No, nothing has changed. This is a document I've been working on for over a week, and this hasn't happened before. But even more curiously, since I posted the query the quotes have become more erratic still - in the sense that on one line they might be fine, and the next reversed. An anomaly that might work itself out perhaps?
I've done that now. Language was British all through, as selected. I'll see how it goes, and if it gets worse (or stays as bad as now) I'll follow your suggestion and mention it to Martin.