36.2532, Books: A History of English Spelling: Horobin (2025)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2532. Wed Aug 27 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.2532, Books: A History of English Spelling: Horobin (2025)

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Date: 26-Aug-2025
From: Carla Hepburn [carla.hepburn at eup.ed.ac.uk]
Subject: A History of English Spelling: Horobin (2025)


Title: A History of English Spelling
Series Title: Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language - Advanced
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
           http://www.edinburghuniversitypress.com
Book URL:
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-a-history-of-english-spelling.html

Author(s): Simon Horobin

Hardback
Paperback
Ebook pdf
Ebook epub

Abstract:

Popularly viewed as eccentric and illogical, dismissed by linguists as
fixed and therefore uninteresting, English spelling is the Cinderella
of modern linguistics. But it is a complex and fascinating subject.
With a rich history of variation, English spelling has much to offer
diachronic sociolinguists, while study of its history helps to explain
many of today’s apparent irregularities. The story of its
standardisation, beginning with the advent of the printing press, and
the destandardisation currently being witnessed on social media
platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, offers new perspectives on how
technology drives linguistic change, and reveals fascinating insights
into the ways in which variable spelling is being repurposed today.
With plenty of exercises, worked examples throughout and a concluding
chapter on how to create your own research project, Simon Horobin
encourages you to delve into the rich and varied landscape of English
spelling.

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
                     History of Linguistics
                     Language Documentation
                     Sociolinguistics

Written In: English (eng)



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