Media: BOOK - paperback, 310 pages
Author: C. Baxter
Year: 2015
ISBN: 9780980704631
Other: appendix, glossary, bibliog, index
Publisher: Carol Baxter

How often have you looked at a historical register or computer screen, expecting to see your ancestor's surname only to discover that it's not there? You check every spelling you can think of without success, then give up the search unaware that the entry is there, but you lack enough knowledge to find it.

'Help! Why Can't I Find My Ancestor's Surname?' is the solution to your problem. It describes the distortion that can occur between the time your ancestor thinks about saying his or her surname, to the time you search for the surname in an online box. It explains that these distortions are rarely random and displays sound charts and surname tables show how and why they occur. It includes lists of spellings for every letter and sound - as many at two dozen for a single vowel sound in some instances. And it provides guidelines you can follow to help find those elusive surnames.

This book is a gateway to a new world. Once you read it you will think about surnames in a completely different way. No longer will you be flailing in the dark, making stabs at spelling possibilities. When you follow its instructions, you will find that some of those previously abandoned surname searches are now successful.

Contents:
Introduction

Part 1. Surnames
1. Surnames and their origin
2. Surname examples
3. The sounds of English
4. Consonants
5. Vowels
6. A working example
7. More seful information
8. Surname slip-ups
9. Mis-Pronunciation
10. Mis-Articulation
11. Mis-Hearing
12. Mis-Spelling
13. Mis-Writing
14. Surname beginnings
15. Surname middles
16. Surnme endings
17. Surname as a whole
18. Mis-Transcribing
19. Mis-Indexing
20. Mis-Coding
21. Practice makes perfect
22. Summary

Part 2. Surname Letters
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
Mc
N
n
O
P
Ph
Q
R
S
Sh
T
Th
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Part 3. Surname vowel sounds
Bad
Baird
Bard
Bawd
Bayed
Bead
Beard
Bed
Berd
Bid
Bide
Bod
Bode
Booed
Bowed
Boyd
Bud
Budd(hist)
Be(devil)
B?? confusion

Appendix
Glossary
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index