APPENDIX VII

SPELLING RULES AND EXERCISES

[No lists have been given in this book of common prefixes and suffixes. The number is very large; and, moreover, it is difficult to draw the line between those that might well be listed in an elementary composition book and those that belong in more advanced works. Teachers who wish to go into the matter more thoroughly are referred to Greenough and Kittredge, Words and Their Ways in English Speech-particularly Chapter XIV.]

I. Words of one syllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel. (A suffix is a syllable or syllables added to the end of a word: e.g. speak-er.)

hop-hopping, drop-dropper, plan - planning, rub-rubber, - wrapped, win - winning, rob — robbery, red - reddish.

wrap

II. Words of more than one syllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, and accented on the final syllable, double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel.

Occur occurrence, prefer - preferred, control controller, acquit - acquitted, regret regretting, omit - omitted, beginbeginner, compel - compelling.

III. Words of more than one syllable, not accented on the last syllable, ending in a single consonant preceded

by a single vowel, do not double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel.

suffer — suffering, offer — offered, develop — developed, conquer conqueror, benefit — benefited, summon - summoning.

Note traveling or travelling; kidnaped or kidnapped.

IV. Final silent e is usually retained before a suffix beginning with a consonant.

hope hopeful, love-lovely, safe - safety, sincere - sincerely, immediate — immediately, comparative — comparatively, separate separately, base

baseness.

Exceptions: acknowledgment, judgment.

V. Final silent e is usually dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel.

come

coming, lose

losing, loose loosing, persuade -persuading, describe - indescribable, pursue - pursuing, desire-desirable, shine shining.

VI. Words ending in ce or ge retain the e before a suffix beginning with a or o, to preserve the soft sound. The letters c and g are usually soft before e, but hard before a and o.

changeable, courageous, noticeable, peaceable, unmanageable, serviceable, vengeance, outrageous.

(a) In the following words final e is retained before a suffix beginning with a vowel:

hoe-hoeing, shoe-shoeing, agree - agreeable, dye-dyeing, mile mileage.

(b) In the following words final e is dropped before a suffix beginning with a consonant :

true truly, awe - awful, due — duly, argue

argument.

[These words cannot be said to be exceptions to the rules governing the spelling of words ending in silent e, for the final e in all is part of a diphthong.]

VII. Words ending in ie drop the e when adding ing, and change the i to y to avoid the doubling of i.

die dying, tietying, lie - lying.

VIII. Ei or ie? E follows c when the sound of the diphthong is ē (long e); i follows all other letters when the sound of the diphthong is ē.

receive, deceive, ceiling, conceit, deceit, perceive, shield, shriek, fierce, niece, believe, grieve, besiege, chief, field, thief, pierce, piece, yield.

Exceptions: weird, seize, leisure, neither.

IX. Final y, preceded by a consonant, is changed to i before a suffix.

fancy fanciful, hasty hastily, ordinary friendliness, busy

ordinarily, friendly

busily business, heavy-heavily - heavi

ness, happy happier - happiest.

X. Final y is retained before a suffix beginning with i to prevent the doubling of i.

carry -carrier

but note carrying, study

--

studious - but

note studying, reply - replied — but note replying.

XI. The final letter of a word or prefix is usually retained before the same letter in the suffix or root.

[We learned in our first spelling lesson that a suffix is a syllable or syllables added to the end of a word; e.g. speak-er, pass-able. A prefix is a syllable or syllables added to the front part of a word; e.g. un-tie, over-take. Some words have both a prefix and a suffix; e.g. un-speak-able. The original form of the word is called the root.]

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exceptional + ly exceptionally, un + nerve = unnerve, equal +ly = equally, even + ness = evenness, natural + ly naturally, openness = openness, sullen + ness = sullenness, occasional +

XII. A prefix or suffix ending in -ll generally drops one l in derivative words.

[A derivative word is one formed from another word by adding to it a prefix or a suffix, or by changing one or more of its vowels. (a) unnerve, formed from the word nerve the prefix un; (b) hastily, formed from the word hasty + the suffix ly (like); (c) French, formed from the word France.]

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=

=

use+full+ness = usefulness, all + together altogether, hope + full hopeful, health + full healthful, faith + full + ness = faithfulness, full + fill ment or fulfillment.

=

fulfil or fulfill, full + fill + ment = fulfil

XIII. The prefixes dis and mis do not double the final st before a root. If the root begins with s, rule XI applies.

disarm, mishap, dissolve, mistake, disappoint, misdemeanor, disobey, misjudge, disinfectant, misspell.

XIV. Words that were formerly spelled with an ending -re are now, in America, generally spelled -er.

theater, center, sepulcher; Not theatre, centre, sepulchre.

XV. Words that were formerly spelled with an ending -our are now, in America, generally spelled -or.

endeavor, parlor, color; Not endeavour, parlour, colour.

XVI. It is difficult to make a rule governing the spelling of words that end in -ize or -ise. The tendency in America has been to use the ending -ize for the greater part of them, though there are still a number spelled -ise. The most common of these are:

advertise, advise, arise, compromise, devise, disguise, enterprise, exercise, franchise, improvise, merchandise, revise, rise, supervise, surmise, surprise.

XVII. Terminations -sion and -tion. Words which in their shortest form end in -d, de, -ge, -mit, rt, -se, -ss, take the ending -sion. Other words take the ending -tion. pretend pretension, delude delusion, emerge - emersion, permit permission, pervert - perversion, confuse confusion, digress - digression.

Exceptions: adhere-adhesion, cohere- cohesion, attend attention, assert assertion.

XVIII. It is impossible to make a rule governing the spelling of words ending in -ible or -able. Those who have studied Latin can follow the general rule that derivatives of the first conjugation take -able, while those of the other conjugations take -ible. Those who have not, can pretty safely spell most words with the ending -able. The following are the most common of those spelled -ible.