Orthographic change

In a nutshell

Language changes and evolves over time due to many different factors. In the 15th century, the printing press was a major help in spreading the English language and it also helped a Standard form of English to reach a high status. In this summary, you will learn all the different stages of the evolution of written English and how we reached the language we use today.

Codification and spelling

Codification is the process of arranging rules in order to establish a system. In the case of orthography, codification establishes the spelling of words to promote an acknowledged standard of writing. The beginning of the printing press helped the standardisation of spelling – however, there were some practical mistakes. For example, Dutch printers added an 's' in the middle of the word 'island' by accident. This has led to the current spelling of the word (but with the original pronunciation retained). English spelling has many irregularities due to the differences between the written form of a letter and its sound. Phonological changes happen faster than orthographic changes. In An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), written by Noah Webster, the differences between American and English pronunciation were not acknowledged.

Silent letters

The modern silent 'e' rule came from Old English but the spelling does not reflect the pronunciation. In Middle English, the 'e' is very common at the end of words. But other sounds became silent:

'B' - thumb;
'L' - walk;
'H' - hour.

However, certain spellings like 'r' in 'cart' can still be heard in some regional dialects. The fact that some English letters are silent and the spelling is different from writing gives younger students more difficulties when it comes to writing because they write the words in the exact same way as they pronounce them. Take a look at this text written by a six-year-old child:

"I alredy new that Jeezus was the sun of mary. I have learnt that he wos a nice man and that he had frendz. There called christiyans and they go to chirch."

As you can see, this child has written the words in the exact same way as he says them which has led to various orthographic mistakes.

The evolution of spelling

From the 15th to the 18th century, spelling was still irregular, mainly due to the practices of printers. Sometimes, in order for the text to be uniform, letters had to be dropped. The opposite also happened: letters were added where they were not supposed to be because some printers were paid by the letter.

21st century

In the 21st century, spelling still isn't perfect. With the use of technology and especially in text messages or more informal writing, it is common for words to be shortened. The alleged 'standard' of the language will change as long as people continue to change how they write and communicate. For example, spell-checks on computers tend to change the spelling of some words like 'color' and 'colour', considering that only one of them is correct.

Punctuation

When it comes to punctuation, a lot as changed even though some meanings are still the same:

Punctuation symbol	18th and 19th century texts
Comma, colon and semicolon	Used to link extended clauses within complex sentences. Full stops are also written to replace them.
Apostrophe	Shows possession and contraction. It is also used to mark the disappearance of a vowel.
Speech marks	Used to indicate speech; however, in the 21st century, speech is also used without speech marks.
Contraction	Used to combine two or more words in a shortened form. At the end of the 18th century, proclitic contractions changed to enclitic contractions.
Ampersand (&)	Mainly used in the 18th and 19th century. In the 21st century this punctuation symbol reemerged due to its use in the digital world.
Capitalisations	In Late Modern English, capital letters began to be standardised (e.g. in proper nouns); however, in some texts from the 18th and 19th century, writers applied capital letters to any noun they considered important.

Standard English

According to Einar Haugen, the final stage of reaching a standard language is for it to be used in a range of written texts, especially educational, media and governmental. The goal is to create an elite status for Standard English. With Caxton's introduction of the printing press in the 15th century, the south-eastern dialect spread quickly and this Standardised English was mainly in the written form, making it a prestige dialect. Some of the factors that helped to establish Standard English were the King James Bible in the 17th century, which used words and phrases that are still being used today: in 2010, around 257 expressions used in the King James Bible were verified has to being used today but in a non-religious context. The implementation of Standard English was also possible thanks to the distribution of newspapers in the 18th century.

References:

Webster, N. (1828). The American Dictionary of English Language.

Crystal, D. (2010). Begat: The King James Bible and The English Language.