Ortografiaa

Ortografiaa is a Basque term meaning “the orthography.” Orthography, broadly defined, is the set of conventions for writing a language, including spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. It governs how sounds map to letters and how words are separated and marked. Orthography is distinct from grammar and vocabulary, though it interacts with pronunciation and literacy.

The study and standardization of orthography aim to promote consistent writing, facilitate reading comprehension, and support education and publishing. In many languages, academies or language councils publish official orthographic norms and guidance. In Basque, the norm is governed by Euskaltzaindia; in Spanish, by the Real Academia Española. While other languages have their own institutions, the goal remains the same: guide writers toward a stable, readable writing system.

Key components of orthography include spelling conventions, diacritics and accents, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, and numerals. Diacritics signal stress or vowel quality; capitalization rules govern proper nouns and sentence starts; punctuation marks regulate sentence structure and meaning. Spelling rules also cover letter sequences, digraphs, and loanwords.

Variation and reform are common themes. Some languages exhibit regional spellings due to dialects or historical change, and reforms may be adopted to reflect pronunciation, simplify learning, or align with linguistic policy. In the digital era, orthography interacts with technology through spell-checkers, keyboards, and automatic transcription, while dictionaries and corpora help maintain current norms and support language learning.