Who Came Up with the Idea of Spaces Between Words?

Paul Saenger's research reveals that the blank space between words is not a natural feature of writing but a medieval invention. Classical Greek and Latin texts used scriptio continua, an unbroken ribbon of letters that forced readers to vocalize text aloud. Eye-movement laboratories have since measured the cost: removing word boundaries drops reading speed by thirty to fifty percent. Irish and English monks in the seventh and eighth centuries, struggling with Latin as a foreign tongue, first inserted dots, then spaces, making meaning visible on the page.

You'll learn:

- Why Augustine's Ambrosius scene isn't proof of rare silent reading

- How ancient punctuation marked breath pauses, not grammar

- What happens when you block the voice inside your head