▁different ▁methods ▁of ▁representing ▁the ▁sounds ▁of ▁their ▁language ▁in ▁writing . ▁The ▁trad itions ▁of ▁neighbour ing ▁scri bes ▁and ▁their ▁languages ▁led ▁to ▁a ▁mult itude ▁of ▁ways ▁to ▁write ▁Middle ▁Dutch . ▁Con sequently , ▁sp elling ▁was ▁not ▁standard ised ▁but ▁was ▁highly ▁variable ▁and ▁could ▁differ ▁by ▁both ▁time ▁and ▁place ▁as ▁various ▁" tr ends " ▁in ▁sp elling ▁w ax ed ▁and ▁w an ed . ▁Furthermore , ▁a ▁word ▁could ▁be ▁found ▁sp elled ▁differently ▁in ▁different ▁occurr ences ▁within ▁the ▁same ▁text . ▁There ▁was ▁the ▁matter ▁of ▁personal ▁taste , ▁and ▁many ▁writers ▁thought ▁it ▁was ▁more ▁a est h etic ▁to ▁follow ▁French ▁or ▁Latin ▁practice , ▁leading ▁to ▁sometimes ▁rather ▁unusual ▁spell ings . ▁ ▁The ▁sp elling ▁was ▁generally ▁ph on etic , ▁and ▁words ▁were ▁written ▁based ▁on ▁how ▁they ▁were ▁spoken ▁rather ▁than ▁based ▁on ▁underlying ▁ph on emes ▁or ▁morph ology . ▁Final - ob stru ent ▁de vo icing ▁was ▁reflected ▁in ▁the ▁sp elling , ▁and ▁cl it ic ▁pron oun s ▁and ▁articles ▁were ▁frequently ▁joined ▁to ▁the ▁preceding ▁or ▁following ▁word . ▁S cri bes ▁wrote ▁in ▁their ▁own ▁dialect , ▁and ▁their ▁sp elling ▁reflected ▁the ▁pron unci ation ▁of ▁that ▁particular ▁scri be ▁or ▁of ▁some ▁prest ige ▁dialect ▁by ▁which ▁the ▁scri be ▁was ▁influenced . ▁The ▁modern ▁Dutch ▁word ▁ma ag d ▁(" ma iden ") ▁for ▁example ▁was ▁sometimes ▁written ▁as ▁mag het ▁or ▁ma eg t ,