Orthography - Definition and Overview

The orthography of a language is the set of rules of how to write correctly in the language. The term is derived from Greek ορθο ortho- ("correct") and γραφος graphos ("that writes") and, in today's sense, includes spelling and punctuation. Orthography is distinct from typography.

An example of an orthographic rule for English is:

A vowel that is not preceded immediately by another vowel, and that is followed immediately by an "E" at the end of the word, may represent the "long" sound of the vowel. (This is the pronunciation rule "final E makes the vowel long" restated as a spelling rule.)

• Kinds of writing:
  • Ideogram
  • Syllabary
  • Alphabet
• Calligraphy
• Penmanship
  • Majuscule
  • Minuscule
• Graphology
• Spelling
• Punctuation

See also

• Prescription and description
• Writing
• phonemic awareness (http://moodle.ed.uiuc.edu/wiked/index.php/Phonemic_awareness)

Reference

• Smalley, W.A. (ed.) 1964. Orthography studies: articles on new writing systems, United Bible Society, London.