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Dissertation on the English Language
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<p> <i>Dissertation on the English Language</i> was a book written by American <a href="/facts/Lexicographer/3btFWjIx">lexicographer</a> <a href="/facts/Noah_Webster/UI1fKhRo">Noah Webster</a> in 1789. The book followed Webster's 1783 work <i>Spelling Book</i> and aimed to differentiate <a href="/facts/American_English/sdAfgPgM">American English</a> from <a href="/facts/British_English/ymJR5Rnd">British English</a>. In the book, Webster commented that "our honor requires us to have a system of our own, in language as well as government. Great Britain ... should no longer be <i>our</i> standard; for the taste of her writers is already corrupted, and her language on the decline." This dissertation was dedicated to <a href="/facts/Benjamin_Franklin/Dmfv5URr">Benjamin Franklin</a>. </p>