Spelling

Spelling is the combination of alphabetic letters to form a written word. It is a linguistic process of correct writing with the necessary letters and diacritics present in a comprehensible, usually standardized order. While a part of a language's orthography, not all languages have purely phonemic alphabets. Standardized spelling is a prescriptive element.

Spellings originated as transcriptions of the sounds of spoken language according to the alphabetic principle. They remain largely reflective of the sounds, although fully phonemic spelling is an ideal that most languages' orthographies only approximate, some more closely than others. This is true for various reasons, including that pronunciation changes over time in all languages, yet spellings as visual norms may resist change. In addition, words from other languages may be adopted without being adapted to the spelling system, and different meanings of a word or homophones may be deliberately spelled in different ways to differentiate them visually.

Spelling standards and conventions

Uniformity in the spelling of words is one of the features of a standard language in modern times, and official languages usually have standard spellings. However, this is a relatively recent development linked to the compiling of dictionaries, the founding of national academies and other institutions of language maintenance, including widespread education and literacy, and often doesn't apply to minority and regional languages.

In countries where there is an official language academy; such as France, the Netherlands, and Germany, reforms are regularly made so that spelling better matches the changing pronunciation.

Examples include:

English-language spelling reform proposals have been regularly made since the 16th century, but have made little impact apart from a few spellings preferred by Noah Webster having contributed to American and British English spelling differences.

In October 2018 the Welcome Collection used the spelling of women as womxn in a tweet, explaining "we feel that it is important to create a space/venue that includes diverse perspectives".[1]

Methodology

Learning

Learning proper spelling by rote is a traditional element of elementary education and divergence from standard spelling is often perceived as an indicator of low intelligence, illiteracy, or lower class standing.[2]

Spelling tests are commonly used to assess a student's mastery over the words in the spelling lessons the student has received so far. They can also be an effective practice method. Spelling bees are competitions to determine the best speller of a group. Prominent spelling bees are even televised, such as the National Spelling Bee in the United States.

Alteration

Divergent spelling is a popular advertising technique, used to attract attention or to render a trademark "suggestive" rather than "merely descriptive." The pastry chains Dunkin' Donuts (Dunkin' Donuts changes its name to Dunkin' from January 2019)[3] and Krispy Kreme, for example, employ non-standard spellings.

Misspellings

A misspelling of purchased on a service station sign.

While some words admit multiple spellings, some are not considered standard, and thus are misspellings. A misspelled word can be a series of letters that represents no correctly spelled word of the same language at all (such as "liek" for "like") or a correct spelling of another word (such as writing "here" when one means "hear", or "no" when one means "know"). Misspellings of the latter type can easily make their way into printed material because they are not caught by simple computerized spell checkers.

Misspellings may be due to either typing errors (e.g. the transposition error teh for the), or lack of knowledge of the correct spelling. Whether or not a word is misspelled may depend on context, as is the case with American / British English distinctions. Misspelling can also be a matter of opinion when variant spellings are accepted by some and not by others. For example, "miniscule" (for "minuscule") is a misspelling to many,[4] and yet it is listed as an acceptable variant in some dictionaries.[5][6]

A well-known Internet scam involves the registration of domain names that are deliberate misspellings of well-known corporate names in order to mislead or defraud. The practice is commonly known as "typosquatting".[7]

Notable English misspellings in history

  • Cleveland, Ohio – the leader of the crew that surveyed the town's territory was General Moses Cleaveland, and the region was named in his honor; reportedly the town's first newspaper, the Cleveland Advertiser, could not fit the town's name in its masthead without removing the first "a" from the name.[8]
  • Google – accidental misspelling of googol.[9] According to Google's vice president, as quoted on a BBC The Money Programme documentary, January 2006, the founders – noted for their poor spelling – registered Google as a trademark and web address before someone pointed out that it was incorrect.
  • Ovaltine, a popular bedtime drink in the UK and Australia, came about because someone misspelled the original name Ovomaltine on the trademark documentation.[10]
  • Referer – common misspelling of the word referrer. It is so common, in fact, that it made it into the official specification of HTTP – the communication protocol of the World Wide Web – and has, therefore, become the standard industry spelling when discussing HTTP referers.[11]
  • Sequim, Washington – "In 1879 the first post office was built and named 'Seguin' for the surrounding area. [...] In 1907, due to a Postal Official's error in reading an official report, the post office was titled 'Seguim' for approximately a month. With the next report, the Official read the letter 'g' as a 'q' and the post office here became known as 'Sequim.' The name change apparently did not worry the residents enough to protest. It has been known as Sequim ever since."[12]
  • According to some, the name of Quartzsite, a mining town in Arizona, was spelled incorrectly. It should be Quartzite, after the mineral quartzite.[13]
  • Zenith – Arabic zamt was misread; in Latin letters, at the time, the letter i was never dotted, so "m" looked like "ni".[14]
  • Arab, Alabama – This town in north Alabama was named Arad, after its founder, Arad Thompson, but the name was misspelled on a US Post Office map as "Arab", and the misspelled name stuck.

See also

English spelling

  • Frequently misused words
  • Lists of common misspellings
Other languages

References

  1. ↑ Regan, Alex (2018-10-10). "Should women be spelt womxn?". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  2. ↑ 1992: Gaffe with an 'e' at the end, by Paul Mickle / The Trentonian
  3. ↑ "It's Just Dunkin' Now. Chain Officially Drops 'Donuts' From Its Name". Time. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  4. ↑ "miniscule", Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary; states that this spelling is "widely regarded as an error"
  5. ↑ "miniscule", The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
  6. ↑ "miniscule", Cambridge Dictionary of American English
  7. ↑ "Typosquatters Act May Apply to Misspelling Domain Names to Mislead Surfers", Shari Claire Lewis, New York Law Journal, September 15, 2004
  8. ↑ Ohio, p. 138, Victoria Sherrow, Marshall Cavendish, 2008
  9. ↑ QI: Quite Interesting facts about 100, telegraph.co.uk
  10. ↑ "What Do Radios and Ovaltine have in common? The Ovaltiney Radio! - Mullard Antiques and Collectibles". Mullard Antiques and Collectibles. 2016-08-06. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  11. ↑ referer – Definitions from Dictionary.com
  12. ↑ Robinson, J. (2005). "Sequim History" (PDF). City of Sequim, Washington. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  13. ↑ Town of Quartzsite 2003 General Plan
  14. ↑ Norbury, J. K. W. Word Formation in the Noun and Adjective.

Further reading

  • Henry ML, Beeson PM, Stark AJ, Rapcsak SZ (January 2007). "The role of left perisylvian cortical regions in spelling". Brain Lang. 100 (1): 44–52. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2006.06.011. PMC 2362101. PMID 16890279.
  • Beeson PM (2004). "Remediation of written language". Top Stroke Rehabil. 11 (1): 37–48. doi:10.1310/D4AM-XY9Y-QDFT-YUR0. PMID 14872398.
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