Rule 1. _F, l,_ and _s_ at the end of a monosyllable after a single vowel are commonly doubled. The exceptions are the cases in which _s_ forms the plural or possessive case of a noun, or third person singular of the verb, and the following words: _clef, if, of, pal, sol, as, gas, has, was, yes, gris, his, is, thus, us. L_ is not doubled at the end of words of more than one syllable, as _parallel, willful,_ etc.
Rule 2. No other consonants thus situated are doubled. Exceptions: _ebb, add, odd, egg, inn, bunn, err, burr, purr, b.u.t.t, fizz, fuzz, buzz,_ and a few very uncommon words, for which see the chapter in the dictionary above referred to.
Rule 3. A consonant standing at the end of a word immediately after a diphthong or double vowel is never doubled. The word _guess_ is only an apparent exception, since _u_ does not form a combination with _e_ but merely makes the _g_ hard.
Rule 4. Monosyllables ending in the sound of _ic_ represented by _c_ usually take _k_ after the _c_, as in _back, knock,_ etc. Exceptions: _talc, zinc, roc, arc,_ and a few very uncommon words. Words of more than one syllable ending in _ic_ or _iac_ do not take _k_ after the _c_ (except _derrick_), as for example _elegiac, cubic, music,_ etc.
If the _c_ is preceded by any other vowel than _i_ or _ia, k_ is added to the _c_, as in _barrack, hammock, wedlock_. Exceptions: _almanac, havoc,_ and a very few uncommon words.
Rule 5. To preserve the hard sound of _c_ when a syllable is added which begins with _e, i,_ or _y, k_ is placed after final _c_, as in _trafficking, zincky, colicky_.
Rule 6. _X_ and _h_ are never doubled, _v_ and _j_ seldom. _G_ with the soft sound cannot be doubled, because then the first _g_ would be made hard. Example: _mag"ic. Q_ always appears with _u_ following it, and here _u_ has the value of the consonant _w_ and in no way combines or is counted with the vowel which may follow it. For instance _squatting_ is written as if _squat_ contained but one vowel.
Rule 7. In simple derivatives a single final consonant following a single vowel in a syllable that receives an accent is doubled when another syllable beginning with a vowel is added.
Rule 8. When accent comes on a syllable standing next to the last, it has a tendency to lengthen the vowel; but on syllables farther from the end, the tendency is to shorten the vowel without doubling the consonant. For example, _na"tion_ (_a_ long), but _na"tional_ (_a_ short); _gram"mar,_ but _grammat"ical_.
Rule 9. Silent _e_ at the end of a word is usually dropped when a syllable beginning with a vowel is added. The chief exceptions are words in which the silent _e_ is retained to preserve the soft sound of _c_ or _g_.
Rule 10. Plurals are regularly formed by adding _s_; but if the word end in a sibilant sound (_sh, zh, z, s, j, ch, x_), the plural is formed by adding _es,_ which is p.r.o.nounced as a separate syllable.
If the word end{s} in a sibilant sound followed by silent _e,_ that _e_ unites with the _s_ to form a separate syllable.
Examples: _seas, cans; boxes, churches, brushes; changes, services_.
Rule 11. Final _y_ is regularly changed to _i_ when a syllable is added. In plurals it is changed to _ies,_ except when preceded by a vowel, when a simple _s_ is added without change of the _y_.
Examples: _clumsy, clumsily_; _city, cities_; _chimney, chimneys_.
We have _colloquies_ because _u_ after _q_ has the value of the consonant _w_. There are a few exceptions to the above rule. When two _i_"s would come together, the _y_ is not changed, as in _carrying_.
Rule 12. Words ending, in a double consonant commonly retain the double consonant in derivatives. The chief exception is _all,_ which drops one _l,_ as in _almighty, already, although,_ etc. According to English usage other words ending in double _l_ drop one _l_ in derivatives, and we have _skilful_ (for _skillful_), _wilful_ (for _willful_), etc., but Webster does not approve this custom. _Ful_ is an affix, not the word _full_ in a compound.
EXCEPTIONS AND IRREGULARITIES.
1. Though in the case of simple words ending in a double consonant the derivatives usually retain the double consonant, _pontific_ and _pontifical_ (from _pontiff_) are exceptions, and when three letters of the same kind would come together, one is usually dropped, as in _agreed_ (_agree_ plus _ed_), _illy_ (_ill_ plus _ly_), _belless,_ etc.
We may write _bell-less,_ etc., however, in the case of words in which three _l_"s come together, separating the syllables by a hyphen.
2. To prevent two _i_"s coming together, we change _i_ to _y_ in _dying, tying, vying,_ etc., from _die, tie,_ and _vie_.
3. Derivatives from _adjectives_ ending in _y_ do not change _y_ to _i_, and we have _shyly, shyness, slyly,_ etc., though _drier_ and _driest_ from _dry_ are used. The _y_ is not changed before _ship,_ as in _secretaryship, ladyship,_ etc., nor in _babyhood_ and _ladykin_.
4. We have already seen that _y_ is not changed in derivatives when it is preceded by another vowel, as in the case of _joyful,_ etc.; but we find exceptions to this principle in _daily, laid, paid, said, saith, slain,_ and _staid_; and many write _gaily_ and _gaiety,_ though Webster prefers _gayly_ and _gayety_.
5. Nouns of one syllable ending in _o_ usually take a silent _e_ also, as _toe, doe, shoe,_ etc, but other parts of speech do not take the _e,_ as _do, to, so, no,_ and the like, and nouns of more than one syllable, as _potato, tomato,_ etc., omit the _e_. Monosyllables ending in _oe_ usually retain the silent _e_ in derivatives, and we have _shoeing, toeing,_ etc. The commoner English nouns ending in _o_ also have the peculiarity of forming the plural by adding _es_ instead of _s,_ and we have _potatoes, tomatoes, heroes, echoes, cargoes, embargoes, mottoes_; but nouns a trifle more foreign form their plurals regularly, as _solos, zeros, pianos,_ etc. When a vowel precedes the _o,_ the plural is always formed regularly. The third person singular of the verb _woo_ is _wooes,_ of _do does,_ of _go goes,_ etc., in a.n.a.logy with the plurals of the nouns ending in _o_.
6. The following are exceptions to the rule that silent _e_ is retained in derivatives when the added syllable begins with a consonant: _judgment, acknowledgment, lodgment, wholly, abridgment, wisdom,_ etc.
7. Some nouns ending in _f_ or _fe_ change those terminations to _ve_ in the plural, as _beef--beeves, leaf--leaves, knife--knives, loaf--loaves, life--lives, wife--wives, thief--thieves, wolf--wolves, self--selves, shelf--shelves, calf--calves, half--halves, elf--elves, sheaf--sheaves_.
We have _chief--chiefs_ and _handkerchief--handkerchiefs,_ however, and the same is true of all nouns ending in _f_ or _fe_ except those given above.
8. A few nouns form their plurals by changing a single vowel, as _man--men, woman--women, goose--geese, foot--feet, tooth--teeth,_ etc.
Compounds follow the rule of the simple form, but the plural of _talisman_ is _talismans,_ of _German_ is _Germans,_ of _musselman_ is _musselmans,_ because these are not compounds of _men_.
9. A few plurals are formed by adding _en,_ as _brother--brethren, child--children, ox--oxen_.
10. _Brother, pea, die,_ and _penny_ have each two plurals, which differ in meaning. _Brothers_ refers to male children of the same parents, _brethren_ to members of a religious body or the like; _peas_ is used when a definite number is mentioned, _pease_ when bulk is referred to; _dies_ are instruments used for stamping, etc., _dice_ cubical blocks used in games of chance; _pennies_ refer to a given number of coins, _pence_ to an amount reckoned by the coins.
_Acquaintance_ is sometimes used in the plural for _acquaintances_ with no difference of meaning.
11. A few words are the same in the plural as in the singular, as _sheep, deer, trout,_ etc.
12. Some words derived from foreign languages retain the plurals of those languages. For example: datum--data criterion--criteria genus--genera larva--larvae?
crisis--crises matrix--matrices focus--foci monsieur--messieurs
13. A few allow either a regular plural or the plural retained from the foreign language: formula--formulae or formulas beau--beaux or beaus index--indices or indexes stratum--strata or stratums bandit--banditti or bandits cherub--cherubim or cherubs seraph--seraphim or seraphs
14. In very loose compounds in which a noun is followed by an adjective or the like, the noun commonly takes the plural ending, as in _courts-martial, sons-in-law, cousins-german_. When the adjective is more closely joined, the plural ending must be placed at the end of the entire word. Thus we have _cupfuls, handfuls,_ etc.
Different Spellings for the same Sound.
Perhaps the greatest difficulty in spelling English words arises from the fact that words and syllables p.r.o.nounced alike are often spelled differently, and there is no rule to guide us in distinguishing.
In order to fix their spelling, in mind we should know what cla.s.ses of words are doubtful, and when we come to them constantly refer to the dictionary. To try to master these except in the connections in which we wish to use them the writer believes to be worse than folly.
By studying such words in pairs, confusion is very likely to be fixed forever in the mind. Most spelling-books commit this error, and so are responsible for a considerable amount of bad spelling, which their method has actually introduced and instilled into the child"s mind.
Persons who read much are not likely to make these errors, since they remember words by the form as it appeals to the eye, not by the sound in which there is no distinction. The study of such words should therefore be conducted chiefly while writing or reading, not orally.
While we must memorize, one at a time as we come to them in reading or writing, the words or syllables in which the same sound is represented by different spellings, still we should know clearly what cla.s.ses of words to be on the lookout for. We will now consider some of the cla.s.ses of words in which a single syllable may be spelled in various ways.
Vowel Subst.i.tutions in Simple Words.
ea for e short or e obscure before r.
already bread breakfast breast breadth death earth dead deaf dread?
early earn earnest earth feather head health heaven heavy?
heard lead learn leather meadow measure pearl pleasant read?
search sergeant spread steady thread threaten tread wealth weather
ee for e long.
agree beef breed cheek cheese creek creep cheer deer deed deep feed?
feel feet fleece green heel heed indeed keep keel keen kneel meek?
need needle peel peep queer screen seed seen sheet sheep sleep sleeve?
sneeze squeeze street speech steeple steet sweep sleet teeth weep weed week
ea for e long.
appear bead beach bean beast beat beneath breathe cease cheap cheat clean clear congeal cream crease creature dear deal dream defeat?
each ear eager easy east eaves feast fear feat grease heap hear heat increase knead lead leaf leak lean least leave?
meat meal mean neat near peas (pease) peal peace peach please preach reach read reap rear reason repeat scream?
seam seat season seal speak steam streak stream tea team tear tease teach veal weave weak wheat wreath (wreathe) year yeast
ai for a long.