While claiming to write down the individual sounds of the language, Englishʼs system of spelling has got itself into a bit of a quirky state. Silent letters, like the K and B in knight and doubt, are littered across its words. Mute ‘Magic E’ distinguishes a bit from a bite, a hop from hope, and a hat from hate. Other letters partner up with H to spell the common sounds of CH, SH and TH in chin, shin and thin. But how did we get here? Linguist and author Danny Bate offers an answer through two key themes. After a whistlestop tour through the history of the alphabet in general, the talk will examine the distinctive history of English speech, before turning to the distinctive history of English speakers. With these two themes considered together, the current state of English spelling will seem inevitable!

The talk is partly based on Danny Bate’s critically acclaimed and bestselling book Why Q needs U: A history of our letters and how we use them.