English Knows!

When Old English began to be written, spelling varied widely, although some fairly common practices developed. Many of these, however, were changed after the Norman Conquest (1066), when Norman scribes began, for example, to write queen for cwen and quat or what for hwaet. The invention of printing in the 15th century proved to be a powerful force in standardizing spellings. Many present-day English spellings were standardized at that time and faithfully represent 15th-century pronunciations; English, however, subsequently underwent significant shifts in pronunciation. Most of the remaining modern spelling conventions were established as such by the dictionaries of the English lexicographer Samuel Johnson in 1755 and the American lexicographer Noah Webster in 1828. Webster was a proponent of American usages and, early in his career, of spelling simplification; many differences between present American and British spellings (such as labor for labour) are traceable to him.