# Why does the spelling "island" persist in modern English?



## Arabus

People hate spelling reform, and I understand that because people are naturally conservative and like to preserve old things, but the word "island" is itself the result of an erroneous spelling reform. This word used to be written _iland _and was reformed to _island _on the basis of a false etymology. Why does the erroneous spelling _island _persist?

I think that all such words whose spellings were erroneously reformed in the past must now be restored to their older, correct spellings. The spelling _island _must be abandoned and everybody should write _iland_.


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## Hulalessar

I suspect that most people are unaware that the spelling is etymologically erroneous. Unetymological spellings persist for the same reasons that all other spellings persist.


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## rusita preciosa

Because island is not a common enough word to bother changing its spelling.

For example, I'm pretty sure that with time spelling of words like *tonite* and *lite*  or the word *info* will become a norm, but  these are much more common.

EDIT: I just looked up the etymology and according to your logic island should be spelled and pronounced *igland *("ig" meaning water, cognate with aqua + "land").


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## Red Arrow

I am pretty sure that "ig" means egg. *igland = eggland*

Same thing with the Dutch/German word eiland, which comes from ei (egg) and land.


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## wildan1

Arabus said:


> Why does the erroneous spelling _island _persist?


That is one sample of spelling reform introduced by classicists in England in the 16th Century. 

Word spellings were sometimes adjusted to reflect their Latin or Greek roots, not how they had evolved in French and were first adopted into English through the Normans' dialectical version of French. Also, before the 16th Century many if not most official written documents in England were in Latin, not English or French.


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## Frank78

Red Arrow :D said:


> I am pretty sure that "ig" means egg. *igland = eggland*
> 
> Same thing with the Dutch/German word eiland, which comes from ei (egg) and land.



An place full of eggs? 

Certainly not. The ei/ey in Eiland actually means "island" or "meadow". Thus the complete word means "island land".


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## JulianStuart

Arabus said:


> People hate spelling reform, and I understand that because people are naturally conservative and like to preserve old things, but the word "island" is itself the result of an erroneous spelling reform. This word used to be written _iland _and was reformed to _island _on the basis of a false etymology. Why does the erroneous spelling _island _persist?
> 
> I think that all such words whose spellings were erroneously reformed in the past must now be restored to their older, correct spellings. The spelling _island _must be abandoned and everybody should write _iland_.


It was "given" a new etymology to resemble "isle" (which had an s when it came from Latin insula-island but where the n was subsequently dropped).  There is no designated authority to change/enforce spelling "reform" - just the rule of the people: if a change (in spelling or meaning) is introduced by someone or a group, the general population will either adopt it or reject/ignore it.


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## Red Arrow

Frank78 said:


> An place full of eggs?


An egg doesn't have borders and neither does an island/eggland 
You always need some fantasy to 'understand' Dutch compounds. The word klokhuis (clock house) means 'core of an apple'.


> Certainly not. The ei/ey in Eiland actually means "island" or "meadow". Thus the complete word means "island land".


You are probably right. In the Scandinavian languages, they still say island without the word 'land'.


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## M Mira

Arabus said:


> People hate spelling reform, and I understand that because people are naturally conservative and like to preserve old things, but the word "island" is itself the result of an erroneous spelling reform. This word used to be written _iland _and was reformed to _island _on the basis of a false etymology. Why does the erroneous spelling _island _persist?
> 
> I think that all such words whose spellings were erroneously reformed in the past must now be restored to their older, correct spellings. The spelling _island _must be abandoned and everybody should write _iland_.


Island and Isle reinforce each other just like debt and debit. People like pattern and analogy even if it can be erroneous.


rusita preciosa said:


> For example, I'm pretty sure that with time spelling of words like *tonite* and *lite* or the word *info* will become a norm, but these are much more common.


"Lite" is a bit different IMO, I've never seen "lite" used as an antonym of "dark", only as an antonym of "heavy" or "complete", so I think this is more of a differentiation.


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## berndf

Red Arrow :D said:


> I am pretty sure that "ig" means egg. *igland = eggland*
> 
> Same thing with the Dutch/German word eiland, which comes from ei (egg) and land.


No, it doesn't. That is folk etymology. _Ei-_ in _Eiland_ is related to _Aue_ (meadow or wetland) and very distantly to Latin _aqua_. No relation to _Ei = egg_.


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## Hutschi

Hi, Grimm gives two explanations of Eiland.
1. derived from Aue, als Bernd explained. This is land with water around it, according to Grimm. 
2. from Einlant = middle high German for island.
Wörterbuchnetz - Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm


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## berndf

Hutschi said:


> Hi, Grimm gives two explanations of Eiland.
> 1. derived from Aue, als Bernd explained. This is land with water around it, according to Grimm.
> 2. from Einlant = middle high German for island.
> Wörterbuchnetz - Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm


Both meanings have the same eventual etymology. The variant _Einland/Einland_ indicates a possible influence of the number word _ein _in the sense of _Einland =_ _separate land_. But that variant is uniquely High German and is not indication of a second etymological thread. Either way, _Ei = egg_ plays no role in any of the meanings.


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## rusita preciosa

M Mira said:


> "Lite" is a bit different IMO, I've never seen "lite" used as an antonym of "dark", only as an antonym of "heavy" or "complete", so I think this is more of a differentiation.


I'm not sure how that is related to my point... Do you mean that eventually* lite* will be the antonym of "heavy"/"high calorie" and *light* will keep its spelling as the antonym of "dark"? I doubt it.


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## Hutschi

So island seams to be a kind of portmanteau word from two roots. Is this possible?
Eyland  + insula


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## berndf

Hutschi said:


> So island seams to be a kind of portmanteau word from two roots. Is this possible?
> Eyland  + insula


_Island _is just a "misspelling" of_ iland_ induced by the variant spelling _isle _for _ile_ (both spellings occurred in OF) because folk etymology thought of the two words as being related. After the historicising spelling _isle had _eventually replaced_ ile _completely,_ island_ also replaced_ iland_.


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## Hutschi

Clear as crystal now. Thank you.


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