Spelling Timeline

This is my, Hurlebatte's, attempt at following the evolution of English spelling. Do not take it as authoritative or fully accurate.

The Writ
600-1066

The English alphabet consists of the following letters: Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Xx Yy Þþ Ðð Ƿƿ Ææ.


 * Digraphs include: ⟨cg⟩ for /dʒ/ (or at least its forerunner); ⟨sc⟩ for /ʃ/ (which emerged from /sk/); ⟨ea⟩ for /æɑ/; ⟨uu⟩ for /w/; ⟨th⟩ for /ð/ and /θ/; ⟨hƿ⟩ for /ʍ/.
 * Sometimes ⟨gc⟩ or ⟨gg⟩ is written instead of ⟨cg⟩
 * Sometimes ⟨u⟩, ⟨uu⟩, or ⟨w⟩ is written instead of ⟨ƿ⟩. ⟨uu⟩ shows up in the late Old English manuscript "MS 173: The Parker Chronicle", and elsewhere.
 * ⟨k⟩ sometimes shows up to fight ambiguity between /tʃ/ and /k/.
 * ⟨þ⟩ and ⟨ð⟩ are used interchangeably.
 * ⟨z⟩ and ⟨q⟩ are very rare. ⟨z⟩ can sometimes be found in foreign names like Zenodotus (Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 328 page 196).
 * ⟨ƿh⟩ shows up a few times in place of ⟨hƿ⟩.

1066-1199

The Norman Invasion occurs, French begins to influence English orthography.


 * In the Peterborough Chronicle a switch in handwriting from Insular to Carolingian happens on 88v. The ⟨g-ȝ⟩ split is not present in the manuscript; ⟨g⟩ remains a single letter, but takes on the Carolingian appearance. ⟨ƿ⟩ is now written ⟨w⟩ and ⟨uu⟩. ⟨gg⟩ is written instead of ⟨cg⟩.


 * The Ormulum uses ⟨ch⟩ for /tʃ/ (apparently borrowed from French), ⟨sk⟩ for /sk/ (in the words asken and skillen), ⟨sh⟩ for /ʃ/, ⟨ƿh⟩ for /ʍ/, Carolingian ⟨g⟩ for /g/, and ⟨ȝh⟩ for [ɣ].


 * The Carolingian style of writing ⟨g⟩ is borrowed from France. The old Insular ⟨g⟩ becomes the new letter ⟨ȝ⟩, called yough. ⟨ȝ⟩ no longer stands for /g/, as this job now belongs to the Carolingian ⟨g⟩. ⟨ȝ⟩ is used widely for /x/, a value previously handled largely by ⟨h⟩.


 * By now /y/ has merged into /i/. This leads to ⟨y⟩ being used interchangeably with ⟨i⟩. This may be the basis for ⟨y⟩ later taking on /j/. It seems that in a few cases surviving instances of /y/ get respelled as ⟨u⟩ in the French manner, giving us spellings like burden where we would normally expect birden or berden.

1200s

By this century the Normans have been replaced on the throne by the Angevins. French influence continues, but it is no longer mainly Norman French.


 * /ʃ/ is spelled ⟨sc⟩, ⟨sch⟩, ⟨sh⟩, ⟨ss⟩, ⟨s⟩.


 * ⟨ou⟩ is borrowed from French and becomes a very popular spelling for /uː/, which beforehand was written ⟨u⟩, ⟨ue⟩, and ⟨u_e⟩.


 * ⟨ue⟩ and ⟨u_e⟩ are repurposed to stand for French /y/. This French /y/ seems to have been substituted by Englishmen for something along the lines of [ɛu], a native English diphthong. This French /y/ and the native [ɛu] would both eventually be pronounced as /ju/. Because the borrowed French /y/ was realised as something like [ɛu], native English words with [ɛu] would sometimes be respelled with ⟨ue⟩ or ⟨u_e⟩, which is why clue is not spelled clew today.


 * ⟨ð⟩ falls out of wide use by the end of the century. ⟨þ⟩ ends up as the sole letter for /θ/ and /ð/.


 * ⟨ȝ⟩ and ⟨ȝh⟩ are popular ways of writing /x/, but ⟨h⟩ is still seen. Did ⟨ȝ⟩ take /x/ from ⟨h⟩ in this century?


 * ⟨æ⟩ seems to drop out of use by the end of this century. Its short value merged with ⟨a⟩, while its long value began to be written ⟨ea⟩.

1300s


 * ⟨u_e⟩ can still be found standing for /uː/, though ⟨ou⟩ is more popular.


 * ⟨ck⟩ rises as a popular spelling.


 * ⟨gh⟩ appears, apparently modelled on ⟨ȝh⟩, and taking the job of /x/.


 * ⟨y⟩ begins to be a popular alternative to ⟨ȝ⟩ for making /j/.


 * By the end of this century, ⟨ȝ⟩ has lost much ground to ⟨y⟩ and ⟨gh⟩.


 * Loanwords from French with initial /dʒ/ can be found written with ⟨i⟩, ⟨ih⟩, and ⟨g⟩. Eventually ⟨j⟩ would take the stead of ⟨i⟩ and ⟨ih⟩.

1400s


 * ⟨th⟩ picks up in popularity, perhaps because ⟨þ⟩ had taken on a shape very similar to ⟨y⟩, and since ⟨y⟩ had recently solidified its role as a consonant, this may have caused ambiguity. The introduction of printing presses by William Caxton to England around the 1470s strikes a further blow to ⟨þ⟩, and also ⟨ȝ⟩, since neither of those letters had printing blocks for them.


 * ⟨x⟩ is used by some writers for /ʃ/.


 * ⟨h⟩ can still be found standing for /x/, though rarely.

1500s


 * By the end of this century, spellings like bed have mostly replaced spellings like bedde. (?)