Glossary · Spelling rules and patterns
What is orthography?
Definition
Orthography is a language's writing system: its letters, its spelling patterns, and the conventions for how sounds and meanings are written down.
English orthography carries more than sound. It also preserves meaning and history. That's why sign keeps its g (from signal), why -ed is spelled the same however it sounds, and why words from Greek use ph and ch for /f/ and /k/.
Linguists call English a deep orthography, because the link between letters and sounds is less direct than in languages like Spanish or Finnish. It isn't random, though. Most English spellings follow patterns once you look at position, word parts and word origin together.
Orthographic knowledge is what a reader builds up about these patterns. It is why a skilled reader feels that blite looks wrong and blight looks right, without being able to say why.
In a lesson
Show the student nation, national and nationality. The spelling of nation stays the same while the vowel sound shifts. English keeps the spelling to keep the meaning visible.
Examples
Each word with its spelling units, one per sound.
- nationn·a·tion
- nationaln·a·tion·a·l
- signs·i·gn
- signals·i·g·n·a·l
Words come from our lexicon, checked against a pronouncing dictionary. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out.
Why does this matter for the record?
Orthographic errors (right sounds, wrong spelling choice) are a later stage than phonetic ones. Noting which kind a student makes shows how far they've come.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.