英语翻译The Man Who Made Spelling SimpleIn 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

英语翻译The Man Who Made Spelling SimpleIn 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
英语翻译
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.

英语翻译The Man Who Made Spelling SimpleIn 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
让拼写变简单的男人
在英语中,单词的拼写不是总能代表发音.所以人们说/rait/的时候会拼出right,或者write,更或者是rite.字母的组合（例如ough）会有多种发音.有些单词又那么的长.
对于美国人来说,事情相对容易些,多亏了Noah Webster,一名1778年从耶鲁大学毕业的老师.年轻时候他曾在美国独立战争时对抗英国人.他觉得英语的书写应该在独立的美国有美国人独特的写法.
之后他就开始研究美式英语.他的第一本书,基础拼写,建议简化英语单词的拼写.该书受到了热捧.在19世纪50年代,每年能卖一百万册.这样的销量使它成为史上最受欢迎的学校用书之一.
书中的很多建议很快被采纳了.Center取代了centre,program取代了programme,flavor取代了flavour.还有些则没被采纳,例如把不发音的字母从单词中删除,island中的s,examine中的最后一个字母e.
Webster 最有名的作品是美国英语字典,最早出现于1828年.该书引进了很多新的美国单词,包括他们对应的发音,用法,当然还有拼写.英国人对那本字典进行了批判.但它还是很快成了标准参考书.今天,Webster 的字典仍旧是美国学们心中排名第一的字典.