What is Orthography?

• A. The conventional system of spelling and writing in a language
• B. The study of sound systems
• C. The social use of language
• D. The meanings of words

Answer: (A)

Orthography is the conventional system a language uses for writing, including how words are spelled, punctuation, capitalization, and any diacritical marks. It’s the standardized written form that readers rely on to recognize and produce text, regardless of how the words actually sound or what they mean. This is why the correct choice describes the spelling and writing conventions. The other descriptions point to different areas: the study of sound systems is phonology, the social use of language is sociolinguistics or pragmatics, and the meanings of words cover semantics. Orthography focuses on the written representation, not on sound, meaning, or social use.