Write as you speak? A cross-linguistic investigation of orthographic transparency in 16 Germanic, Romance and Slavic languages

Abstract

<p>Ever since the invention of the printing press, the creation of a written standard represented an important cornerstone in the development of most languages. For many language varieties, this meant taking the step from a dialect or regiolect to a language, and for most national languages, the presence of a written standard was a necessary prerequisite. The orthographies of most European languages were developed from a set of unstandardized conventions which usually served as the basis of the new norm. For some languages the spelling norms were established with the first official translation of the Bible (e.g. Czech), while others set the norm through publishing a dictionary and describing the new spelling used (Dutch, French, Span­ish). The spelling was then updated through a series of reforms, most of them passed in the 18th and 19th centuries. These reforms often followed significant historical changes and were seen as a vital part o flanguage standardisation, which at the time was often an important element in nation building.<br/> Naturally, since the speed at which the orthographic reforms follow the changes in speech varies substantially per language, this generally means that the extent to which ancient pronunciation is preserved in the current spelling also varies. Some­times spelling is also deliberately kept unchanged in order to illustrate word etymology. This variety in decisions and the very fact that spelling rules are arbitrary, in turn leads to cross-linguistic differences in how accurately contemporary pronunci­ation is reflected in the orthography.</p>