David Crystal

The story of English spelling is the story of thousands of people - some well-known, most totally unknown - who left a permanent linguistic fingerprint on our orthography.

English Educator

Some English words don't follow standard spelling rules, making them tricky to learn.

Irregular Patterns

English spelling can reflect the word's history, not always how it sounds today.

Historical Spelling

English orthography is influenced by various languages, such as French and Latin.

Influenced by Other Languages

Orthography involves converting speech sounds into written symbols uniquely.

Sounds to Symbols

Orthography can evolve as languages change over time, reflecting new pronunciations.

Language Evolution

Studying a language's orthography helps grasp its sound system and vocabulary.