IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Jun 2009

Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling ( Wolman, D.; 2008) [Book Review]

Donald Cunningham

Abstract

While there is no advice on spelling in this book, Wolman tells the history of how English spelling has changed since the Anglo-Saxon period and American spelling since the American Revolution and explains how and why the changes occurred. His history is highlighted with astute comments, personal anecdotes, and even philosophical musings. The book should be entertaining and informative for anyone who might want to learn more about how our present-day spelling got to be in the shape it is in.

Journal
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published
2009-06-01
DOI
10.1109/tpc.2009.2017993
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
grammar and mechanics book reviews
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (3)

  1. pearsall (0)
    Better Spelling Fourteen Steps to Spelling Improvement
  2. cummings (1988)
    10.56021/9780801834431
    American English Spelling An Informal Description  ↗
  3. (0)
    Letter CXXIV ” Letters to His Son 1750
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Res Rhetorica Jan 2026
    Review/Recenzja: Nancy Organ. 2024. Data Visualization for People of All Ages. Oxon: CRC Press; and Jen Christiansen. 2023. Building Science Graphics: An Illustrated Guide to Communicating Science Through Diagrams and Visualizations. Oxon: CRC Press ↗
    Ewa Modrzejewska
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis digital rhetoric multimodality grammar and mechanics race and writing book reviews
  2. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Sep 2025
    Navigating English Grammar: A Guide to Analyzing Real Language, 2nd ed.: Anne Lobeck and Kristin Denham: [Book Review] ↗
    Bonnie Denmark
    grammar and mechanics book reviews
  3. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Sep 2024
    Positive Evaluation in the Translation of Online Promotional Discourse in the Cheese Industry ↗
    Belén Labrador; Noelia Ramón
    discourse analysis argument assessment professional writing multilingual writers grammar and mechanics affect and writing book reviews
  4. The Peer Review Sep 2024
    Investigating Multimodal Feedback Methods in Asynchronous Tutoring at the Writing Center ↗
    Alexis Stewart
    revision argument writing centers peer tutoring multimodality online writing instruction grammar and mechanics book reviews editorial matter
  5. Pedagogy Apr 2024
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism feminist rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing teacher development collaborative writing assessment technical communication professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies gender and writing literary studies book reviews editorial matter