The History of English Spelling (The Language Library Book 27)

Yes, we all have been taught that English spelling is not systematic. What this book shows that there are multiple spelling systems involved: (a) Old English; (b) Franco-Latin; (c) Greek;(d) Exotic input. This book lays out how various graphemes and grapheme digraphs in each system are related to sounds. This one is a great addition to Edward Carney's "A Survey on English Spelling". If you are an ESL/EFL student, you can also look at David Crystal's "Spell it out: the singular story of English spelling", which sythesizes the results from these two great books. BTW, David Crystal edited this book.