ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on graphology, spelling and pronunciation. It shows how Renaissance English was written and discovers the variation, with words often being spelled in more than one way. At the same time, spelling reform was in the air, with attempts being made to bring some order to the rather chaotic practices. The difference between u and v also relates to where the letter comes in the word. In Present-Day English (PDE) these two letters represent different sounds, one a vowel and the other a consonant. Italics in the story are used for the names of people. They are also used in drama for stage directions, and for place names. And while pondering, it is worth thinking a little bit about the use of punctuation today. The chapter concludes that the language during the Early Modern English (EModE) period was gradually settling down into the English. It compares the aspects of sixteenth-century pronunciation with Received Pronunciation (RP).
