Spelling as a Sociolinguistic Practice: Variation in >colour<-, >theatre<- and >licence

This book presents a corpus-based approach to the study of the spelling variation in words like colour, theatre and licence from a diachronic and a diatopic perspective. The analysis hinges on four processes of linguistic change that these words have undergone over time and are experiencing across varieties today: namely, standardisation and differentiation and simplification and Americanisation, respectively. The book thus highlights that spelling is neither arbitrary nor dependent on spee...