17th-Century Spelling Many words in the 17th century were spelled differently than we spell them now. Some of them were even spelled differently by the same person! There were not as many standard rules for spelling like there are today. Also, when the colonists learned words from the American Indians, new spellings had to be invented because the American Indians did not use a written language. If you heard an unfamiliar word and had to figure out how to spell it, you might change your mind about it over time. These 17th-century spellings are taken from The Calvert Papers, a collection of primary documents from the early days of the Maryland colony. Imagine that you are a historian studying documents from the 1600s. You have come across some unfamiliar words. Can you translate the following words into modern English? (Remember, sometimes “s” appeared as s, also known as a “long s.” It is not an f.).
monethe< valew Chesapeacke Pattawomeck freindshipp Baltamor glorie Journy howse
Answers: months, value, Chesapeake (a word with American Indian origins), Potomac (a word with American Indian origins), friendship, Baltimore, glory, journey, house.
