The Man Who Made Spelling Simple
In English the spelling of words does not always represent the sound.So people say /rait/but spell it right,or write,or even rite.Combinations of letters(like ough) may be pronounced in a number of ways.And some words just seem to have too many letters.
For Americans things are a little bit easier,thanks to the work of Noah Webster,a teacher who graduated from Yale University in 1778.As a young man he had fought against the British in the American War of Independence,and he felt that written English in the newly independent United States shoud have a distinctive “American” look.
So he began his work on American English.His first book,The Elementary Spelling Book,suggested simplifying the spelling of English words.The book was extremely popular.By the 1850s it was selling one million copies a year,making it one of the most popular school books ever.
Many of the suggestions were quickly adopted.Center instead of centre,program instead of programme,and flavor instead of programme,and flavor instead of flavour.Others,however,such as removing silent letters like the s in island or the final e in examine,were not.
Webster is best known for his American Dictionary of the English Language,which first appeared in 1828.It introduced lots of new American words,with information about their pronunciation and use,and,of course,the new spelling.The British criticised the dictionary,but it quickly became a standard reference book in the States.Today,Webster’s dictionary is still the number one dictionary for American students.
中文翻譯：
讓拼寫(xiě)變簡(jiǎn)單的男人
在英語(yǔ)中,單詞的拼寫(xiě)不是總能代表發(fā)音.所以人們說(shuō)/rait/的時(shí)候會(huì)拼出right,或者write,更或者是rite.字母的組合（例如ough）會(huì)有多種發(fā)音.有些單詞又那么的長(zhǎng).
對(duì)于美國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō),事情相對(duì)容易些,多虧了Noah Webster,一名1778年從耶魯大學(xué)畢業(yè)的老師.年輕時(shí)候他曾在美國(guó)獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)對(duì)抗英國(guó)人.他覺(jué)得英語(yǔ)的書(shū)寫(xiě)應(yīng)該在獨(dú)立的美國(guó)有美國(guó)人獨(dú)特的寫(xiě)法.
之后他就開(kāi)始研究美式英語(yǔ).他的第一本書(shū),基礎(chǔ)拼寫(xiě),建議簡(jiǎn)化英語(yǔ)單詞的拼寫(xiě).該書(shū)受到了熱捧.在19世紀(jì)50年代,每年能賣(mài)一百萬(wàn)冊(cè).這樣的銷(xiāo)量使它成為史上最受歡迎的學(xué)校用書(shū)之一.
書(shū)中的很多建議很快被采納了.Center取代了centre,program取代了programme,flavor取代了flavour.還有些則沒(méi)被采納,例如把不發(fā)音的字母從單詞中刪除,island中的s,examine中的最后一個(gè)字母e.
Webster 最有名的作品是美國(guó)英語(yǔ)字典,最早出現(xiàn)于1828年.該書(shū)引進(jìn)了很多新的美國(guó)單詞,包括他們對(duì)應(yīng)的發(fā)音,用法,當(dāng)然還有拼寫(xiě).英國(guó)人對(duì)那本字典進(jìn)行了批判.但它還是很快成了標(biāo)準(zhǔn)參考書(shū).今天,Webster 的字典仍舊是美國(guó)學(xué)們心中排名第一的字典.太給力了，你的回答完美解決了我的問(wèn)題！