Language Quote by Ben Crystal
““More and more rules were added until people tried to standardise spelling in the eighteenth century - by which time the language was already an unruly adolescent of 1300 years, throwing letters all over the place.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Story of English by Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil, 2009
Attempts to standardize spelling in the 1700s clashed with a language already evolving wildly.
In simple terms: Spelling rules conflicted with natural language change.
Recognize language’s fluid nature.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- teaching spelling
- language policy
- historical linguistics
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- Should spelling be reformed today?
- How does spelling affect literacy?
Standardization can suppress dialectal richness.