Spelling is simply how we order letters to create words in an accepted and conventionalised form. By using standardised spelling, we can easily recognise words that we read and mitigate any potential misunderstandings that might occur between words.
Why is spelling important?
Spelling is a vital piece of orthography that allows us to communicate successfully and effectively through writing. This is because spelling allows each word to be uniquely coded so that it can be understood when reading, minimising any potential confusion (such as those between homophones).
Orthography is a term that refers to the rules that affect the way a language is written down.
Concepts of good and bad spelling are also tied to various cultural and social values. This can lead to bad spelling being interpreted in a negative way, especially in formal writing contexts such as essays or job applications which we will explore below.
Later on, we will look at how some authors purposefully incorporate non-standard English spelling into their works to explore (and challenge) these cultural and social values.
Spelling: definition
How exactly can we define spelling?
Spelling is the way that we order the alphabet to form words in a standardised way. This helps us to communicate and understand each other.
Spelling is the way in which we order letters to form words - Pexels
In formal writing contexts:
Bad spelling can undermine the content of the text it is in, as it may be seen to reflect an author's carelessness or lack of effort in their work. Because of this, an author may also be seen as unreliable.
If someone has misspelt a piece of writing that has authorial powers (such as a traffic sign) its authority may be undermined. It may even become comical if it fails to command someone to do or not do something due to a spelling error.
If someone misspells a piece of writing that is intended to be educational, the authority of the author as a trustworthy source of information may be damaged. Because of how fundamental spelling is in written work, any poorly proofread writing becomes questionable in its reliability.
If there are misspellings in a job application, the candidate's desire to enter into the career path may be questioned owing to the carelessness of their submission. A lack of proofreading in this context may cost the applicant the job.
What is a misspelling?
A misspelling is a word that is written so that its letters are not in the accepted order. This can happen for a number of reasons such as the examples listed below:
If 'like' is misspelt as 'leik', it still contains all the correct letters, but they are in the wrong order so it looks and sounds incorrect.
If 'hear' is misspelt as 'here', the intended meaning would not be conveyed. This is caused by the two words being homophones (words that sound the same but aren't).
If 'practise' is misspelt as 'practice', although this would sound correct due to the words being homophones, the meaning would be incorrect. This is because, in British English, 'practise' is a verb (e.g., to practise a dance) but 'practice' is a noun (e.g., the doctor's practice).
If 'commitment' is mispelt as 'committment' or 'commitment', this would be correct, but there would be too many or too few repeated consonants.
If 'definitely' is misspelt as 'defiantly', the intended meaning would not be conveyed as, despite their similar spellings, these are two different words with different meanings.
If 'mischievous' is misspelt as 'mischievious' it would have too many vowels.
If 'receive' is misspelt as 'recieve' its vowels would not be in the incorrect order.
How can I improve my spelling?
There are currently over 170,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary. But, according to a 2010 study completed by Harvard University and Google, there were around 2,000,000 words in digital books. With this in mind, it would be almost completely impossible to learn how to spell every word!
There are, however, techniques and ideas that we can look at to help us learn the correct spellings of words. One of these techniques is developing an understanding of phonics, etymology and morphology.
Phonics
We can use an understanding of phonics to help with spelling, as many words in the English language are spelled as they soundd. There are two building blocks we use to write words in this way:
Phonemes - The smallest unit of sound we make when speaking a word.
Graphemes - The letter(s) used to translate these phonemes (or sounds).
When we want to translate spoken words and thoughts into writing, we can break the words down into phonemes (or sounds). From there, we can use the graphemes that represent these sounds to write them down.
For example, the word 'said', might have been spelled as 'sed', if it were spelt as it sounds. Unfortunately, it is not spelt like this and so we use our knowledge of graphemes to think of ways we might intuitively pronounce the letters.
We might then be able to reverse this phonetic spelling to spell the word correctly. Being able to manipulate the sounds into various graphemes is a key way to make spelling easier.
Morphology
We might be able to also use an understanding of morphology to make accurate spelling easier. To understand morphology, however, we must also understand what a morpheme is:
A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning that cannot be broken down into another meaning.
We can use morphemes to expand and break down other words.
The word 'bound' is a morpheme that can have prefixes and suffixes added to it, to alter the meaning of the root itself. We might add the prefix 're-' to make the word 'rebound' or perhaps a suffix of '-ed' to make the word 'bounded'. As a result, the morpheme changes tense and meaning but the root of the word is still maintained.
It is also possible to combine multiple morphemes.
The word 'graph' can be combined with other words such as 'photo' or 'auto' or 'geo' along with prefixes and suffixes to create new words. Using these morphemes, as building blocks, we can make the words 'auto-graph', 'photo-graph-er' or 'geo-graph-ical'.
Thus, we can use an understanding of morphemes to help with spelling, as it allows us to combine morphemes we are already familiar with to spell more complicated words.
Etymology and history
Although it may sound bizarre, we are also able to consider the etymology of English words (or the linguistic and historic origins of them) to understand spelling. The English language has experienced great periods of change in its development into its present state, that might influence the way words are written and pronounced:
Late Modern English (c. 1800 AD - present)
This is the way that we describe the version of English we speak today. It has evolved over hundreds of years through the involvement of many different languages of both Germanic and Romantic roots.
Early Modern (c. 1500 AD-1800 AD)
The Great Vowel Shift occurred during this time causing the long Middle English vowel sounds to evolve, resulting in the beginning of standardised spelling during the 15th and 16th centuries.
During this time, Shakespeare had a great influence on the development of vocabulary and is credited with the creation of over 1,500 words.¹ He did this by altering the state of words (such as shifting nouns into verbs and verbs into adjectives), adding prefixes and suffixes to various words, connecting words together and also creating his own words entirely.
Some words that Shakespeare contributed to the English language include, 'bizarrely', 'skim milk' (in Henry IV ), 'beached' (in Midsummer Night's Dream ) and 'caked' (in Timon of Athens ).
Middle English (c. 1100 AD-1500 AD)
The Norman Conquest occurred in 1066. With this, a greater influence of the more poetic Romantic languages, such as French and Latin, was introduced into English.
Geoffrey Chaucer was an author during this period, and remains famous today for writing The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400), a text in Middle English.
Words we use today that developed from Middle English include:
- 'Ynogh' (enough)
- 'Coy' (quiet)
- 'Shaltow' (you shall)
- 'Fetter' (shackles)
Words we use today that demonstrate French influence include:
- 'Money ”(from' monnaie ', when it was originally' schat 'in Old English)
- 'Luminary' (from luminaire)
- 'advice' (from the phrase 'c'est m' est avis', to mean 'in my opinion').
Old English (c. 450 AD-1100 AD)
Initially, the English language was formed by various Celtic dialects being combined with Latin (because of Roman invaders) which was used in political and military situations by those in higher positions in the social hierarchy. However, owing to various invasions over the next century from Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, the language would develop slightly into being Anglo-Saxon.
Very little literature exists during this period, beyond biblical writings and Beowulf (700-1000) - the oldest surviving poem we have left.
Words from Old English are typically monosyllabic, harsh-sounding and simplistic in meaning such as the words:
- 'Boar' (bar)
- 'Baker' (bæcere)
- 'Father' (fæder)
- 'Helmet' (helmet)
- 'Monastery' (mysnte)
- 'Sword', (sweord)
- 'Written' (writan)
- 'Worm / serpent' (wyrm)
How does this help?
An understanding of the history of certain words may help to know how a word may be spelt (whether it has silent sounds as many French rooted words may, or is almost phonetic like many words with Germanic roots).
Similarly, an understanding of etymology helps with spelling because an understanding of etymology may help you to recognise the different roots of words and how they are spelt.
An understanding that 'astronaut' can be broken down into the Latinate roots of 'astra' (star) and 'nauta' (sailor) could help predict the graphemes used and, thus, the spelling of the word.
Learn the most commonly misspelled words
While it isn't necessarily logical to learn every single spelling of every individual word, it is possible to learn the most misspelt words to at least avoid them. Here is a list of 20 of the most misspelt words in the English Language in 2010:
1. Separate | 5. Occurrence | 9. Broccoli | 13. Questionnaire | 17. Particularly |
2. Definitely | 6. Consensus | 10. Referred | 14. Connoisseur | 18. Liquefy |
3. Manoeuvre | 7. Unnecessary | 11. Bureaucracy | 15. A lot | 19. Conscience |
4. Embarrassment | 8. Acceptable | 12. Supersede | 16. Entrepreneur | 20. Parallel |
Spelling Challenge
Let's see whether you remember these spellings! Fill in the words correctly and then check yourself against the table above.
1. Sep_r_te | 5. Oc_u__ence | 9. Bro__oli | 13. Questio__aire | 17. Particul_rly |
2. Defin_tely | 6. Consens_s | 10. Refe__ed | 14. Connoi__eur | 18. Liqu_fy |
3. Man_euvre | 7. U__ecessary | 11. Bur___cracy | 15. A lot | 19. Cons_ience |
4. Emba__assment | 8. Accept_ble | 12. Supers_de | 16. Entrep__neur | 20. Paralle_ |
English spelling vs. American spelling
There are many slight differences between Americanized and British spellings, which can lead to confusion. This is because English maintained the spellings adopted by other languages from Europe, while American English became slightly more phonetic in pronunciation.
Here are some words which differ in British and American English:
British English | American English |
Behaviour | Behaviour |
Theatre | Theater |
Sulphur | Sulfur |
Recognise | Recognise |
Although many will accept Americanised versions of spelling, it is important to try and maintain consistency between spellings.
Why might someone disregard the correct spelling of words?
While this entire article has been discussing the importance of spelling, there are times when experimental forms of literature might entirely disregard it.
For example, the British poet Benjamin Zephaniah frequently writes his poems in a way that expresses a greater sense of identity. This is deeply reflected in the language used within his works which allows him to convey his Caribbean roots and exemplify the severity of his dyslexia.
Zephaniah's incredibly intimate poem that explores his childhood experiences with racism: 'No Problem' (1996):
I am not the problem
But I bear de brunt
Of the silly playground taunts
At racist stunts,
I am not the problem
I am born academic
But dey got me on de run
Now im a branded athletic
I am not the problem
If you give I a chance
I can teach yu of Timbuktu
I can do more dan dance
I am not the problem
I greet yu wid a smile
Yu put me in a pigeon hole
But i am versatile
These conditions may affect me
As I get older,
At I am positively sure
I have no chips on my shoulders,
Black is not the problem
Mother country get it right
An juss fe de record,
Sum of me best friends are white.
What other types of Spelling are there?
While you can write words using the English language, there is also a separate way to display which particular sounds to use, using the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). This allows people of any language to be able to pronounce any word, provided they understand the symbols. There are around 107 symbols that are used in the IPA. Yet, in the English Language we only use around 44 of these, some of which are listed below:
| IPA symbol | Sounds | Examples of sound |
| b | b, bb | bug, bubble |
| d | d, dd, ed | dad, add, milled |
| G | g, gg, gh, gu, gue | gin, logger, ghoul, Guernsey, rogue |
| dʒ | j, ge, g, dge, di, gg | injury, judge, giraffe, ledge, soldier, suggest |
| k | k, c, ch, cc, lk, qu, q, ck, x | kipper, call, Christmas, accentuate, chalk, bouquet, queer, rock, ox |
| tʃ | ch, tch, do, ti, te | chap, witch, futuristic, action, righteous |
| ʃ | sh, ce, s, ci, si, ch, sci, ch | shimmer, ocean, surety, special, pension, machine, conscience, stationary |
| j | y, i, j | your, onion, hallelujah |
By using these sounds, we can make it clear how words should be pronounced through the unique coding of each phoneme.
We are able to write the French word for 'bird' as oiseaux, in a way that we can understand. Out of the 7 letters in the word, none are individually pronounced as they should be, making it harder to read it as a non-learner and non-native speaker. However with the IPA symbols: /wa./zo/. it is easier to pronounce.
Spelling - key takeaways
- Spelling is the conventionalised order of letters to form words.
- Inaccurate spelling can undermine pieces of writing.
- An understanding of phonetics morphology and etymology/history can make spelling easier.
- Americanised spellings are often more phonetic than British English spellings.
- The IPA system is considered the universal way of spelling words because it focuses on the sounds made by a language.
¹ 'Shakespeare's Words.' The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 2021.
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