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Orthography - Early Modern English (REASONS - TECHNOLOGICAL (Caxton's…
Orthography - Early Modern English
The letter 'i' and 'y' are used interchangeably to represent the same phonetic sound e.g. Gyven and Given
WHY - the great vowel shift meant pronunciation changed, use of vowels changed, also reduced confusion
The letters 'u' and 'v' were variations of the same letter, 'v' was used at the beginning of a word and 'u' in all other positions, regardless of whether the sound was a vowel or a consonant e.g. euer
Silent 'e'
final silent 'e' was much more commonly found, not only as a marker of a 'long' vowel in the preceding syllable (e.g. take)
often had no phonetic function and sometimes after an unnecessarily doubled final consonant e.g. crosse
'j' was an extended form of 'i', 'i' was generally used for both vowels and consonants, however the capital for 'J' was beginning to be used at the start of words, when the sound is a consonant
Instead of the 't' in the ending now usually spelt -tion, the letter c was frequently used e.g. creacyon
REASONS - PHONOLOGICAL
as the sounds of English changed, the written word needed to accommodate this
our modern silent 'e' rule evolved from old inflectional endings where sounds were pronounced to show the word's function, it now marks long vowel sounds
in middle English the terminal -e was a key feature, often used at the end of words where we would now omit it e.g. roote
this can be linked to middle English pronunciation, but dies out of EME as people become unsure whether to write it as it was no longer sounded due to a change in dialect
REASONS - TECHNOLOGICAL
printing presses in the 1800s shaped the presentation of letters in the long 's'
throughout LME technological advances have driven graphological opportunities, now chose to use non-standard forms depending on the medium (text messaging), the audience (friends), and the function (international)
Caxton's printing press in the 15th century encouraged spelling standardisation because it facilitated mass printing
but in EME period, individual printer established their own conventions and styles, as did writers, so uniformity was not deemed important at first
Printers wanted to fit words neatly on a line, so they bean dropping letters such as the terminal -e ad others added letters because they got paid by the number of letters
REASONS - STANDARDISATION
during LME, spelling was further standardised and codified i dictionaries and spelling books but before this, spelling had been determined by individual choices rather than by commonly agreed rules
a shift in attitudes - 'correct' spelling became a mark of education, intelligence etc
expanding literacy - 1755 SAMUEL JOHNSONS DICTIONARY
IN THE 21ST CENTURY ADVERTISING OFTEN DELIBERATELY BREAK ORTHOGRAPHICAL, PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING RULES FOR EFFECT
MODERN SYSTEM - doubled consonant indicates proceeding vowel is short, final 'e' indicates that the preceding vowel is long