When you learned the pronunciation of English words, you swore to William Caxton, even if you didn't know who he was.

In the fourteenth century, a process began in English that is called the Great Vowel Shift. Latin pronunciation and Low German phonetics began to be supplanted by new variants. During this process, two long vowels became diphthongs, and five more changed a lot.

But there was no internet in the Middle Ages. Each county gradually developed its own way of writing and pronunciation. For example, the word “church” in England could be pronounced in 22 different ways, and “she” – in 60 ways. The familiar “though” did have whole 500 options spellings and pronunciation.

One person changed everything – William Caxton. But most students who study English as a foreign scold this gentleman with their last words when they learn exactly how words are read in English. Spoiler alert: anyway. And they scold him, even if they have never heard this name at all. We’ll tell you why.

Why did Caxton change English (spoiler: for the money)

At the beginning of the 15th century, the English language was changing very rapidly, gaining independence from German and Latin. But the words were often written by ear, as necessary. Almost every county had its own rules for writing documents.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that scribes often made mistakes in the manuscripts, and then these mistakes were corny multiplied by other scribes. Therefore, the already ramified spelling options became even more complex.

Until the 15th century, there were five large dialects of English and several dozen small ones in England. And some of the language variants were quite different. There were attempts to somehow standardize the language. But they passed frankly sluggishly.

It got to the point that almost every major city had its own spelling rules.

William Caxton changed everything.

The name of this man holds a special place in British history, but only historians abroad know him, and even then quite a few.

William Caxton is the creator of England’s first book printing press. And it was he who launched the process of unifying the English language. The vast amount of phonetic and spelling standardizations that this gentleman promoted are used in modern English as well.

During his career, he published 108 works, most of which were secular books. He published Chaucer, Boccaccio, Boethius, Virgil. And a special place was occupied by Malory’s “Death of Arthur” translated into English.

The reason is simple: they bought well. Printed copies were sold to the nobility, aristocrats as entertainment reading. This was in stark contrast to the policies of Gutenberg, who, in fact, invented the print press. Most of the German book printer published religious works. Caxton made money by printing secular books.

But at the same time, as an entrepreneur, he perfectly understood the value of the new method of printing books. And he realized what impact he could have on the entire English language.

In the foreword to Virgil’s 1490 edition of Virgil’s Aeneid, Caxton jokingly wrote how much English differs from one part of the island to another. A short sketch of a man from the north of England wanted to buy eggs on the Kent side of the Thames (southeast of London):

For convenience, we have highlighted the desired passage.
Original:
And specyally he axyed after eggys. And the good wyf answerde that she coude speke no frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry for he also coude speke no frenshe but wold haue hadde egges and she understode hym not. And thenne at laste a nother sayd that he wolde haue eyren. Then the good wyf sayd that she understood hym we.
Loo what sholde a man in thyse dayes now wryte egges or eyren? Certaynly it is harde to playse euery man by cause of dyuersite and chaunge of langage.
Translation into modern English:
And he asked specifically for eggs, and the good woman said that she spoke no French, and the merchant got angry for he could not speak French either, but he wanted eggs and she could not understand him. And then at last another person said that he wanted ‘eyren’. Then the good woman said that she understood him well.
Now, what should one write nowadays, eggs or eyren? It is certain that it is difficult to please everybody because of the diversity and the change of our language.
Translation into Russian:
And he asked if there were any eggs on sale, but the kind woman said that she did not speak French, and the merchant got angry because he did not speak French himself. He wanted to buy eggs, but she could not understand him. Finally, another person said that he wanted to buy ‘eyren’. And the kind woman answered that she understood.
But how do we write these days: eggs or eyren? It is clear that it is difficult to please everyone because of the differences and changes in our language.

Notice how much Caxton’s English still differs from modern norms. There is still a very strong connection with German here. For example, in the endings of the verbs “answerde” and “speke”.

The Royal Chancery Standard That Becomes the Foundation of Modern English

The basis for the “official” dialect is London English. The reason is quite prosaic – the printing press was created in Westminster, where the London dialect was in use.

Caxton considered the nobility and the aristocracy of London to be the main buyers of the books, so he printed in a more familiar language.

But there were still no uniform rules. People on one side of the Thames called the number “twa” and on the other side called “zwa”. Caxton chose the option that he liked best. Actually, thanks in large part to Caxton, the British today say “two”, not “zwa”.

Due to the fact that printed copies were created much faster than handwritten ones, they took over the market and pretty soon Caxton’s grammar and spelling became “the only correct one.”

In general, Caxton “approved” the spelling of a huge number of words, including:

“Thai” and “thaim” – modern “they” and “them”;
“Boke” / “booke” – modern “book”;
“Wordes” – “words”
“Dayli” – “daily”
“Usid” – “used”

Also, it is he who is credited with the complex spelling of the words “through”, “rough” and others with the combination of letters “-ough”. Moreover, there are as many as six variants of its pronunciation!

/ ʌf / – enough – [ɪˈnʌf]
/ ɔf / – cough – [kɒf]
/ au / – bough [baʊ]
/ eu / – dough [dəʊ]
/ o: / – bought [bɔːt]
/ u: / – through [θruː]

The reason is precisely Caxton’s selectivity. Caxton’s spelling was heavily influenced by French and Flemish. At the same time, there was no rubrication of words by spelling. There were no special rules for why a particular word is spelled that way. Only the subjective opinion of Caxton himself.

He translated a third of the published works himself, trying to achieve the harmony of the language. And in spelling was guided by subjective perception. That is why the correct pronunciation of English words today is such a challenge.

Through the efforts of Caxton and other book printers who took over after him, the Chancery Standard, a written version of English used in commerce and official government documents, emerged.

It was with the “Chancery Standard” that the development of Early New English began, from which the modern language was transformed over time.

It is clear that the spelling was still changing. During the 15th-16th centuries, the spelling of English words was actively settled by the efforts of printers and writers. But many lexemes have remained in the form that Caxton chose for them.

The word “ghost” has come down to us in the original form that Caxton chose. In Old English, “ghost”, “spirit” sounded like “gast”. Caxton corrected him a little in the Flemish manner.
Here the “h” in the center of the word wasn’t Old English, but Caxton thought it would look better.

There were many inconsistencies in the works published by Caxton. It got to the point that in one book there were several spelling options at once. For example, “boke” and “booke” for a book. But despite this, it was printing that secured the status of London English as the main one and became the beginning of the total standardization of the language.

And all these strange phonetic rules come from there. So if you’ve ever wondered why “queue” is pronounced so idiotic, it’s William Caxton’s fault. So now you will know who to say “thank you” to because you can’t remember how to pronounce some words in English.

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