Spelling Change Timeline

By ahoa6
  • Period: 450 to

    Earliest known English Inscriptions

  • Period: 450 to Jul 15, 1100

    Old English

  • Period: 500 to Jul 15, 600

    Alphabetic writing system brought

    English has an alphabetic writing system based on the Roman alphabet. This was brought to Anglo-Saxons by Christian missionaries and church missionaries.
  • Period: Jul 15, 1100 to Jul 15, 1500

    Middle English

  • Jul 15, 1348

    English replaces Latin as the language of scholars

  • Period: Jul 15, 1350 to

    The Great Vowel Shift

    The great vowel shift was a major change in the pronunciation of vowels in the English language
  • Jul 15, 1362

    English replaces French as the language of law

  • Jul 15, 1476

    English printing press was invented

    William Caxton introduces the English printing press. He was the first retailer to sell printed books.
  • Period: Jul 15, 1500 to

    Early Modern English

  • First English Dictionary

  • Period: to

    Late Modern English

  • Spelling Reform Association was founded

  • Oxford dictionary is published

    The Oxford dictionary took 40 years to make and includes 750,000 words described.

  • Commercial text messaging was introduced

    Text messaging introduced a new semantic field for the English language. Words were also being spelt shortly to save time texting.

  • Alfred translated books into English

    To improve literacy, Alfred arranged and took part in translating books in Latin into English, so lower class people could read them.