ORTHOGRAPHICAL.

A thorough reformation of the orthography of the English language, desirable as it is, can scarcely be hoped for in this century; though doubtless the time will come when an international convention will settle authoritatively the spelling of every word, as acceptably as has been done by the Academies of France and Spain in regard to the orthography of the languages of those countries.

A or AN before a Vowel or silent H.

In regard to the use of the indefinite article, Walker’s Dictionary very judiciously says,—

“This indefinite, and, as it may be called, the euphonic article, is said by all our grammarians to be used before a vowel or h mute; but no notice is taken of using a instead of an before what is called a vowel, as, a useful book, a useful ceremony, a usurer, &c.; nor is any mention made of its constant usage before h when it is not mute, if the accent of the word be on the second syllable, as, an heroic action, an historical account, &c. This want of accuracy arises from a want of analyzing the vowels, and not attending sufficiently to the influence of accent on pronunciation. A proper investigation of the power of the vowels would have informed our grammarians that the letter u, when long, is not so properly a vowel as a semi-consonant, and perfectly equivalent to commencing y, and that a feeling of this has insensibly influenced the best speakers to prefix a to it in their conversation, while a confused idea of the general rule, arising from an ignorance of the nature of the letters, has generally induced them to prefix an to it in writing. The same observations are applicable to the h. The ear alone tells us that, before heroic, historical, &c., the an ought invariably to be used; but, by not discovering that it is the absence of accent on the h that makes an admissible in these words, we are apt to prefix an to words where the h is sounded, as, an horse, an house, &c., and thus set our spoken and written language at variance. The article a must be used before all words beginning with a consonant, and before the vowel u when long; and the article an must be used before all words beginning with a vowel, except long u; before words beginning with h mute, as, an hour, an heir, &c.; or before words where the h is not mute, if the accent be on the second syllable, as, an heroic action, an historical account, &c.” The few words in our language in which the h is mute are heir, herb, honest, honour, hospital, hostler, hour, humble, humour, and their derivatives.

O, or OH.

Oh should be used to express surprise, pain, sorrow, or anxiety. When the interjection is followed by a proper name, or as an exclamation of wishing the O should be employed singly, thus: O mother dear, Jerusalem! O Lord! O that I might find him.

ABLE and IBLE.

All English words, without regard to the source from which they have been derived, and those which come from Latin words ending in abilis or French ones in able, take the termination able in English, as, procurable, amendable, desirable, allowable, voidable, available, fordable, incontestable, &c.; but in words from Latin and French words terminating in ibilis or ible, then the ending will be ible in English. For instance: accessible, sensible, defensible, convertible, &c.

In words ending in ce or ge, the final e is preserved before the termination able, for the purpose of indicating the soft sound of the consonant, as in marriageable, chargeable, traceable, serviceable, &c.; but before the ending ible the final e of the primitive disappears, and there is no e before the termination. Examples: deducible, reducible, frangible, &c.

The following list of words in ible is here added; all others end in able:—

accessible

admissible

adustible

appetible

apprehensible

audible

cessible

coercible

collectible

comminuible

compatible

competible

comprehensible

compressible

conceptible

conclusible

congestible

contemptible

contractible

controvertible

convertible

convincible

corrigible

corrosible

corruptible

credible

deceptible

decerptible

decoctible

deducible

defeasible

defectible

defensible

depectible

deprehensible

descendible

destructible

digestible

discernible

discerptible

dispraisible

dissolvible

distensible

divisible

docible

edible

effectible

eligible

eludible

enforcible

evincible

expansible

expressible

extendible

extensible

fallible

feasible

fencible

flexible

forcible

frangible

fusible

horrible

ignoscible

illegible

immarcessible

immiscible[23]

impassible[24]

intelligible

irascible

legible

miscible

partible

passible[25]

perceptible

permiscible

permissible

persuasible

pervertible

plausible

possible

producible

quadrible

reducible

referrible

reflexible

refrangible

regible

remissible

reprehensible

resistible

responsible

reversible

revertible

risible

seducible

sensible

solvible

tangible

terrible

transmissible

visible

IM or IN, and EM or EN.

The prefix in is from the Latin, and that of en from the French and Greek. In generally signifies situation, and en mostly expresses action. Hence, perhaps, in strictness, inclose will signify “to close in,” and enclose, “to make close.” So, to inquire will be “to seek in, or to search in,” and enquire, to “make search.” Immigrate, “to pass into;” emigrate, “to go out of.” But this distinction is not attended to by writers, and is, indeed, too refined for general practice.

Before the letters b and p, en becomes em, as in embattle, empower; and in before some letters becomes ig, il, im, or ir, as in ignoble, illegal, improper, irresolute.

We give a list of those generally spelt with im or in; leaving it to be inferred that the rest are more usual with em or en.

imbarn

imbibe

imboil

imbound

imbrue

imbrute

imbue

imburse

immanacle

immense

immerge

immerse

immigrate

immingle

immit

immix

immure

impact

impale

imparadise

impassioned

impawn

impeach

impearl

impel

impen

imperil

impinge

implant

implead

import

impose

impound

impregnate

impress

imprint

imprison

inarch

incase

inclasp

inclip

incloud

include

incrassate

increase

incur

indart

indent

indict

indite

indoctrinate

indrench

induce

induct

ineye

infer

infest

inflix

inflame

inflate

inflect

inflict

infringe

infuscate

infuse

ingrane

ingest

inhabit

inhale

inhere

inhold

inhume

initiate

inject

inlapidate

inlay

inlet

inoculate

inosculate

inquire

inrail

inscribe

insculp

inseam

insert

inset

inshell

inship

insinew

insphere

inspire

inspirit

install

instate

insteep

instil

instop

insure

inter

intertwine

intort

intreasure

intrench

intrude

intrust

inumbrate

inure

inurn

invade

inveigh

invert

invest

invigorate

invite

invocate

invoice

invoke

inwall

inweave

IN and UN.

In, as a prefix, also marks negation: it is probable that it came from the Romans. Un, as a prefix, is synonymous with in: it is of Saxon origin, and generally joined to words from a northern source; while in is oftener applied to those of Latin derivation.

ISE and IZE.

The variation in the terminations ise and ize is due to the different derivations of words,—ize characterizing words from the Greek and Latin, and ise from the French. The rule, however, is not inflexible. The following words are commonly spelled with the s.

advertise

advise

affranchise

aggrandise

amortise

catechise

chastise

circumcise

comprise

compromise

criticise

demise

despise

devise

disfranchise

disguise

divertise

emprise

enfranchise

enterprise

exercise

exorcise

galliardise

manumise

merchandise

misprise (mistake)

premise

recognise

reprise (take again)

supervise

surmise

surprise

OR and OUR.

The ending our was in general use until the appearance of Webster’s Dictionary, in which the u was dropped in words terminating with our. This innovation has steadily gained ground. We do not approve of partial tinkerings with English orthography; and, until a general convention of British and American scholars settle the method of spelling English words, we shall adhere to the established usage. We append a list of words terminating in our.

arbour

ardour

armour

behaviour

candour

clamour

clangour

colour

contour

demeanour

dishonour

dolour

endeavour

favour

fervour

flavour

harbour

honour

humour

labour

neighbour

odour

parlour

rancour

rigour

rumour

savour

saviour

splendour

succour

tambour

tumour

valour

vapour

vigour

The u is dropped when the termination ous is added to any of these words; as, clamorous, dolorous, humorous, laborious, odorous, rancorous, rigorous, valorous, vigorous. And also in derivative words; such as armory, honorary, &c.

SION and TION.

Primitive words which end in d, de, ge, mit, rt, se, or ss, take sion in their derivatives; but all other words have tion.

EXAMPLES.

abscind, abscission

condescend, condescension

evade, evasion

intrude, intrusion

absterge, abstersion

emerge, emersion

admit, admission

remit, remission

revert, reversion

convert, conversion

confuse, confusion

revise, revision

impress, impression

confess, confession

admix, admixtion

promote, promotion

IRREGULARS.

adhesion

cohesion

compulsion

declension

decursion

depulsion

dissension

divulsion

evulsion

exesion

expulsion

impulsion

incursion

propulsion

recension

recursion

revulsion

scansion

tension

transcursion

version

attention

causation

distention

distortion

coercion

suspicion

crucifixion

FARTHER and FURTHER.

Farther is nowadays only employed when speaking of distance; in all other acceptations of the word, further is generally adopted.

PEAS and PEASE.

There are scarcely any words in which a mistake is more frequently made than in peas and pease. Yet the distinction between them is simple and well defined. Peas is the plural of pea, and, consequently, only follows numeral adjectives; as, “ten peas,” “a hundred peas,” “a few peas,” “many peas;” but pease is used when speaking of the legumen in the aggregate, or generally. Thus, we correctly say, “Pease are dear this year,” “Pease were plentifully supplied to the horses,” &c.

Pease is also employed adjectively; as, “pease-pudding,” “pease-soup,” or “pea-soup,” &c.

The Omission of S in the Possessive Case.

It is not uncommon with some persons to omit the s after the apostrophe in the possessive case of nouns, if the name itself ends in s; as, “James’ book,” “Barnes’ Notes.” But this is incorrect; for if we ask, Whose book? we should directly answer, James’s. The only case when the s can be judiciously omitted, and this solely to avoid the too hissing sound of so many s’s in succession, is when the first word ends with the sound of s in its last two syllables, and the next word begins with s; as in Misses’ spectacles, righteousness’ sake, conscience’ sake.

Formation of the Plurals of Words compounded of a Noun and an Adjective.

Adjectives have no plural number. Therefore, in a word compounded of a noun and an adjective, the s denoting the plural number is attached to the end of the noun, as follows:—

Governor-general Governors-general.

Attorney-general Attorneys-general.

Court-martial Courts-martial.

But where the adjective is taken substantively, the mark of the plural will properly follow it. For example: Brigadier-generals, major-generals, lieutenant-generals.

Words compounded of a noun and the adjective full form their plurals thus: spoonfuls, cupfuls, bucketfuls, handfuls, mouthfuls.

Pointing of Numbers, Weights, Measures, &c.

No comma should be placed between the constituent parts of the same number, however long it may be. Thus, we say, “One million one hundred thousand five hundred and twenty-one,” without any interpunction. The reason is, that there is no more than one numerical aggregate intended, or but one complex notion; and, consequently, no separation of parts or members can take place. The same reasoning holds good as respects values, weights, &c. For instance, when we say, “Six dollars and ten cents,” we merely mean that aggregate amount, but not necessarily any one of the coins indicated. If we did so intend, then two commas should be introduced,—one after “dollars,” and the other after “cents.” In like manner we should act with such sentences as, “Five tons three hundredweight two quarters and fifteen pounds;” or, “Ten acres four roods and twenty-seven perches;” and for the same reason: no division of parts is intended, but merely one aggregate amount.

When figures are used to express amounts, a comma should not be inserted to cut off the tens unless the sum requires five figures: e.g. $10,600, 20,000 men, &c. In column matter this rule will not apply.

Derivation of English Words.

Of course the Saxon forms the basis of our language in its essential parts, and is the source whence we derive the greater part of our ordinary and most emphatic words. Nevertheless, various other languages have been put under contribution, especially the French, Latin, and Greek. This will be evident from the following statement of derivations, which will show the unlearned reader how important it is to him that he should acquire some knowledge of those languages, if he desires to attain to a thorough proficiency in his business as an educated printer.

I. From the Greek are derived—

1. Words ending in gram, graph, and graphy; as, telegram, telegraph, geography, &c.; from the word γράφω, (grapho,) I write, and some other Greek word.

2. Those in gon; from γωνια, (gonia,) an angle; as, octagon.

3. All words in logue or logy; as, epilogue, astrology; from λόγος, (logos,) a discourse.

4. Ic, ick, ics are also Greek terminations, generally of adjectives.

5. Words in meter are all of Greek origin, coming from the verb μετρῶ, (metro,) I measure, in combination with some other word.

6. Most words into which the terminations agogue, asis, esis, or ysis enter are also of Greek origin; such as demagogue, emphasis, parenthesis, analysis, &c.

II. But the main source whence we have derived words, with the exception of the Saxon, is the Latin, as will appear from an inspection of the following list:—

1. Words ending in ance, ancy, or ant, and ence, ency, or ent, come from Latin words ending respectively in ans, antia, or ens, entia; as, abundance, from abundantia; infancy, from infantia; abundant, from abundans; absence, from absentia; excellency, from excellentia; and excellent, from excellens.

2. Words in al have their Latin representatives in alis; as, corporal, from corporalis.

3. Verbs in ate mostly come from Latin verbs of the first conjugation; as, moderate, from modero.

4. Words in ator are generally the same in both languages; as, orator, senator, moderator.

5. The termination id comes mostly from Latin words ending in idus; as, acid, from acidus; but sometimes words of this ending are of Greek origin; as, oxide, (more correctly, oxyd,) from ὀξὺς, (oxys;) and, indeed, most scientific words of this ending; as, carotid, from καρώτιδες, &c.; rhomboid, from ῥομβοειδής.

6. Il or ile is likewise from the Latin termination of adjectives in ilis; as, docile, from docilis; civil, from civilis.

7. The Latin termination osus has its English representative in ious or ous; as, copious, from copiosus; numerous, from numerosus. But sometimes the English ending ous comes from a Latin word in ax; as, capacious, from capax.

8. The Latin ending io has its English corresponding word in ion; as, nation, from natio; oration, from oratio.

9. The endings ne, re, and te after a vowel are also for the greater part of Latin origin; as, fortune, from fortuna; aquiline, from aquilinus; culture, from cultura; pure, from purus; complete, from completus, &c.

10. Words in ty come from Latin words in tas; as, equality, from æqualitas; bounty, from bonitas; rarity, from raritas, &c.

11. The termination ude is also of Latin origin, coming from words in udo; as, fortitude, from fortitudo; elude, from eludo.

12. So also is uous, by inserting the letter o; as, ambiguous, from ambiguus; continuous, from continuus, &c.

III. From the French have come—

1. Most of our words in age; as, page, rage, usage.

2. All those in eau; as, beau, flambeau, &c.

3. The French esse is represented by the English ess: as, princess, from princesse.

4. Words in que mostly come to us from the French directly; some from the Latin directly or indirectly; as, antique, (L. antiquus, F. antique,) oblique, opaque.

5. Words ending in ment are nearly the same in both languages; as, commencement, advancement, (F. avancement,) &c.

We subjoin some rules for spelling, adapted from Laidlaw’s American Pronouncing Dictionary.[26]

RULE I.

Words ending in silent e after u or a consonant generally drop the e on taking an additional termination beginning with a vowel; as, sale, salable; plague, plaguy; sue, suing; eye, eying.

Exception I.—Words ending in ce and ge retain e before able and ous; as, service, serviceable; trace, traceable; courage, courageous; advantage, advantageous.

Exception II.—Compounds and prefixes retain e; as, firearms, foreordain, pole-axe, vice-admiral, fire-engine.

Remark.—From singe, springe, swinge, tinge, we write singeing, springeing, swingeing, tingeing, to distinguish from singing, springing, swinging, and tinging. Dyeing, from dye, retains e, to distinguish it from dying, the present participle of die. Mile retains e in mileage. Derivatives from proper names of persons retain e; as, daguerreotype, morseograph.

RULE II.

Words ending in silent e generally retain the e on taking an additional termination beginning with a consonant; as, bereave, bereavement; issue, issueless.

Remark.—Awful, awfully, awfulness, argument, argumentation, argumentative, woful, wofully, wofulness, duly, truly, and wholly, are undisputed exceptions; and abridgment, acknowledgment, judgment, misjudgment, prejudgment, lodgment, wobegone, and rhymster, are disputed exceptions. Some write abridgement, acknowledgement, judgement, misjudgement, prejudgement, lodgement, woebegone, and rhymester.

RULE III.

Words ending in ie change them into y before ing; as, lie, lying. The following words conform to this rule:—

lie

belie

outlie

lie

overlie

underlie

die

hie

tie

untie

vie

outvie

RULE IV.

Words ending in y preceded by a consonant generally change y into i on taking an additional syllable; as, mercy, merciful, merciless; defy, defied, defies, defieth, defiant; busy, busier, busiest, business; ply, pliers; porphyry, porphyritic.

Exception I.—Y after a consonant is not changed into i before ing or ish; as, dry, drying, dryish.

Exception II.—Compounds usually retain y; as, mercy-seat, county-town, dairy-maid, skylight.

Remark.—Dryer, dryest, dryly, dryness, shyer, shyest, shyly, shyness, are undisputed exceptions to the rule; and slyer, slyest, slyly, slyness, are disputed exceptions.

RULE V.

Words ending in y preceded by a vowel retain the y; as, gay, gayly, gayness, gayety; pray, prayer, praying, prayed, prays.

Remark.—From day, lay, pay, say, stay, are formed daily, laid, paid, said, saith, staid. The regular words dayly, layed, payed, sayeth, and stayed, are sometimes used.

RULE VI.

Monosyllables and words having the primary accent on the last syllable, when they end with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double their final consonant before an additional syllable that begins with a vowel; as, wet, wetter, wettest, wetting, wetted; drum, drumming, drummed; dispel, dispelling, dispelled.

Exception.—A final x, or the s in gas, should not be doubled; as, fix, fixes, fixed, fixing; annex, annexing; gases, gasefy.

Remark I.—U after q is never reckoned a part of a diphthong or triphthong; so that from quit are formed quitting, quitted; and from quag, quaggy.

Remark II.—This rule applies only to derivatives which retain the accent of their primitives, and not to such as in´ferable, in´ference, pref´erable, pref´erence, ref´erable, and ref´erence, from infer, prefer, and refer. To the forms infer´rible, refer´rible, which are sometimes met with, the general rule applies. Transfer´able, from transfer, is an exception to the general rule; the regular form transfer´rible is not often used. Although parallel´ogram, from par´allel, and modal´ity from mo´dal, remove the primary accent to the point of duplication, they do not double the final l. See Remark II. under Rule VII.

RULE VII.

A final consonant is not doubled when it is preceded by a diphthong, when the primary accent is either not on, or not retained upon, the last syllable, or when the additional syllable begins with a consonant; as, beat, beating, beaten; dif´fer, dif´fering, dif´fered, dif´ference, dif´ferent; prefer´, pref´erence; refer´, ref´erence; fit, fitful, fitly, fitness; ben´efit, ben´efited, ben´efiting.

Exception I.—Compounds that remove the primary accent from the point of duplication retain the double letter; as, broad´-brimmed, heel´-tapping.

Remark I.—When ly is affixed to words ending in l, the l is not considered doubled; as in cool-ly, real-ly, gravel-ly, royal-ly.

Remark II.—Nutmegged, kidnapping, kidnapped, kidnapper, zigzagging, zigzagged, excellence, and some others, are undisputed exceptions to the rule. There are nearly one hundred words, from which more than four hundred derivatives are formed, that are usually made exceptions to this rule. Webster is distinguished for making nearly all the derivatives conform to the rule. Webster and Smart accent the verb curv´et, on the first syllable, with which accentuation curveting and curveted are correct spellings; other orthoepists accent upon the last syllable, then curvet´ting and curvet´ted are correct.

RULE VIII.

Words ending in c accept of k before a termination beginning with e, i, or y; as, frolic, frolicked, frolicking; colic, colicky.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

colic

colicky

frolic

frolicking

frolicked

havoc

havocking

havocked

mimic

mimicking

mimicked

mimicker

physic

physicking

physicked

rollic

rollicking

rollicked

traffic

trafficking

trafficked

trafficker

talc

talcky

zinc

zinckiferous

(zinciferous)

zincky

RULE IX.

Words ending in a double letter preserve it double after a prefix or before a termination beginning with a different letter; as, op-press, mis-spell, in-thrall, oversee; see-ing, op-pressive, stiff-ness, woo-ed, still-ness, assess-ment.

Remark I.—Annul, until, twibil, and the conservative fulfil, or the Websterian fulfill, are the only exceptions to the first part of this rule extensively recognized by present usage. The conservative distil and instil are at variance; but the Websterian distill and instill, and also twibill, as written by Reid, are in harmony with the rule.

Remark II.—Pontific, and all other derivatives of pontiff, are exceptions to the latter part of this rule, unless an f is discarded in the primitive word, as Webster suggests and the derivation warrants. The derivatives of dull, full, skill, and will, are disputed exceptions: if spelled as Webster writes them, dullness, fullness, skillful, willful, they conform to the rule.

RULE X.

The plural is usually formed from the singular by adding s; as, brave, braves; night, nights; hymn, hymns.

RULE XI.

Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel accept of s in the plural; as, cameo, cameos; studio, studios.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

agios

bagnios

bamboos

braggadocios

cameos

cuckoos

curculios

embryos

folios

imbroglios

intaglios

internuncios

koodoos

nuncios

olios

oratorios

pistachios

port-folios

punctilios

ratios

seraglios

solfeggios

studios

trios

RULE XII.

Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel accept of s in the plural; as, money, moneys; attorney, attorneys; valley, valleys.

RULE XIII.

Nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant usually accept of es in the plural; as, echo, echoes; embargo, embargoes.

Remark.—There are more than fifty words that conform to this rule, and about thirty that accept of s only.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

archipelagoes

armadilloes

bilboes

bravadoes

bravoes

buffaloes

buffoes

calicoes

cargoes

desperadoes

echoes

embargoes

farragoes

frescoes

grottoes

gustoes

heroes

innuendoes

juntoes

lazarettoes

lingoes

lumbagoes

mangoes

manifestoes

mottoes

mulattoes

negroes

palmettoes

passadoes

peccadilloes

potatoes

prunelloes

punchinelloes

punctoes

ranchoes

recitativoes

relievoes

renegadoes

ritornelloes

rotundoes

stilettoes

supercargoes

testudoes

tomatoes

tornadoes

torpedoes

umboes

vetoes

violoncelloes

viragoes

volcanoes

zeroes

EXCEPTIONS.

albinos

cantos

centos

dominos

duodecimos

halos

hidalgos

inamoratos

lassos

limbos

major-domos

mementos

merinos

mosquitos

octavos

pianos

porticos

provisos

quartos

rancheros

ridottos

rondos

salvos

set-tos

sirocos

solos

torsos

tyros

It would be well if all words ending in o were made to conform to Rules XI. and XIII.

RULE XIV.

Nouns ending in ss, z, x, ch soft, and sh, accept of es in the plural; as, dress, dresses; buzz, buzzes; box, boxes; peach, peaches; dish, dishes.

RULE XV.

Nouns ending in y after a consonant change y into ies in the plural; as, city, cities; daisy, daisies.

RULE XVI.

Compound nouns whose parts are connected by a hyphen accept of the sign of the plural after that part which essentially constitutes the noun; as, knight-errant, knights-errant; son-in-law, sons-in-law; man-of-war, men-of-war; step-child, step-children; ember-day, ember-days; man-singer, men-singers.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

aides-de-camp

beaus-ideal or

beaux-ideal

cartes-blanche

charges-d’affaires

chevaux-de-frise

coups-de-main

courts-martial

cousins-german

daughters-in-law

fathers-in-law

gendarmes or

gens d’armes

jets d’eau

knights-errant

mesdames

men-of-war

messieurs

mothers-in-law

poets-laureate

porte-monnaies

prices-current

sergeants-at-arms

sisters-in-law

sons-in-law

step-children

step-fathers

valets-de-chambre

Remark I.—If no hyphen is used, the sign of the plural is always placed at the end; as, spoonful, spoonfuls.

Remark II.—The sign of the possessive case is always placed at the end of compound nouns; as, son-in-law’s house.

RULE XVII.

The compounds of man form their plural in the same manner as the simple word; as, fisherman, fishermen; man-of-war, men-of-war.

Exceptions.—The only exceptions to this rule are dragoman, Mussulman, Ottoman, talisman, Turcoman, German, Norman, and landamman, which accept of s.

RULE XVIII.

Of the terminations eive and ieve, and of the derivatives of each, the former are found after c, and the latter after other letters; as, conceive, conceit, receive, receipt; relieve, relief, relieving, thieve, thievish.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

achieve

aggrieve

bas-relief

belief

believe

conceit

conceivable

conceive

deceit

deceitful

deceive

disbelief

disbelieve

grief

grieve

inconceivable

lief

lieve

misbelief

misconceive

perceive

preconceive

receipt

receive

relief

relieve

relievo

reprieve

retrieve

sieve

thief

thieve

unbelief

unbeliever

undeceive

Plurals of Nouns which change F or FE into VES.

beeves

calves

elves

halves

knives

leaves

lives

loaves

selves

sheaves

shelves

thieves

tipstaves

wharves

wives

wolves

All other nouns ending in ff conform to Rule X. Wharfs prevails in Great Britain, wharves in America.

Plurals of Nouns ending in F or FE which accept of S only in the Plural.

briefs

chiefs

fiefs

griefs

mischiefs

kerchiefs

neckerchiefs

handkerchiefs

caliphs

caufs

clefs

coifs

delfs

dwarfs

turfs

kerfs

surfs

fifes

strifes

safes

scarfs

waifs

woofs

hoofs

roofs

proofs

reproofs

disproofs

waterproofs

beliefs

reliefs

gulfs

Plurals of Nouns ending in EAU, IEU, and OU.

beaux

bureaux

chapeaux

chateaux

flambeaux

plateaux

rondeaux

jets d’eau

portmanteaus

purlieus

adieux

batteaux

bijoux

morceaux

rouleaux

tableaux

A number of these nouns admits of two forms in the plural.