Editing English orthography (section)

=== History ===
Inconsistencies and irregularities in English pronunciation and spelling have gradually increased in number throughout the [[history of the English language]]. There are a number of contributing factors. First, gradual changes in pronunciation, such as the [[Great Vowel Shift]], account for a tremendous number of irregularities. Second, more recent [[loan word]]s generally carry their original spellings, which are often not [[phonetics|phonetic]] in English; this includes [[romanized]] words from languages written using non-Latin scripts.

The regular spelling system of [[Old English language|Old English]] was swept away by the [[Norman Conquest]], and English itself was supplanted in some spheres by [[Norman French]] for three centuries, eventually emerging with its spelling much influenced by French. English had also borrowed large numbers of words from French, and kept their French spellings. The spelling of [[Middle English]] is very irregular and inconsistent, with the same word being spelled in different ways, sometimes even in the same sentence. However, these were generally much better guides to the then-pronunciation than modern English spelling is.{{opinion|date=September 2024}}

For example, {{IPAslink|ʌ}}, normally written {{vr|u}}, is spelled with an {{vr|o}} in ''one'', ''some'', ''love'', etc., due to Norman spelling conventions which prohibited writing {{vr|u}} before {{vr|m, n, v}} due to the graphical confusion that would result. ({{vr|n, u, v}} were written identically with two [[minim (palaeography)|minims]] in Norman handwriting; {{vr|w}} was written as two {{vr|u}} letters; {{vr|m}} was written with three minims, hence {{vr|mm}} looked like {{vr|vun, nvu, uvu}}, etc.). Similarly, spelling conventions also prohibited final {{vr|v}}. Hence the identical spellings of the three different vowel sounds in ''love'', ''move'', and ''cove'' are due to ambiguity in the [[Middle English]] spelling system, not sound change.

In 1417, [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] began using English, which had no standardised spelling, for official correspondence instead of Latin or French which had standardised spelling, e.g. Latin had one spelling for ''right'' (''rectus''), Old French as used in English law had six and Middle English had 77. This motivated writers to standardise English spelling, an effort which lasted about 500 years.{{sfn|Stamper|2017||pages=38–39}}

There was also a series of linguistic sound changes towards the end of this period, including the [[Great Vowel Shift]], which resulted in the {{vr|a}} in ''make'', for example, changing from a pure vowel to a diphthong. These changes for the most part did not detract from the rule-governed nature of the spelling system; but, in some cases, they introduced confusing inconsistencies, like the well-known example of the many pronunciations of {{vr|ough}} (''tough'', ''through'', ''though'', ''cough'', ''plough'', etc.). Most of these changes happened before the arrival of printing in England. However, the arrival of the modern printing press in 1476 froze the current system, rather than providing the impetus for a realignment of spelling with pronunciation.{{sfn|Okrent|2021}} Furthermore, it introduced further inconsistencies, partly because of the use of typesetters trained abroad, particularly in the [[Low Countries]]. For example, the {{angbr|h}} in ''ghost'' was influenced by [[Flemish dialects|Flemish]].{{sfn|Okrent|2021}}{{sfn|Wolman|2008}} The addition and deletion of a silent ''e'' at the ends of words was also sometimes used to make the right-hand margin line up more neatly.{{sfn|Wolman|2008}}

By the time [[dictionaries]] were introduced in the mid-17th century, the spelling system of English had started to stabilise. By the 19th century, most words had set spellings, though it took some time before they diffused throughout the English-speaking world. In ''[[The Mill on the Floss]]'' (1860), English novelist [[George Eliot]] satirised the attitude of the English rural gentry of the 1820s towards orthography:

{{blockquote|Mr. Tulliver did not willingly write a letter, and found the relation between spoken and written language, briefly known as spelling, one of the most puzzling things in this puzzling world. Nevertheless, like all fervid writing, the task was done in less time than usual, and if the spelling differed from Mrs. Glegg's,–why, she belonged, like himself, to a generation with whom spelling was a matter of private judgment.}}

The modern English spelling system, with its national variants, spread together with the expansion of public education later in the 19th century.