Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue

Hume, Alexander, schoolmasterProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.6
Word count
101K words
Chapters
11

Tags

English Originals Language and Writing Language HistoryLanguage StandardAcademic StudySpelling ReformTextual AnalysisGrammar StudiesLinguistic ResearchWriting TraditionEarly EnglishMusical Rhythm

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue by HumeAuthor: Hume, Alexander, schoolmaster,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 4, 2005

Editor's review

This book is an early discussion of English orthography and grammar written in English by the Scottish teacher Alexander Hume, prepared by Project Gutenberg as a free electronic edition. Its value lies not in offering a shortcut to learning modern English, but in giving readers direct access to how spelling, pronunciation, and grammatical consistency were understood when early modern English writing conventions were not yet fixed, and which rules were thought worth establishing. The book preserves the vocabulary and syntax of English writing of its time, so reading it conveys the hesitations and experiments of a language in the process of standardization; for readers studying the history of English, the history of orthography, and early educational texts, it is a usable primary source. Because it was written early, its framework does not correspond to today's linguistic concepts and must be read in historical context. It is suitable as supplementary material for courses on the history of the English language, or for readers interested in early English printed texts who wish to read closely and take notes. The electronic edition is easy to search and cite, but provides no modern annotations; the main barrier to reading is the language itself.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. First read the table of contents and preface to understand the author's basic framework for discussing orthography and grammatical consistency, then move on to the specific chapters.
  2. Do not get bogged down in early spelling and syntax; grasp the argument first, then return to modern works on the history of English for background.
  3. Take notes on the spelling rules and example words proposed in the book so they can be compared with later English norms.
  4. For coursework or research, excerpt key passages first and note page locations, rather than relying on an unannotated electronic text for overreaching inferences.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11

FAQ

Is this book suitable for learning modern English spelling? Not really. It discusses early modern English orthography and grammatical consistency, and its spelling and argumentation are distant from modern English norms. If the goal is to improve modern English spelling, choose a contemporary textbook; this book is valuable only for understanding the history of how English norms took shape.
What language background is needed to read this book? Good English reading ability is needed, especially the patience to handle early modern English texts. The book preserves old spelling and syntax and has no modern annotations, so readers should ideally have basic knowledge of the history of English or be willing to read alongside reference works on language history.
Does the electronic edition have modern annotations or an introduction? According to the material, this is a public-domain electronic text provided by Project Gutenberg, and no modern annotations or introduction are mentioned. Readers must supply background knowledge themselves, perhaps with the help of textbooks on the history of the English language or related research literature.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Hume, Alexander, schoolmaster Author

Hume, Alexander, schoolmaster, is an author about whom very little is publicly known; the available records identify him only as a "schoolmaster," and his life, nationality, and dates of birth and death cannot be verified. One work by him is held in the collection, Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue. Judging from its title, the book discusses the spelling rules and grammatical structure of the British tongue, placing it among early studies of English orthography and grammar. It reflects the author's concern with the norms of written English and with word usage and construction, and his role as a schoolmaster may suggest a connection with language teaching. Given the limited public information, his academic background, the date of composition, and later influence cannot be established; readers should treat the work as a text in early discussions of English language norms rather than a systematic theoretical treatise.