Interpreting Old Spelling
Terry Crowley, Peter K. Austin, Nick Thieberger · 1995
In this chapter we are going to look at ways of 'reconstituting' pronunciation and correct spelling of words that are to be found in old written sources. We will show you some methods for working with old documents to sort out how old spellings can be interpreted. However, you must remember that reconstitution can only be as good as the sources that it is based on; if the spelling in the sources is poor then our reconstitution will be affected by this, and you will not be able to come up with very accurate interpretations.