When was english spelling standardized

Lobby groups had modest success in America and Australia but ultimately failed to overcome tradition and opposition. But nothing came of it. Full discussion of the pros and cons of spelling reform is beyond the scope of this post. History indicates, however, that in order to succeed, any planned changes must be minor. Substantial reforms would require centralised authority and a critical mass of collective, coherent will — neither of which seems likely. For many people the discontinuities would be an unacceptable price for the practical gain, to say nothing of the political and logistical obstacles to reforming so mutable, diverse and global a language.

Writing serves as an approximation or extension of speech and is subject to mistakes and meanderings just as our minds are. Fads and anomalies of one century can become routine in the next. Reform would somehow have to keep up. If reformers all agreed on a system, they might stand a chance — but there are almost as many proposals as there are reformers.

Their ambitions of orthographic engineering are likely to be frustrated. Without an official authority to impose order, the power to steer English is distributed among its users: millions cast a vote, and general usage governs by leaderless default, with guidance available from teachers, editors, lexicographers and the like.

Language is a dynamic phenomenon beyond the total control of any entity — be it a person, institution, or social movement. Standardisation establishes vital common ground, yet within the blurry borders of standard English, many varieties cohabit, including forms of spelling. Dictionaries belie the extent of variation by presenting a single spelling of each word. Larger dictionaries add variants that hint at the greater menagerie, but even here — OED aside — they select only the most common and legitimate alternatives.

Years of familiar use put us on intimate terms with a word; it becomes part of our extended identity. References 1. Cowell, A. All the sturm und drang! It's not just umlauts. The New York Times. Curzan, A. How English works: A linguistic introduction 3 rd ed. Ehri, L. Learning to read words: Theory, findings, and Issues. Scientific Studies of Reading 9 2 , — Fromkin, V.

Introduction to Language 10 th ed. Boston: Wadsworth. German orthography reform of Johnson, S. Spelling trouble? Notably the modern distinctions between I and J and U and V were established by about The spelling of nearly all individual words was also identical with present-day forms in printed books. In ordinary handwritten documents, however, even those of well-educated people, spelling continued to vary noticeably until well into the eighteenth century.

Abraham Pryme, Diary , 20 March , published The opinions and other information contained in the OED blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Oxford University Press. Edmund Weiner, deputy chief editor, OED.

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Find Out More Continue. Home Blog Early modern English pronunciation and spelling Early modern English pronunciation and spelling. Early modern English pronunciation and spelling Pronunciation change and the Great Vowel Shift Spelling: general principles Spelling: particular words The stabilization of spelling.

Pronunciation change and the Great Vowel Shift By the sixteenth century English spelling was becoming increasingly out of step with pronunciation owing mainly to the fact that printing was fixing it in its late Middle English form just when various sound changes were having a far-reaching effect on pronunciation. Spelling: general principles At the start of the sixteenth century the main systematic differences in spelling from present-day English were as follows.

Spelling: particular words Variation in the spelling of particular words is due to two main factors. Examples: Examples include: anchor Middle English, anker author Middle English, autour; Latin, auctor doubt Middle English, doute fault Middle English, faute nephew Middle English, neuew During the period also, forms derived from different dialects or varieties of speech gradually ousted those originally used.

The stabilization of spelling By the mid-seventeenth century printers followed general principles of spelling much like the present ones. Categories: History of English. Assessing the influence of the King James Bible Grammar in early modern English.