11:14 AM ~ December 31st, 2015
Rules for Spelling
Reduced to utmost and ultimate simplicity, the rules for good spelling are as
follows:
1--If a word ends in a mute, the e is dropped when a termination beginning with
a vowel is added: hope, hoping; true, truism; guide, guidance. But note certain in-
stances in which
e must be retained to hold the sense, as in
dyeing, distinguished from
dying; singeing, distinguished from
singing. Also, there are complications as between
lineage, measurement by lines, and
lineage, a line of descent. In the former sense the
spelling
linage has gained great popularity.
2--A silent e at the end of a word is retained when an ending beginning with
a consonant is added: hate, hateful; incite, incitement; move, movement. Exceptions
occur when the silent
e is preceded by a vowel, as in
argue, argument.
3--In monosyllables or words accented on the last syllable, a final consonant fol-
lowing a single vowel is doubled before endings that begin with a vowel: abel,
abetted; begin, beginning; wit, witty. Words of this group ending in
s show some
variations. Thus we have
gas, gassy, but
gaseous. When the accent is thrown back,
in the derivative form, the consonant is not doubled. Thus we have
preference, not
preferrence. In British usage a final
l is doubled:
traveller, kidnapping; but American
practice is quiet generally in favor of the single consonant, as in
canceled, chiseling,
kidnaper, leveling, quarreled, reveling, traveler, worshiper.
4--When a word ends in e. k is added before and ending beginning with e, i, or
y, as in colic, colicky; traffic, trafficking; panic, panicky.
5--When a word ends in a double consonant, this ending is commonly retained
in derivatives made by adding one or more syllables, as
odd, oddly; ebb, ebbing; stiff,
stiffness. But there is variant usage in connection with words ending double
l,
as
enroll, dull, skill, and along with
enrollment, dullness, skillful we find
enrolment,
dulness, skilful. In adding
-ly to a word ending in double
l, two
l's are used:
dully.
6--In forming derivatives of words ending in y preceded by a consonant, the y
is commonly changed to i before any termination not beginning in i: dainty, daintily;
mercy, merciful; modify, modification. Thus we have
flying but
flier; dryness but
drier. Some do write
drily, but the better usage is
dryly. As in all rules for English
spelling, it is necessary to note certain exceptions:
day, daily; lay, laid; pay, paid;
say, said. Some persons write
stay and
staid, but as we have as adjective in the
latter form it is generally considered better to write the verb
stayed. There is vari-
ance of usage also in derivatives of
gay: gaily or gayly, gaiety or
gayety.
Spelling
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7--Where -ing is used to form derivatives from words ending in -ie, the e being
dropped (
Rule One)
, the i changes to y: die, dying; tie, tying; vie, vying. (Do not
confuse
dying with
dyeing, using dye.)
8--When a syllable beginning with a vowel is added to a word having a vowel
ending, the vowel ending is generally retained: echo, echoing; woo, wooer. The ex-
ceptions to this rule are simple and easily mastered: When the word ends in silent
e,
the
e is dropped before an ending that starts with
e, as
sue, sued; and when the stem
word ends in double
e, only two
e's appear in the derivative, as in
agree, agreed.
9--As a rule, noun and adjective from the same stem word in -ant or -ent have
the same vowel in the derivative: attendant, attendance; dependent, dependence. In
determining whether the ending should be
-ant or
-ent, -ance or
-ence, the student
of Latin has some advantage, for the
a forms are from Latin verbs of the first con-
jugation (
-are), and the
e forms go back to verbs in the other conjugations. A curious
exception is in the noun
confidant, which seems to conflict with the adjective form
confident and the abstract noun form
confidence. Confidant is taken straight from the
French; the verb
confide and its derivatives trace back to the Latin verb
confidere.
Variant Styles
In some matters of spelling the student has choice of different usages, all supported
by good authority. Anyone experiencing difficulty in making decisions will do well
to follow the dictionary, and look these words up until through repetition he has
formed the habit of correct spelling. Keeping a pocket notebook with
LISTS OF WORDS
in the different groups will supply the student with ready reference supplementary
to his use of the dictionary.
First, the prefixes
in and
en, combining with verbs and their derivatives, may be
puzzling. The former is Latin; the latter comes from the French.
Infold is now
more commonly used than
enfold. Where the meaning is unmistakably that of
in-ness,
in is likely to be correct. But it is to be borne in mind that there are many
words, like
enchant, in which the prefix does not mean "in" but has merely an in-
tensive force.
Usage is more firmly fixed with regard to
-er and
-re: theater, theatre. Dr. Worcester
adopted the British form,
-re; Webster gave common currency to
-er. But it is to
be noted that in some words the choice is not offered:
acre, lucre, ogre.
Similar to
-er, -re are the
-ise, -ize and
-or, -our problems. The
-ise and
-our spell-
ings, as in
analyse and
honour, are British. American usage is heavily in favor of
the
-or form, as in
color, but is mixed on
-ise, -ize. We write
advertise, comprise,
disfranchise, exercise, supervise. But in many words we give special force to the
-ize
ending--principally where it is added to a whole word in familiar use, as
Americanize,
circularize. The
-ize ending reflects the Greek, the
-ise form comes from the French.
Criticize is now established in common American usage.
Glamour is a notable ex-
ception to the American practice of dropping the
u in such word endings. The
u,
however, is omitted in the derivative
glamorous.
The world of science is doing some streamlining, simplifying its vocabulary. Thus
-id and
-in are used instead of
-ide and
-ine.
Many changes from older forms have come about. The letter
u is now dropped
from many words that used to carry it, as in mo(u)ld, ga(u)ge, sta(u)nch.
Another group of words in which trouble is experienced by doubtful spellers is
made up of those in which some use a
c and some an
s. Offense and
defense are now
a quite general favor. Some of us write
practice for either noun or verb; others
Spelling
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write
practise for all uses of the word, and some there are who still stick to the old
way of writing
practice for the noun and
practise for the verb.
A similar division of custom is observable in
plow, plough.
Spelling of Plurals
Most English noun plurals are formed by adding
-s to the singular:
book, books;
indication, indications; track, tracks. But there are many variations from this simple
rule:
1--Some nouns ending in o,
preceded by a consonant, add -es for the plural:
cargoes, echoes, embargoes, mottoes, potatoes.
2--Nouns ending in o,
preceded by another vowel, form the plural by adding -s:
cameos, folios.
3--Nouns ending in a consonant not followed by silent e and having a sound to
which simple -s is not easily affixed form the plural by adding -es. These consonants
are especially
j, s, x,s z, ch, sh. Examples:
churches, gases, losses, foxes.
4--Words ending in a consonantal sound followed by silent e form their plurals
by adding -s: ages, fences, poses, mazes.
5--Nouns that end in y, following a consonant, form the plural by changing y
to i and adding -es: army, armies; lady, ladies; mercy, mercies; sky, skies. This rule
applies also to nouns ending in
-quy, the
u having consonant value equivalent to
w:
colloquy, colloquies.
6--Nouns ending in y following a vowel form the plural by adding -s: day, days;
key, keys.
Spelling of Irregular Plurals
Some groups of irregular plurals are worthy of separate attention. With but a
little study they can be mastered and tucked away in a corner of the mind, ready
for use when needed. Lists jotted down in a pocket notebook would be helpful and
would pay a high rate of interest on time and effort invested.
1--Nouns in which final f, fe, or ff changes to -ves: beef, beeves; elf, elves; knife,
knives; life, lives; self, selves. Some nouns have alternative plural forms in different
senses, as
staff, staffs or
staves. Usage varies in such words as
hoof and
roof, but
hoofs and
roofs are more in favor than
hooves and
rooves.
2--Some nouns form plurals by changing the central vowel sound, without adding
-s: foot, feet; man, men; mouse, mice; tooth, teeth; woman, women. Here the student
can experience little difficulty; the one misleading factor is the danger of false anal-
ogy. The plural of
moose is not
meese. The plural of
talisman is not
talismen. The
list in the notebook should show the irregular forms, the exceptions.
3--Nouns taken over from foreign languages offer a problem: Is it better to use
the plural of the original language, or swing over boldly into an English plural?
It is not possible to rule arbitrarily on entire groups; each word has to be deter-
mined individually and independently. The criterion is the extent to which the word
has entered into the common vocabulary. The man of science thinks and says
formulae; the ordinary writer, accepting the word as ordinary English, makes the
plural
formulas. Those who know some Greek are apt to write
automata; but
autom-
atons is a convenient and perfectly satisfactory form for the multitudes who do
not know Greek. This dictionary favors English plurals for such words
AS FAR AS
POSSIBLE, as:
indexes rather than
indices, matrixes rather than
matrices. An example
of a completely Anglicized foreign word is
bandit. We pluralize it as
bandits; the
Italian plural,
banditti, is called for only in rare and special instances. No fixed rule
can be made for these foreign nouns; the dictionary user will find it well worth while
to give them a little close study.
Words Commonly Misspelled
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Good Spelling Is an Asset
The difficulties of English spelling are great enough to provide a strong alibi for
persons who are not willing to work to master them. Accuracy in spelling is worth
working for. Poor spelling is a liability, good spelling is an asset. Nothing good is
likely to be gained without effort.
The first service rendered by the dictionary is that of recording spellings. They
are shown in the entries, the first thing seen by the consultant. And they are always
in display type; prominent, easy to find. In the matter of reference frequency, spell-
ing no doubt far surpasses pronunciation and even definition.
To the user of this dictionary we comment the practice of habitual notice of spell-
ings. Instead of merely using the book to check an occasional puzzling spelling, be
spelling-conscious; notice and carefully record in the mind two or three spellings each
time the book is used. Form the habit of
SYSTEMATIZING the information thus ac-
quired. Make your dictionary give you full service. This is the way to master the
art of spelling.
WEBSTER'S
New AMERICAN
DICTIONARY
COMPLETELY NEW AND UP TO DATE. PLANNED AND
WRITTEN BY MODERN EDUCATORS AND LEXICOGRAPHERS
ESPECIALLY TO SERVE THE ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
OF SCHOOL, COLLEGE, AND SELF-EDUCATION AT HOME
Managing Editor
LEWIS M. ADAMS
Editor-in-chief
EDWARD N. TEALL, A.M.
C. RALPH TAYLOR, A.M.,
Author of Self-Education Department and Associate Editor;
Editor "The Home University Encyclopedia," "New American Encyclopedia,"
author of "Vital English"
Simplified Self-Education Treatises on:
GRAMMAR PUNCTUATION VOCABULARY TESTS
WRITING PRONUNCIATION WORDS MISPRONOUNCED
SPEAKING CAPITALIZATION DANGER FLAGS
Illustrated -- Self-Pronouncing -- Synonyms -- Antonyms
This Dictionary is not published by the original pub-
lishers of Webster's Dictionary, or by their successors
1959
B O O K S, I N C .
NEW YORK
1959
B O O K S, I N C .
