Spelling Standards and Conventions
Whereas uniformity in the spelling of words is one of the features of a standard language in modern times, and official languages usually prescribe standard spelling, minority languages and regional languages often lack this trait. Furthermore, it is a relatively recent development in various major languages in national contexts, linked to the compiling of dictionaries, the founding of national academies and other institutions of language maintenance, including compulsory mass education.
In countries such as the US and UK without official spelling policies, many vestigial and foreign spelling conventions work simultaneously. In countries where there is a national language maintenance policy, such as France, the Netherlands, and Germany, reforms were driven to make spelling a better index of pronunciation. Spelling often evolves for simple reasons of alphabetic thrift, as when British English "catalogue" becomes American English "catalog".
Furthermore, English (in particular) has absorbed into common usage and dictionary acceptance huge numbers of words from foreign languages, particularly French. These may now have a spelling as in the original form or may be somewhat altered in the transition into English. In many respects, a general principle could be stated that retaining the original spelling is important since it reflects the origin of a word and hence adds an extra nuance to its meaning.
Read more about this topic: Misspell
Famous quotes containing the words spelling, standards and/or conventions:
“We drove the Indians out of the land,
But a dire revenge those Redmen planned,
For they fastened a name to every nook,
And every boy with a spelling book
Will have to toil till his hair turns gray
Before he can spell them the proper way.”
—Eva March Tappan (1854–1930)
“The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds, and sometimes he needs somebody, his pal or his mother or his wife or God, to give him that confidence. He’s got to have some inner standards worth fighting for or there won’t be any way to bring him into conflict. And he must be ready to choose death before dishonor without making too much song and dance about it. That’s all there is to it.”
—Clark Gable (1901–1960)
“It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)