the attempts have been victorious and most were complete blunders. We will look at who the proponent(s) were, most notably, Noah Webster, the man considered by many to be ‘America’s Teacher’. We will examine the inconsistent condition of the English language in the early American colonies, in order to come to a conclusion as to why so much time and effort was being put into changing the British way of spelling to an Americanized spelling. Finally, we

Noah Webster is considered to be the man most responsible for the differences, by changing the archaic British spelling to a way of spelling based on the phonetic sound of the various letters. In America, Webster’s name is synonymous with written English. Before the age of the internet and Google, people would often invoke the name of Webster if they needed to know the meaning of, or how to spell a word. (Webster. n.d.) ‘Ask Webster’ (unknown)

Who wanted spelling

As more and more people arrived, they would bring with them the new vocabulary brought on by advancements in industry, immigrants from different countries, and the ever evolving world.

Contact with the local native Indian tribes and the need to communicate with them also created a need to add new words to the vocabulary of daily life. Different tribes would use a different word for the same thing. The colonist would have different new words for the same thing depending on the local tribe(s) they were interacting