Readin' & Writin'

The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park, by Jack Lynch, is a playful and informative treatment of how we speak, write, spell, and pronounce English, and how we have tried, and most often failed, to impose order on the English language.

Lynch brings us through the early history of the language.  It is hard for us to imagine when English did not have a standardized spelling.  But there was a time; at the vernacular stage of English, when Latin and Greek were used for education, English was not considered a priority.  But later, as English was used in more rarefied circles, it was felt that it needed dictionaries and grammars like classic languages.

The author works through several layers of the history of attempts to tame the English language, especially the perennial battle between descriptivist and prescriptivist sides of the language. 

Lynch has written an entertaining and enlightening work on what could be a very dry subject.