ago that Webster wrote his dictionary because whenever he would say something to his wife over the breakfast table, she would reply “Now, what's that supposed to mean?” I don't know if this is true, an urban legend or just a joke.Prior to the release of Webster's Dictionary, he was already well known. From 1783-85, he released GRAMMATICAL INSTITUTE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, a three-part speller, grammar and reader. It made him the chief American authority on the English Language, which he felt had been corrupted by the British Aristocracy. According to www.reference.com, “The appropriate standard for the American language, argued Webster, was, 'the same republican principles as American civil and ecclesiastical constitutions', which meant that the people-at-large must control the language; popular sovereignty in government must be accompanied by popular usage in language.”
Webster's frustration at having to copyright his books in each of the 13 colonies, each of which had their own copyright laws, led to his support of a National Copyright law, which passed in 1790.
His ELEMENTARY SPELLING BOOK helped standardize American spelling. School rooms across the country, as well as pioneer families in their own homes taught children to read from it. Towns used it for citizen-wide spelling bees. By 1850 the annual sales of Webster's spelling book was about 1,000,000 copies. That's one copy for every 23 citizens.
“AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE included definitions of 70,000 words, of which 12,000 had not appeared in such a work before. Its definitions were excellent, and the dictionary's sales reached 300,000 annually. This work, Webster's foremost achievement, helped to standardize American pronunciation. Webster completed the revision of 1840, and the dictionary, revised many times, has retained its popularity,” says reference.com.
In addition to writing dictionaries and grammar books, Webster was a newspaper editor, an advocate for a Federal government (he wrote pamphlets in favor of a centralized government and urged the passing of the Constitution), and he wrote scholarly studies on subjects ranging from epidemic diseases to meteors to the relationship of European and Asian languages.
Raise your hand.....do you own a Webster's Dictionary?
Works Cited:
"Webster, Noah." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 09 Apr. 2009. Reference.com http://www.reference.com/browse/columbia/WebsterN.
Anna Kathryn Lanier
More than Tumbleweeds
Heartwarming, Sensual Westerns
http://www.aklanier.com/
4 comments:
Yes, I own a Webster's Dictionary! I loved the HUGE one they had at school in the library. I'd stand in front of it and just turn the pages and stare at the words. It must be the writer in me, but I have always loved dictionaries.
Fun information!
What would I do without my handy Webster's. It's quicker then the computer!
Yes I own several Webster's Dictionarys. I keep small one beside my computer. Couldn't do without it.
My daughter did a paper on Noah Webster while in the seventh or eighth grade. This involved bringing home a couple of books - which her mother naturally read.
I was raised in England and travelled towards the colonies while colouring grey. At least I now realise whom to blame for all my American spelling misfortunes!
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