Who's Changing the Meaning?

CHAPTER 2

Noah Webster – The Author Of The First American Dictionary

In the 1700s, America was a new nation made up of immigrants from Europe and Western Asia. They were looking for a new way of life, one that allowed them to live according to their beliefs. To them, Europe had veered off and given in to laws that were perverted, lowered values, quality and purity, and degraded human nature.

America tried to separate itself from Great Britain. Unrest took hold as the colonists struck out against the restrictions the British were creating. In response to the political unrest, Britain sent additional troops who arrived in Boston in 1768. The American Revolution intensified and battles transpired.

This was a time of major battles the colonists endured while fighting for their freedom.

1770 – The Boston Massacre

1773 – The Boston Tea Party

1774 – Colonists respond to the creation of the Intolerable Acts

1775 – Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the Battle of Bunker Hill

Then in 1776 – Signing of the Declaration of Independence

The Americans proclaimed their freedom from England by releasing The Declaration of Independence. There were seven more years of battles before the revolution ended and four years before the colonist’s philosophy of government took place in the creation of the American Constitution. The time of fighting for freedom was done and the formation of the country needed to be the focus.

About that time, a young man by the name of Noah Webster graduated from Yale University. Born on October 16, 1758 in West Hartford, Connecticut, Noah was raised by his father and his mother who were farmers. They were an average colonial family. During this period, most students did not attend college but Noah’s love for learning encouraged his parents to allow him to continue his studies. After college, Webster wanted to continue and study law, but because of the lack of funds, Noah had to leave school. He decided to go to New York and teach.

While teaching, Webster discovered that the school system needed to be reformed. There were too many students crammed into spaces with no desks, and untrained teachers using textbooks that came from England and supported English government. This is after the American Revolution. America was its own republic and Noah thought students should have American books to study.

Webster was passionate about grammar, spelling and language usage. He took it upon himself and created a three-volume set called The “Blue-Backed Speller.”

Noah wrote “Speller” in 1783, “Grammar” in 1784, and “Reader” in 1785. In the Speller, the words were broken into individual syllables so students and their teachers would have the correct pronunciation. After the first printing, the Speller sold out quickly. Webster made a small amount of money from the publication but it wasn’t enough to sustain him.

With The Blue-Backed Speller, America had a way to unify its language independent of British English. This was important since the immigrants were coming from many different countries and there was no common language for everyone. Webster believed there is a connection between language, logic and loyalty. Having universal speech would make a country unified and strong.

The three volumes became standard in the American school system and taught generations of its citizens to read, to spell, how to use grammar and the correct pronunciation of words. The Blue-Backed Speller was used in schools for over 100 years.

Webster had his own ideas about the spelling of words. He wanted it to be a simple process so that it would be easy for everyone to learn not only English but also American English. At that time, the predominant language was German.

In order to keep things basic and universal, Webster removed or changed letters in some words. Some of the changes were:

Remove the letter “k” at the end of words like publick and musick.

Remove the “u” in words like humour.

Stop using the “re” ending on words and use “er” as in theater.

Spell words that correspond to their sound as in gaol to jail.

Webster added more changes along with words that were unique to the American way of life. Some of his changes were accepted while others weren’t.

In 1789, Noah married Rebecca Greenleaf. They had six daughters and two sons. They lived in New Haven, Massachusetts then moved to Amherst where Webster helped found Amherst College.

Another event happened to Webster in 1789. He wrote an essay on reforming the English language to have uniformity in spelling and pronunciation. Webster believed these changes would make it easier to learn the language. All people would speak the same, creating unity and removing prejudice, and it would encourage books to be published in America.

A national language would help build a national country. Americans were proclaiming their freedom in government. They believed the British government was corrupt and so was the language. The desire was to have their own American language that reflected their freedom.

Webster recognized this need and the urgency of creating this language. People are quick to fall back to old habits, and if given the chance, would do so. The thought was that Americans would default to the original meaning of England and miss the opportunity to set America away from its parent country. So haste was needed while the colonists were open to a change.

In 1789, Webster wrote his essay on “Advantages, and Practicality of Reforming the Mode of Spelling…” Through this essay and many others he wrote, Webster explained the effect a common language would have.

“It must be considered further, that English is the common root or stock from which our national language will be derived. All others will gradually waste away – and within a century and a half, North America will be people with a hundred millions of men, all speaking the same language…”

America was made up of people from all over Europe. Many languages were spoken: English, German, French, Hebrew, etc. At one time, there was great consideration of making German the national language. This was at the time that Webster released his Blue-Backed Speller, which was written in English.

Webster went on to write:

“The two points therefore, which I conceive to be the basis of a standard in speaking, are these; universal undisputed practice, and the principle of analogy. Universal practice is generally, perhaps always, a rule of propriety; and in disputed points where people differ in opinion and practice, analogy, should always decide the controversy.”

To create a language for all to use, Webster put in two checks and balances as the basis to make it happen. The first one was a universal undisputed practice. Webster believed there had to be commonality in spelling and pronunciation. In his essay, he wrote, “It will be readily admitted that the pleasures of reading and conversing, the advantage of accuracy in business, the necessity of clearness and precision in communicating ideas, require us to be able to speak and write our own tongue with ease and correctness.”

Having a national language, a language for Americans, would provide clarity for people when speaking in business and between each other, giving them a way to understand others as well as being understood.

The principle of analogy was the other check and balance Webster introduced. Having an analogy, conformity of words or general rules of language, would be helpful when there is a disagreement between two parties. The rules of the language could be accessed for clarity in meaning. Without a set of rules, the language could shift and change based on the times or the loudest voice. This was especially true when consulting with national documents. The language would be set and could be referred to for clarity, understanding what the original writer meant. Without these checks and balances a nation couldn’t become and remain strong.

Webster was a character. He was vain and had no problem letting other people know how great he was. Webster would point out other’s faults with no thought at all on the impact. That vanity would help him persevere while taking on the huge task of writing the dictionary.

Webster was fluent in 26 languages. This was extremely important as he wrote. He had twenty to thirty dictionaries with him, each from a different language. Webster wanted to get to the original meaning of each word. He lined up the dictionaries, and then one at a time, he would check each word in every language. He researched the original meaning; looking at every single word. It was extremely tedious work.

Of all the words in the dictionary, Webster was known to have only coined one. The word was demoralize, meaning, “to corrupt or undermine the moral of; to destroy or lessen the effect of moral principles; to render corrupt in morals.” Noah used the word in the context of the demoralization of the language. Even at that time, the language was changing as far as...