The alternations in <u>/<v> and <i>/<j> are among the most well-known and commented-upon changes in Early Modern English spellings, yet little has been said about the potential factors underlying their standardisation, and whether and how the two alternant pairs could be linked together. The reason behind this knowledge gap may be found in the absence of a large-scale, quantitative investigation of these spellings, and consequently, the impossibility of commenting upon the relationship between patterns of chronological development and potential causes of change. This article focuses on the standardisation of word-initial <u>/<v> and <i>/<j> between 1500 and 1700 in printed English, and uses a quantitative model for the analysis of patterns of diachronic development in the two alternant pairs, across a range of texts from a sampled version of Early English Books Online. The results describe a rather abrupt, synchronised change in the redistribution of word-initial <u>/<v> and <i>/<j> between the 1620s and the 1640s. The discussion argues for a close connection between the diachronic developments in word-initial <u>/<v> and <i>/<j>, and pragmatic factors that affected the Early Modern English printing industry.

中文翻译：

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位置拼写重新分配：早期现代英语（1500-1700）中的词首 / 和 /

<u>/<v> 和 <i>/<j> 中的变化是早期现代英语拼写中最著名和评论最多的变化之一，但关于它们标准化的潜在因素却鲜有提及，并且两个交替对是否以及如何连接在一起。这种知识差距背后的原因可能在于没有对这些拼写进行大规模的定量调查，因此无法评论时间发展模式与潜在变化原因之间的关系。本文重点关注1500年至1700年印刷英语中词首<u>/<v>和<i>/<j>的标准化，并使用定量模型分析这两个交替的历时发展模式。对，早期英语在线图书. 结果描述了在 1620 年代和 1640 年代之间词首 <u>/<v> 和 <i>/<j> 的重新分配发生了相当突然的同步变化。讨论认为词首 <u>/<v> 和 <i>/<j> 的历时发展与影响早期现代英语印刷业的语用因素之间存在密切联系。