The relationship between sound and spelling in Alexander Hume’s Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue

Campbell, Molly (2021) The relationship between sound and spelling in Alexander Hume’s Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century orthoepy has received a considerable amount of attention over the past several decades in the study of Early Modern English. One scholar who has received much less attention is Scottish schoolmaster Alexander Hume, whose c.1617 text Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue presents an unusual form of orthoepic text; Hume was not simply making use of the London-based educated standard form of language, but was instead formulating an interaction between Scots and English at the level of both spelling and pronunciation, without favouring one side or the other arbitrarily. This study affords the Orthographie the attention it deserves, examining Hume’s handling of spellings, sounds, and the relationship between them as he manoeuvres between Scots and English usages, and indeed Latin. This study also places his work in a larger context, offering a fuller biographical account of his career than has yet appeared and positioning his work in relation to other contemporary discussions on language issues.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
• Supervisor's Name: Smith, Professor Jeremy and Kopaczyk, Dr. Joanna
• Date of Award: 2021
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2021-82623
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 11 Jan 2022 12:49
• Last Modified: 08 Apr 2022 16:59
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.82623
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/82623