Description
Book SynopsisAn essential reference work, American English Spelling moves beyond questions of how words are spelled to an understanding of why they are spelled as they are.
Trade Review"Until now we have had no work like this. In prose that is a pleasure to read, Cummings reveals order in a seemingly chaotic domain, an accomplishment that is surely the essence of humanistic and scientific scholarship."--Charles Read
Table of ContentsDetailed Table of Contents
Preface
Notes on Usage
Part I: Analysis
Chapter 1. Spelling as System
Chapter 2. The Explication of Written Words
Part II: Tactics
Chapter 3. Sequences and Distributions
Chapter 4. String Patterns and Rules
Chapter 5. Suffix Rules
Chapter 6. VCV in Disyllables
Chapter 7. The Third Syllable Rules
Part III: Procedures
Chapter 8. Silent Final e and Its Deletion Rule
Chapter 9. The Twinning Rules
Chapter 10. Assimilated Prefixes
Part IV: Correspondences
Chapter 11. The Sounds and Letters of English
Chapter 12. Short a, /a/
Chapter 13. Short e, /e/
Chapter 14. Short i, /i/
Chapter 15. The Short o's, /ä/ and /ó/
Chapter 16. High Short u, /ú/
Chapter 17. Low Short u, /u/
Chapter 18. Long a, /a/
Chapter 19. Long e, /e/
Chapter 20. Long i, /i/
Chapter 21. Long o, /o/
Chapter 22. The Simple Long u, /u/
Chapter 23. The Complex Long u, /yu/
Chapter 24. The Diphthongs, /òi/ and /aú/
Chapter 25. Vowels before /r/
Chapter 26. The Front Stops: /b/, /p/, /d/, and /t/
Chapter 27. The Velar Stops, /g/ and /k/
Chapter 28. The Simple Fricatives /v/, /f/, /th/, /th/, and /h/
Chapter 29. The Simple Fricatives /z/ and /s/
Chapter 30. The Palatal Sibilants: /sh/, /ch/, /j/, and /zh/
Chapter 31. The Nasals: /m/, /n/, and /n/
Chapter 32. The Liquids, /l/ and /r/
Chapter 33. The Semivowels, /w/ and /y/
Chapter 34. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Words
General Index
