orthography
orthography on Spoot baby... spooooooot!: a running collection of 2 stories we have gathered and hand-picked because they are worth your time. Every post here touches on orthography in some way — the news, the analysis, the deep dives, and the occasional surprise find. # Spoot. New stories are added to this page as we find them, so check back if you want to keep up with what is happening around orthography, or subscribe to the RSS feed to get them as soon as they are published. Browse the collection below, or head back to the homepage to see everything Spoot baby... spooooooot! is covering right now.
How American Was Franklin’s English?
Let’s dive into a fascinating linguistic excavation: how truly “American” was Benjamin Franklin’s English? Gary D. German’s monumental *Benjamin Franklin: Orthoepist and Phonetician*—now thankfully available in open-access form—offers a rigorous, two-volume exploration of this very question. Volume 1 examines the interplay of language, literacy, and social mobility in Franklin’s world, while Volume 2 delves into the complexities of colonial American voices alongside the linguistic norms of London. Particularly intriguing are the details of Franklin’s pursuit of orthographic reform, a quest revealing much about the evolving nature of language itself. It’s a journey that compels us to reconsider the foundations of American English, and the subtle ways it diverged. For further context on shifts in word usage, check out Ben Yagoda’s insightful piece, "Why 'Alongside'?"—a curious example of evolving linguistic trends.
Obstupefacting Excrescences.
Let's dive into a delightfully peculiar corner of lexicographical obsession. Colin Burrow’s *London Review of Books* review of Arnoud Visser’s *On Pedantry*—a piece so brimming with what Burrow terms "obstupefacting excrescences"—demands its own spotlight. It's a bracing contrast to Clare Bucknell’s *New York Review of Books* take, and frankly, too brilliantly tangential to ignore. We’re not talking polite literary critique here; we’re venturing into the delightfully feral territory where etymologies collide with exasperation, and the joy of obscure linguistic quirks reigns supreme. Burrow’s prose is a spooty specimen itself – sharp, sudden, and liable to vanish if you blink. If you're intrigued by the origins of place names—the delightfully strange journey from Proto-Germanic roots to modern nation states—you might find our exploration, "Where Did Europe’s Countries…Get Their Names?" equally captivating.