Episode 185: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 2)

The History of English Podcast

Episode 185: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 2)
Release Date: September 1, 2025
Host: Kevin Stroud

Overview

In this episode, Kevin Stroud continues his deep dive into the evolution of English pronunciation and spelling during the early 1600s—a pivotal era as English was becoming a global language. Picking up from the previous episode (which covered letters A–J), this installment examines the sounds and spellings associated with letters K–Z (or Zed). Stroud pairs detailed linguistic analysis with historical anecdotes, illustrating how changes in pronunciation and orthographic conventions reflect broader social and regional shifts in Early Modern English. The episode also demonstrates how examining spelling is key to understanding why modern English looks and sounds as it does.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Letter K (00:53)

History: Rare before 1200s; Old English used 'C' for /k/.
Middle English Shift: 'K' introduced to reduce confusion from 'C' sounding like /s/ (soft) versus /k/ (hard).
- E.g., "king" was "cyning"; "kiss" was "cyssan."
Silent K: Seen in words like "knife," "knee," and "knight"—the /k/ sound persisted in conservative or educated speech until early 1600s.
- Quote: “When we look at Shakespeare’s poems and plays, it’s clear that he didn’t pronounce those initial k’s because he used ‘not’ and ‘knot’ as puns.” (04:21)

2. Letter L (07:46)

General Use: Largely stable; pronounced at beginnings and ends of syllables (e.g., "love," "lily").
Disappearing L (Silent L): In combinations like alk (talk, walk, chalk) and alm (calm, palm), the /l/ went silent after the mid-1500s—first in the North, then South of England.
Scholarly Evidence: Spelling reformers like Alexander Gill included L in formal guides but acknowledged that common people dropped it.
- Quote: “Older, educated speakers tended to retain the older pronunciation with the l sound as ‘tallk’; whereas the average person on the streets of London would have dropped the l sound like we do today.” (10:34)
Added Ls (Etymological Restoration): Scholars in the 1500s reintroduced Ls to words borrowed from French/Latin (salmon, fault), affecting some pronunciations.
Variability Noted: Some people pronounced the L (especially in fault), but most didn’t. (14:12)

3. Letters M & N (18:04)

Both have been stable; unchanged over centuries.

4. Letter O (18:24)

Short O vs. Short A: In American English, short O (lot, pot) and short A (what, swan) have merged due to loss of lip rounding. This merger occurred before colonization of America but after mid-1500s.
- Quote: “Lip rounding is historically what distinguished the short O sound from the short A sound... when American speakers stopped rounding their short O's, those short O's essentially became short A's.” (22:54)
Long O Spellings: Represented with “o + silent e” (hope), “oa” (boat), rarely ever with “oo” (which is generally /uː/ as in "pool").
Great Vowel Shift (29:20): The double-O words ("room," "boot") originally had a different O-related sound that shifted to /uː/.
- Quote: “So instead of cleaning your room with a broom, you would have once cleaned your room with a ‘brome’.” (32:45)
Regional Variation: Shifts mostly complete in south England by early 1600s, ongoing in the north.

5. Letter P (38:05)

Stable in sound, with exceptions like “receipt” where P was reintroduced for etymological reasons.

6. Letter Q (39:38)

Rare in Old English; mostly appears as “qu” after Norman Conquest due to French spelling. Substituted for C to clarify the /k/ sound.

7. Letter R (41:19)

Trilled vs. Modern R: Originally trilled or tapped. Both forms coexisted in early 1600s, with some (like Ben Jonson) describing mixed usage.
Rhoticity: Early 1600s London was still largely rhotic (pronounced Rs), but loss of R after vowels (non-rhoticity) was beginning in East Anglia—would spread westward in centuries to follow.
- Quote: “At the current point in our overall story... those silent Rs were mostly confined to East Anglia, in the Far east of England.” (46:29)
Vowel Merger Before R (49:33): Middle English had distinct vowel + R combinations (er, ir, ur), but in early 1600s merged to modern ‘er’ (bird, clerk, nurse, word, girl).
- Quote: “All three of those distinct vowel sounds merged together into a common ‘er’ sound in the early 1600s... giving us the shared vowel sounds in all of those words that have different spellings today.” (54:05)
Trigger for Change: The shift from trilled to “modern” R may have “tugged” preceding vowels into the same schwa-like sound, initiating the merger.

8. Letter S (1:00:00)

Represents s, z, sh, and zh sounds:
- S was used for /s/ and /z/ because Old English didn’t use Z.
- Middle English introduced ‘Z’ from French, but S still commonly used for /z/.
- Sound can still switch (e.g., “is,” “has,” “as” with /z/).
- S followed by I + vowel developed into /ʃ/ (sh) and its voiced equivalent /ʒ/ (zh) in words like "passion," "measure."
- Quote: “As a result, the letter S can be used today to represent the S sound, and sometimes the Z sound, the SH sound, and the ZH sound.” (1:06:47)

9. Letter T (1:08:30)

Usually /t/, silent in a few loans (ballet, gourmet).
When T + I + vowel, shifts to /ʃ/ ("nation," "fraction").
T + URE yields /tʃ/ ("nature," "creature").

10. Letter U (1:11:37)

Short U Shift: Originally /ʊ/ (put, bull); by mid-1600s, Southern England develops new /ʌ/ (put~put, cut~cut). Not present in North England, which keeps the older /ʊ/.
Spelling with O: Double O and single O can represent /ʊ/ or /ʌ/ due to various historical factors, including the Great Vowel Shift and changes for legibility in Gothic script.
- Noted use of O in words originally spelled with U for visual clarity (love, come, some).
Long U (evolving to OW): Words like “house” and “mouse” went from /uː/ to /au/ in standard dialects.

11. Letters V & W (1:22:24)

V and U Distinction: Only standardized in printing/letterforms after the 1630s–1640s.

12. Letter X (1:25:25)

Represents "ks" sound, used variably at word beginnings as /z/ (xylophone).
Largely unchanged over time.

13. Letter Y (1:27:18)

Consonant ("yard," "yellow") and vowel ("try," "busy," "city").
Historically once marked a vowel distinct from 'i', but merged in Middle English.

14. Letter Z (1:28:10)

Introduced via French in Middle English; represents the /z/ sound, though much of its work is still done by S.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the variability of English in the early 17th century:

“There was an incredible variation in the way people spoke, not just from region to region, and from one social class to another, but also side by side on the streets of London.” (1:30:56)
On the relationship between spelling and the sound changes:

“English spelling largely reflects the way words were pronounced in the mid-1500s.” (03:19)
On the motives behind some odd spellings:

“The older spellings were retained, and as I’ve noted, this important vowel merger before the R sound… helps to explain why so many words pronounced with the same vowel sound have different spellings today.” (59:25) “If you’ve ever wondered why ‘sun’ and ‘son’ are spelled differently, it was intentional—a way of distinguishing them in writing.” (1:19:37)

Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | |------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:53 | Letter K: Origin, silent K, and standardization | | 07:46 | Letter L: Disappearing L, scholars’ influence, variable pronunciations | | 18:24 | Letter O: Short vs. short A; American/British differences; vowel mergers | | 29:20 | Great Vowel Shift and the fate of double-O words | | 41:19 | Letter R: Trilled to modern R, rhoticity, and the great vowel merger | | 54:05 | Vowel mergers before R—impact on many words | | 1:00:00 | Letter S: S as S, Z, Sh, Zh; introduction of the letter Z | | 1:06:47 | S+I+vowel and emergence of new sh/zh sounds | | 1:11:37 | Letter U: Short U, emergence of /ʌ/, Gothic script’s quirks, spelling merges | | 1:22:24 | Letters V & W: Early modern printing and distinction of sounds | | 1:27:18 | Letter Y: Vowel vs. consonant roles, merger with I | | 1:28:10 | Letter Z: Arrival and modern role | | 1:30:56 | Summary—Pronunciation variation in early 1600s London and future topics |

Episode Takeaways

The spellings we use today often preserve the echoes of lost sounds from centuries past.
Early 1600s English was in a state of great flux: regional, social, and class-based pronunciations coexisted, resulting in the rich tapestry of dialects we see as English became global.
Pronunciation changes like the silent K, L, the Great Vowel Shift, and the R-vowel merger all shaped modern English spelling in ways that still puzzle learners today.
Spelling reforms and etymological influences (such as restoring silent letters for “authenticity”) further complicated spelling and sometimes even altered pronunciation.
The early Modern period saw spelling and pronunciation drift apart, but also set the foundation for many modern English dialects.

Looking Ahead

Stroud hints that the next episode will explore the spread of early English to North America with the Pilgrims and Dutch settlement in New York, and will examine seafaring influences on the language.

For more resources and episode archives:
historyofenglishpodcast.com
Patreon for bonus episodes

The History of English Podcast

Episode 185: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 2)
Release Date: September 1, 2025
Host: Kevin Stroud

Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Letter K (00:53)

History: Rare before 1200s; Old English used 'C' for /k/.
Middle English Shift: 'K' introduced to reduce confusion from 'C' sounding like /s/ (soft) versus /k/ (hard).
- E.g., "king" was "cyning"; "kiss" was "cyssan."
Silent K: Seen in words like "knife," "knee," and "knight"—the /k/ sound persisted in conservative or educated speech until early 1600s.
- Quote: “When we look at Shakespeare’s poems and plays, it’s clear that he didn’t pronounce those initial k’s because he used ‘not’ and ‘knot’ as puns.” (04:21)

2. Letter L (07:46)

General Use: Largely stable; pronounced at beginnings and ends of syllables (e.g., "love," "lily").
Disappearing L (Silent L): In combinations like alk (talk, walk, chalk) and alm (calm, palm), the /l/ went silent after the mid-1500s—first in the North, then South of England.
Scholarly Evidence: Spelling reformers like Alexander Gill included L in formal guides but acknowledged that common people dropped it.
- Quote: “Older, educated speakers tended to retain the older pronunciation with the l sound as ‘tallk’; whereas the average person on the streets of London would have dropped the l sound like we do today.” (10:34)
Added Ls (Etymological Restoration): Scholars in the 1500s reintroduced Ls to words borrowed from French/Latin (salmon, fault), affecting some pronunciations.
Variability Noted: Some people pronounced the L (especially in fault), but most didn’t. (14:12)

3. Letters M & N (18:04)

Both have been stable; unchanged over centuries.

4. Letter O (18:24)

Short O vs. Short A: In American English, short O (lot, pot) and short A (what, swan) have merged due to loss of lip rounding. This merger occurred before colonization of America but after mid-1500s.
- Quote: “Lip rounding is historically what distinguished the short O sound from the short A sound... when American speakers stopped rounding their short O's, those short O's essentially became short A's.” (22:54)
Long O Spellings: Represented with “o + silent e” (hope), “oa” (boat), rarely ever with “oo” (which is generally /uː/ as in "pool").
Great Vowel Shift (29:20): The double-O words ("room," "boot") originally had a different O-related sound that shifted to /uː/.
- Quote: “So instead of cleaning your room with a broom, you would have once cleaned your room with a ‘brome’.” (32:45)
Regional Variation: Shifts mostly complete in south England by early 1600s, ongoing in the north.

5. Letter P (38:05)

Stable in sound, with exceptions like “receipt” where P was reintroduced for etymological reasons.

6. Letter Q (39:38)

Rare in Old English; mostly appears as “qu” after Norman Conquest due to French spelling. Substituted for C to clarify the /k/ sound.

7. Letter R (41:19)

Trilled vs. Modern R: Originally trilled or tapped. Both forms coexisted in early 1600s, with some (like Ben Jonson) describing mixed usage.
Rhoticity: Early 1600s London was still largely rhotic (pronounced Rs), but loss of R after vowels (non-rhoticity) was beginning in East Anglia—would spread westward in centuries to follow.
- Quote: “At the current point in our overall story... those silent Rs were mostly confined to East Anglia, in the Far east of England.” (46:29)
Vowel Merger Before R (49:33): Middle English had distinct vowel + R combinations (er, ir, ur), but in early 1600s merged to modern ‘er’ (bird, clerk, nurse, word, girl).
- Quote: “All three of those distinct vowel sounds merged together into a common ‘er’ sound in the early 1600s... giving us the shared vowel sounds in all of those words that have different spellings today.” (54:05)
Trigger for Change: The shift from trilled to “modern” R may have “tugged” preceding vowels into the same schwa-like sound, initiating the merger.

8. Letter S (1:00:00)

Represents s, z, sh, and zh sounds:
- S was used for /s/ and /z/ because Old English didn’t use Z.
- Middle English introduced ‘Z’ from French, but S still commonly used for /z/.
- Sound can still switch (e.g., “is,” “has,” “as” with /z/).
- S followed by I + vowel developed into /ʃ/ (sh) and its voiced equivalent /ʒ/ (zh) in words like "passion," "measure."
- Quote: “As a result, the letter S can be used today to represent the S sound, and sometimes the Z sound, the SH sound, and the ZH sound.” (1:06:47)

9. Letter T (1:08:30)

Usually /t/, silent in a few loans (ballet, gourmet).
When T + I + vowel, shifts to /ʃ/ ("nation," "fraction").
T + URE yields /tʃ/ ("nature," "creature").

10. Letter U (1:11:37)

Short U Shift: Originally /ʊ/ (put, bull); by mid-1600s, Southern England develops new /ʌ/ (put~put, cut~cut). Not present in North England, which keeps the older /ʊ/.
Spelling with O: Double O and single O can represent /ʊ/ or /ʌ/ due to various historical factors, including the Great Vowel Shift and changes for legibility in Gothic script.
- Noted use of O in words originally spelled with U for visual clarity (love, come, some).
Long U (evolving to OW): Words like “house” and “mouse” went from /uː/ to /au/ in standard dialects.

11. Letters V & W (1:22:24)

V and U Distinction: Only standardized in printing/letterforms after the 1630s–1640s.

12. Letter X (1:25:25)

Represents "ks" sound, used variably at word beginnings as /z/ (xylophone).
Largely unchanged over time.

13. Letter Y (1:27:18)

Consonant ("yard," "yellow") and vowel ("try," "busy," "city").
Historically once marked a vowel distinct from 'i', but merged in Middle English.

14. Letter Z (1:28:10)

Introduced via French in Middle English; represents the /z/ sound, though much of its work is still done by S.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the variability of English in the early 17th century:

“There was an incredible variation in the way people spoke, not just from region to region, and from one social class to another, but also side by side on the streets of London.” (1:30:56)
On the relationship between spelling and the sound changes:

“English spelling largely reflects the way words were pronounced in the mid-1500s.” (03:19)
On the motives behind some odd spellings:

“The older spellings were retained, and as I’ve noted, this important vowel merger before the R sound… helps to explain why so many words pronounced with the same vowel sound have different spellings today.” (59:25) “If you’ve ever wondered why ‘sun’ and ‘son’ are spelled differently, it was intentional—a way of distinguishing them in writing.” (1:19:37)

Timeline of Important Segments

Episode Takeaways

The spellings we use today often preserve the echoes of lost sounds from centuries past.
Early 1600s English was in a state of great flux: regional, social, and class-based pronunciations coexisted, resulting in the rich tapestry of dialects we see as English became global.
Pronunciation changes like the silent K, L, the Great Vowel Shift, and the R-vowel merger all shaped modern English spelling in ways that still puzzle learners today.
Spelling reforms and etymological influences (such as restoring silent letters for “authenticity”) further complicated spelling and sometimes even altered pronunciation.
The early Modern period saw spelling and pronunciation drift apart, but also set the foundation for many modern English dialects.

Looking Ahead

Stroud hints that the next episode will explore the spread of early English to North America with the Pilgrims and Dutch settlement in New York, and will examine seafaring influences on the language.

For more resources and episode archives:
historyofenglishpodcast.com
Patreon for bonus episodes

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Summary

The History of English Podcast

Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Letter K (00:53)

2. Letter L (07:46)

3. Letters M & N (18:04)

4. Letter O (18:24)

5. Letter P (38:05)

6. Letter Q (39:38)

7. Letter R (41:19)

8. Letter S (1:00:00)

9. Letter T (1:08:30)

10. Letter U (1:11:37)

11. Letters V & W (1:22:24)

12. Letter X (1:25:25)

13. Letter Y (1:27:18)

14. Letter Z (1:28:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Timeline of Important Segments

Episode Takeaways

Looking Ahead

Summary

The History of English Podcast

Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Letter K (00:53)

2. Letter L (07:46)

3. Letters M & N (18:04)

4. Letter O (18:24)

5. Letter P (38:05)

6. Letter Q (39:38)

7. Letter R (41:19)

8. Letter S (1:00:00)

9. Letter T (1:08:30)

10. Letter U (1:11:37)

11. Letters V & W (1:22:24)

12. Letter X (1:25:25)

13. Letter Y (1:27:18)

14. Letter Z (1:28:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Timeline of Important Segments

Episode Takeaways

Looking Ahead