Chapter 7 - The Standardisation of Positional Spellings

Summary

Chapter 7 deals with the redistributions of ˂u˃/˂v˃ and ˂i˃/˂j˃ in word-initial position. The main empirical finding is a sudden shift from an earlier graphotactic distribution to a phonographic one, which occurred between the 1620s and 1640s. From the quantitative and qualitative results collected for the positional spellings, a compelling linguistic scenario becomes apparent behind the positional redistribution. By taking an eclectic, large-scale perspective on spelling standardisation, one can overcome some of the variables that inevitably correlate, and likely underlie, any abrupt spelling changes in small, specific collections, for example the latent influence of different exemplars between different editions of an individual text. Departing from a more precise understanding of the chronology and the lexical diffusion of the positional spellings, this case study uncovers, for the first time, some of the mechanisms involved in the uses of different positional spelling conventions between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. In particular, the chapter argues for a close connection between the abrupt, one-generational changes in the uses of word-initial ˂u˃/˂v˃ and ˂i˃/˂j˃, and compositional factors that affected the Early Modern English printing industry.