Editing Orthography (section)

== Terminology ==
The English word ''orthography'' is first attested in the 15th century, ultimately from {{langx|grc|ὀρθός}} ({{Transliteration|grc|orthós}} 'correct') and {{lang|grc|γράφειν}} ({{Transliteration|grc|gráphein}} 'to write').<ref>{{Citation |title=Orthography |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=orthography&searchmode=none}}</ref>

Orthography in phonetic writing systems is often concerned with matters of [[spelling]], i.e. the correspondence between written [[grapheme]]s and the [[phoneme]]s found in speech.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/S0166-4115(08)62790-9 |chapter=Beyond Orthographic Depth in Reading: Equitable Division of Labor |title=Orthography, Phonology, Morphology, and Meaning |series=Advances in Psychology |date=1992 |last1=Seidenberg |first1=Mark S. |volume=94 |pages=85–118 |isbn=978-0-444-89140-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Donohue |first=Mark |title=Language Description, History and Development: Linguistic indulgence in memory of Terry Crowley |volume=30 |page=396 |year=2007 |editor-last=Siegel |editor-first=Jeff |editor-last2=Lynch |editor-first2=John |editor-last3=Eades |editor-first3=Diana |series=Creole Language Library |chapter=Lexicography for Your Friends |place=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins |doi=10.1075/cll.30 |isbn=978-90-272-5252-4}}</ref> Other elements that may be considered part of orthography include [[hyphen]]ation, [[capitalization]], [[Word#Word boundaries|word boundaries]], [[Emphasis (typography)|emphasis]], and [[punctuation]].{{sfnp|Coulmas|1996|p=379}} Thus, ''orthography'' describes or defines the symbols used in writing, and the conventions that regulate their use.

Most [[natural language]]s developed as oral languages and [[writing system]]s have usually been crafted or adapted as ways of representing the spoken language. The rules for doing this tend to become [[Standard language|standardized]] for a given language, leading to the development of an orthography that is generally considered "correct". In [[linguistics]], ''orthography'' often refers to any method of writing a language without judgement as to right and wrong, with a scientific understanding that orthographic standardization exists on a spectrum of strength of convention. The original sense of the word, though, implies a dichotomy of correct and incorrect, and the word is still most often used to refer specifically to a standardized [[prescriptive linguistics|prescriptive]] manner of writing. A distinction is made between [[emic and etic]] viewpoints, with the emic approach taking account of perceptions of correctness among language users, and the etic approach being purely descriptive, considering only the empirical qualities of any system as used.