The Standardisation of i and y in Early Modern English (1500–1700). Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Condorelli, Marco
• Is Part Of: English studies. Volume 102:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 101
• Page End: 123
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Early Modern English -- spelling -- standardisation -- typography; English philology -- Periodicals; English literature -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Philologie anglaise -- Périodiques; Littérature anglaise -- Étude et enseignement -- Périodiques; 420
• DOI: 10.1080/0013838X.2020.1785169
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-838X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Between the sixteenth and the seventeenth century, i and y shifted from an early distribution principle to a new, modern standard, which generally resulted in the establishment of vocalic word-initially and word-medially, as well as for glides word-initially and for vowels word-finally. Previous scholars have offered interesting insights into some of the graphemes above, but the overall history of development in i and y, and the factors behind their modern standardisation, still remain partially uncovered. This paper investigates graphemic changes in the two letters in printed English between 1500 and 1700, using a quantitative model for the analysis of patterns across a range of texts from Early English Books Online . The analysis establishes the presence of a quantitative shift in the wholesale uses of and between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, and provides a precise chronology for the standardisation of word-initial, word-medial and word-final graphemic changes in i and y . The discussion reflects upon the development of the positional graphemes, and argues for pragmatic factors within the Early Modern English printing industry as primarily responsible for the modern standardisation of i and y .