ABSTRACT
The written language is the most characteristic expression of the standard or common tongue which is in conflict with the spoken tongue; continually yielding to individual influence, constantly tends to depart from the ideal norm represented by the standard language. The main reason for crises in orthography, and the best evidence of the differences that exist between the written and spoken language, is the incapacity of spelling to keep pace with changes in the language. Written language, therefore, plays a very important part in the psychology of language. The influence of writing upon pronunciation was even greater in German than in French or English, and this is due to the fact that standard German is primarily a written language. Moreover, when the standard language was in the process of development the pronunciation was constantly being regulated by the orthography which tended to establish a normal pronunciation, which was not that of any given province nor of any single social group.
