Spelling Timeline

1000s

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.


 * Sometimes ‹th› is written instead of ‹þ› or ‹ð›.
 * Sometimes ‹u›, ‹uu›, or ‹w› is written instead of ‹ƿ›.
 * ‹k› sometimes shows up behind ‹e›, ‹i›, and ‹y› to fight ambiguity between /tʃ/ and /k/.
 * ‹z› and ‹q› are exceedingly rare.

1100s

Noticeable French influence on English orthography begins.


 * In the Peterborough Chronicle a switch in handwriting from Insular to Carolingian happens on 88v. Carolingian ‹g› replaces Insular ‹g›, but ‹ȝ› does not appear in the manuscript. ‹ƿ› becomes ‹w› and ‹uu›.


 * The Ormulum uses ‹ch› for /tʃ/ (apparently borrowed from French), ‹sk› for /sk/ (in the word asskenn), ‹sh› for /ʃ/, ‹ƿh› for /ʍ/, Carolingian ‹g› for /g/, and ‹ȝh› for /x/.

1200s


 * /ʃ/ is spelled ‹sc›, ‹sch›, ‹sh›, ‹ss›, ‹s›.


 * ‹ou› is borrowed from French and becomes a popular spelling for /u/, replacing ‹u›, ‹ue›, and ‹u_e›.


 * ‹ue› and ‹u_e› are repurposed to stand for French /y/ which is realised as /ju/. English words with a native /ju/ sound often take on ‹ue› and ‹u_e› spellings.


 * ‹ð› falls out of wide use by the end of the century.


 * ‹ȝ› and ‹ȝh› are popular ways of writing /x/.

1300s


 * ‹gh› appears, apparently modelled on ‹ȝh›.


 * ‹h› can still be found standing for /x/, though rarely.


 * Loanwords from French with /dʒ/ can be found written with ‹i›, ‹ih›, and ‹g›.

1400s


 * The introduction of printing presses to England strikes a blow to the popularity and practicality of using ‹þ› and ‹ȝ› (note that ‹ȝ› had already lost ground to ‹y› and ‹gh› by this point). Some printers use blocks for ‹y› and ‹z› to represent them.