Comments on: Spelling | The Information by Gleick http://www.theodigital.com/2011/08/spelling-the-information-by-gleick.html missional theology. digital media ecology. biscuits and gravy. Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:29:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Chris Ridgeway http://www.theodigital.com/2011/08/spelling-the-information-by-gleick.html/comment-page-1#comment-1259 Chris Ridgeway Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:33:43 +0000 http://www.theodigital.com/?p=949#comment-1259 Ty - so Gleick doesn't hit that, and I don't know the answer the Vulgate/Latin question either, although that's one I want to look into. You're right about the class-or-craft literacy though--I've read that about 10% of the Greek and Roman world could read and write, the very rich, or those whose craft it was to do so (typically a high-level household slave). The unified spelling is linked to printers needing a standard way to represent words using block lettering, plus the increased circulation and readership that came with printed material. Elizabeth Eisenstein would be the one to read on how this happened. She has nearly 1000 pages on the effects of the printing press! Ty – so Gleick doesn’t hit that, and I don’t know the answer the Vulgate/Latin question either, although that’s one I want to look into. You’re right about the class-or-craft literacy though–I’ve read that about 10% of the Greek and Roman world could read and write, the very rich, or those whose craft it was to do so (typically a high-level household slave).

The unified spelling is linked to printers needing a standard way to represent words using block lettering, plus the increased circulation and readership that came with printed material. Elizabeth Eisenstein would be the one to read on how this happened. She has nearly 1000 pages on the effects of the printing press!

]]> By: Ty Grigg http://www.theodigital.com/2011/08/spelling-the-information-by-gleick.html/comment-page-1#comment-1238 Ty Grigg Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:00:56 +0000 http://www.theodigital.com/?p=949#comment-1238 Chris, I'm curious - would this have been true for other cultures and languages other than English? For example, would Latin have had a more universal spelling in the 4th century when the Vulgate was written? or ancient Greek? Of course, these are still cultures pre-printing press and so writing would have been confined to only the very elite anyway. Also wondering, does Gleick say why spelling became so unified later on? Chris,
I’m curious – would this have been true for other cultures and languages other than English? For example, would Latin have had a more universal spelling in the 4th century when the Vulgate was written? or ancient Greek? Of course, these are still cultures pre-printing press and so writing would have been confined to only the very elite anyway. Also wondering, does Gleick say why spelling became so unified later on?

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