Few men haveinfluenced the development of American English to the extent that Noah Websterdid.After a short career in law,he turned to teaching,but he discovered how

inadequate theavailable schoolbooks were for the children of a new and independent nation.

In response to theneed for truly American textbooks,Webster published A Grammatical Institute ofthe English Language,a three-volume work that consisted of a speller,a

grammar,and areader.The first volume,which was generally known as The American SpellingBook,was so popular that eventually it sold more than 80 million copies and

provided him with aconsiderable income for the rest of his life.Can you imagine that?

Anyway,in 1807,NoahWebster began his greatest work,An American Dictionary of the EnglishLanguage.In preparing the manuscript,he devoted ten years to the study of

English and itsrelationship to other languages,and seven more years to the writing itself.Published in two volumes in 1828,An American Dictionary of the English Language

has become therecognized authority for usage in the United States.Webster's purpose inwriting it was to demonstrate that the American language was developingdistinct

meanings,pronunciations,andspellings from those of British English. He is responsible for advancing manyof the simplified spelling forms that distinguish American English

from British.

Webster was thefirst author to gain copyright protection in the United States by being awarded acopyright for The American Spelling Book and he continued to lobby over

the next fifty yearsfor the protection of intellectual properties,that is,for author's rights.Bythe time that Webster brought out the second edition of his dictionary,which

included 70,000entries instead of the original 38,000, the name Webster had become synonymouswith American dictionaries.It was this second edition that served as the

basis for the manyrevisions that have been produced by others, ironically,under the uncopyrightedWebster name.Published in1828,An American Dictionary of the English Language is Noah Webster's greatestwork.

A.Right

B.Wrong

C.Not mentioned