CHANGES IN

SPELLING

OE spelling

ME spelling

Examples in ME

spelling

cw

qu

queen, quick

sc

ss, sch, sh

fiss, fisch, fish

cg

i, j, g

judge, edge, egg

c

k, c

cool, kin

c

ch

chin

s

s, c

singer

h

h, gh

light

i

i, y

fire

e

ee

queen

o

oo

food

u

ou, ow

house

William Caxton

• he was the first English person to work as a

printer and the first to introduce a printing
press into England.

• However, the English language was

changing rapidly in Caxton's time and the
works he was given to print were in a
variety of styles and dialects.

• Caxton was a technician rather than a

writer and he often faced dilemmas
concerning language standardisation in the
books he printed.

SOUND

CHANGES IN

MIDDLE

ENGLISH

1.ME /kum/

2.-e

3.Shortening the long vowels

hūsbonda

com
e

have,
stone

husbən
d

GREAT

VOWEL

SHIFT

• 1450- 1650
• We have diphtongs in English
• The changes affected 7 long vowels in

English

• REASONS:
 Dialects in England
 Migrations

 The mix of dialects

 To fill the social gap with a new form of

speech

In contact in new
ways

Brought speakers
into contact

Created social
pressures

CHANGES

/i:/

(tima)

/ai/

(time)

/e:/

(cēpan)

/i:/

(keep)

/u:/

(hus)

/au/

(house)

/o:/

(mona)

/u:/

(moon)

•CONSEQUENCES:

 People are being taught to

spell in ways that no longer
reflect how they actually
speak.

 Growing gap between writing

and speech

 In official writing, spelling was

old- fashioned.