Chapter XI · SPELLING

Correct spelling marks the well-educated man or woman. This simple fact constitutes the reason why one must learn to spell.

English spelling offers difficulty partly because it is somewhat archaic—that is, because pronunciation has changed since spelling became fixed by printers about three hundred years ago; partly because the English alphabet is inadequate—it has only twenty-six characters, and there are forty-two sounds in spoken English.

But however irrational may be the spelling of many English words, every student must master spelling. Nor is this a difficult task if attacked with persistence and determination. The chief obstacles are carelessness and lack of courage. Of the 450,000 words in the largest dictionaries, probably not more than one thousand are commonly misspelled by any one person—even the worst speller alive. Completely mastering a few words each day for one year, therefore, will enable any one to become a good speller.

But no short cut method has ever been discovered which will give skill to the writer who finds spelling difficult. Every separate word which he habitually misspells must be thoroughly and permanently learned by a distinct effort of the memory, aided by regular practice. Practice, in fact, is the only means of acquiring fluent and permanent control over one’s pet failings. But the memorizing and the practice may well be facilitated by an intelligent attack on the problem.

Human beings remember things in different ways, or in a combination of different ways. Some remember most easily and clearly what they have carefully looked at; these are of the visualizing type. Some remember what they have heard spoken aloud; these are of the auditory type. And others remember best certain motions which their muscles have performed; these are of the motor type. It follows that some persons learn to spell most easily by looking carefully at a difficult word letter by letter or syllable by syllable; others by hearing it spelled aloud or by spelling it aloud; and still others by writing it over and over. But of whatever type a person may be, he learns best by combining all three methods, and by assiduously practicing the last, for the only time he needs to spell is when he is writing.

The problem of spelling can be mastered by writing every word five or ten times while the writer has his eyes fixed upon the correct form and is spelling the word aloud. Practice on the same word for three successive days is almost certain to fix it for all time in the memory.

The weak speller cannot dispense with a dictionary. Asking a fellow student how to spell a word marked incorrect by an instructor is fatal, for the fellow student is often as ignorant as the questioner. Look up the misspelled word in Webster’s, the Standard, or the Century Dictionary.

RULES

Many misspellings fall into classes which can be covered by simple rules. Following are the most helpful of these rules.

700. Words with a last syllable consisting of a single short accented vowel followed by a single consonant, double the consonant when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.

dip-p-ed

occur-r-ed

occur-r-ence

stop-p-ing

forget-t-ing

unforget-t-able

sad-d-en

forbid-d-en

tranquil-l-ity

Observe that the conditions are three:

1. Accent on the last syllable

2. Single short vowel

3. Single final consonant

701. Words with a last syllable ending in a short vowel and a single consonant, but not accented on the last syllable, do not double the final consonant.

worship-ed

level-ing

travel-er

702. Words ending in final silent -e drop the -e before a suffix beginning with a vowel. They do NOT double the consonant.

hope, hop-ed

fine, fin-er

dine, din-ing

crude, crud-ity

wide, wid-en

subside, subsid-ence

703. Words ending in -ce or -ge keep the -e before a suffix beginning with -a or -o, to show that -c- or -g- is soft.

change-able

peace-able

courage-ous

notice-able

advantage-ous

service-able

704. Words with an accented double vowel, or with an accented diphthong, do NOT double a final single consonant.

stoop-ed

loud-er

meet-ing

roar-ing

sweet-en

join-ing

705. CEI. EI regularly follows c-.

conceive

ceiling

deceive

conceit

receive

deceit

perceive

receipt

Observe also: either, neither, leisure, seize, weird, their, counterfeit, foreign.

706. EI occasionally spells the sound of long i and of long a.

height

sleight

weigh

freight

neighbor

707. IE regularly follows all consonants except c-.

believe

pier

field

niece

piece

relieve

belief

wield

achieve

pierce

retrieve

relief

yield

brief

bier

siege

fiend

grief

Observe also: financier, friend, sieve.

708. Nouns ending in a vowel and -y form the plural by adding -s.

days

boys

chimneys

valleys

709. Verbs ending in a vowel and -y form the third person singular, present indicative, by adding -s.

lays

enjoys

employs

710. Nouns ending in a consonant and -y form the plural by changing the -y to -i and adding -es.

fly, fli-es

sky, ski-es

lady, ladi-es

711. Many nouns ending in -f or -fe form the plural in -ves.

wolf, wolves

self, selves

life, lives

half, halves

leaf, leaves

wife, wives

calf, calves

loaf, loaves

knife, knives

712. Some foreign nouns form the plural according to the inflectional laws of their own language.

alumna, alumnae

axis, axes

datum, data

stratum, strata

alumnus, alumni

parenthesis, parentheses

formula, formulae

phenomenon, phenomena

analysis, analyses

crisis, crises

basis, bases

713. Don’t, won’t, can’t, aren’t, hasn’t, haven’t, have the apostrophe between n and t, where a vowel has been omitted.

714. It’s is the colloquial form of it is. The apostrophe marks the omission of i.

715. Its, yours, hers, ours, theirs, his, whose (possessive pronouns), do NOT have an apostrophe.

716. Following is a list of words most frequently misspelled by college freshmen.

accept

accidentally

accommodate

acknowledgment

across

affects

aggravate

airplane

all right

already

altogether

amateur

analyze

apparatus

appearance

arctic

argument

athlete

athletic

balance

beginning

believing

benefited

biscuit

Britain

business

busy

calendar

can’t

center

certain

changeable

chauffeur

choose

clothes

coarse

column

committee

compel

concede

conceivable

Connecticut

conscience

conscientious

controlled

course

deceitful

deferred

definite

descend

describe

desperate

development

dining room

disappear

disappoint

discipline

dissatisfied

dissipate

divide

don’t

dying

ecstasy

embarrass

enemy

envelop

equipped

especially

exaggerate

exceed

excellent

except

exhaust

existence

familiar

fascinate

February

fifth

finally

financier

forfeit

formerly

forty

fourth

friend

fulfil

generally

good-by

government

governor

grammar

grievous

harass

having

height

hoping

hurriedly

hygienic

imaginary

immediately

incidentally

inclose

independence

indispensable

infinite

inquire

instance

intercede

irresistible

its

it’s

itself

judgment

knowledge

laboratory

laid

led

library

lightning

lose

maintenance

Massachusetts

mathematics

medicine

mischievous

Mississippi

misspelled

muscle

mysterious

necessary

neither

noticeable

occasion

occurred

occurrence

o’clock

omission

opinion

opportunity

original

paid

parallel

parliament

particularly

partner

perceive

perform

perhaps

permissible

pervade

physical

possession

precede

preferred

preparation

principal

principle

privilege

proceed

professor

program

promissory

pronunciation

prove

quiet

quite

really

receive

recognize

recommend

reference

repetition

restaurant

ridiculous

seize

sentence

separate

shining

siege

similar

skilful

speech

stationary

stationery

stopped

stopping

strictly

superintendent

supersede

sure

surprise

syllable

theater

their

there

therefore

till

together

too

tract

tragedy

tranquillity

transferred

trouble

truly

Tuesday

until

using

usually

village

villain

weather

Wednesday

weird

welfare

whether

which

wholly

who’s

whose

women

you’re