Spelling Simplified

8/13/2019 Spelling Simplified

1/205


2/205

p llingS ii


3/205


4/205

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS

p llingimpllie

u i Kesselman Turkeland ranklynnPeterson


5/205

For Charles Rosenthal,remembering all those evenings we memorized spelling lists

The University of Wisconsin Press1930 Monroe StreetMadison, Wisconsin 53711

www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/

3 Henrietta StreetLondon WC2E 8LU, England

Copyright 1983 Judi Kesselman-Turkel andFranklynn PetersonAll rights reserved

5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kesselman-Turkel, Judi.Spelling simplified / Judi Kesselman-Turkel and FranklynnPeterson.

p. cm.Originally published: Chicago : Contemporary Books, c1983.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 0-299-19174-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)1. English languageOrthography and spelling. I Peterson,

Franklynn. II. Title.PE1143.K47 2003428.1dc21 2003045822


6/205

CONTENTS

Introduction: Spelling Makes Sense viiPart I: The Patterns ofEnglishChapter 1 How to Use This Book 3Chapter 2 Check Your Hearing 5

Chapter 3 Syllables and Stress 4Chapter 4 Big Words Come from Little Ones 9Part II: Regularities in NativeEnglish WordsChapter 5 Native English Word Endings 25Chapter 6 When to Double Consonants 32Chapter 7 Helping 37Part III: Irregularities in Native English Words

Chapter 8 The Consonant Sound z 45Chapter 9 TheConsonant Sound 54Chapter 10 The Consonant Sounds v and 62Chapter The ConsonantSoundj 69Chapter 2 A Double Sound Represented byOne Letter: Chapter 3 Consonant Clusters: qu ng wh h shand Chapter 4 Silent Consonants and Other emons 90

Part IV: Words Derived from Greek and LatinChapter 5 Regularities in Greek andLatin Derived Words 95


7/205

Chapter 16. The Latin zh nd sh Sounds 107Chapter 17. Special Greek-Derived Spellings:ph ch and rh mn pn andps 114 rt V: InvasionWordsChapter 18. Patterns in Invasion Words Chapter 19. Irregular Spellings ofVowel Sounds 5Chapter 20. Vowel Sounds from Other Languages 44Bibliography 53Appendix A: A Directory of Spelling Demons . . . . . . 55Appendix B: Greek- nd Latin-Derived PrefixesSuffixes nd Roots 73Answers to Exercises 9


8/205

INTRO U TIONSpelling Makes Sense

Once upon a time spelling was taught with rules and drillsand students didn t get out o grade school until they couldcorrectly spell most o the 1,500 or so words in most vocabularies.But in the twentieth century, two changes took place. Firsto all, everyone s vocabulary increased tremendouslythrough extended education and universal access to radio,TV, and the movies. t the same time, almost the entire educational establis hment adopted the attitude that Englishspelling is a helter-skelter assortment o letters that have norelation to the sounds they spell, and that the ability to spellis a talent that can t be taught. In most schools, spellingceased to be seriously and methodically taught. The resulthas been a generation or more o such poor spellers that evennewspapers and books are full o misspelled words.English is, o course, not completely regular. It s a changing language, and some o the changes in sound have notbeen accompanied by changes in spelling. But it s far moreorderly than poor spellers have been led to believe.

Recent research has shown what good spellers have beenable to figure out on their own: that spelling o s makesense. For 85 percent or more o English words, spelling is sosensibly tied to a word s sound and meaning that all you needin order to spell correctly are 1) a good ear, 2 carefulvii


9/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDspeech, and 3 n understanding of which letters stand forwhich sounds. or much of our language, spelling generalizations can be made and then these rules can be applied tospell words that we re unsure of. There are even easy guidelines that tell us when to forget the rules and check with adictionary.This book is a complete spelling course based on thoserecent findings. is only revolutionary because the findingshave never been codified for adults before. As a course, it isnot meant to be skimmed, but studied slowly, in shortsegments. Used this way, it will make good spellers of poorones.

After using this book, feel free to write to us in care of ourpublisher. We love to get feedback and suggestions for future editions.

*For support of our statements, consult the Bibliography at the end of thebook. We especially thank Elsie D. Smelt, Australian author of SpeakSpell and ead nglish for her insights and organizational strategies indoing for her Australian readers what we hope to achieve for Americans;and we applaud the U.S. Office of Education for sponsoring the computerized spelling study (see Hanna, et all from whose raw data we wereable to support our own long-cherished hunches about the relativeregularity ofEnglish spelling.


10/205

P RT TH P TT RNS OF NGLISH


11/205


12/205

ow to Use This ook

Say the following words:probably recognize nuclear

Did you say recognize or reconize Did you say prob blyor pro ly Did you say nucle r which is correct) or nucul r the way even TV announcers are mispronouncing the wordnowadays)?f you say a word wrong, aloud or silently, you ll neverlearn to spell it correctly. That s why we ask you to do the

following as you learn to spell the words in this book: Look hard tevery word written in heavy type.2. Look away and sound out the word as you listen to it.3. Write the word.4. Proofread or check the word to make sure that you vewritten what you meant to write down.

So before you begin this book, find a pencil and paper pref-erably a pad of paper, so that you can review your work asyou go along) and keep both with the book until you re done.Also keep a dictionary nearby. Any kind will do, so long as itshows pronunciation.Rules are best remembered if they re discovered instead ofpreached, so in many places we use exercises to help youuncover the rules. We urge you to work diligently t theseexercises.Spelling is best learned in short segments of no more than20 minutes ta time. We ve divided the book s chapters into3


13/205


14/205

2heck Your earing

There are all kinds of written language. Some languages,for example Chinese, translate ide s onto paper and thesounds of the words have nothing to o with the way thewords look. But English writing puts the sounds of wordsonto paper. you can hear those sounds accurately, you canspell most words. Although some words are pronounceddifferently in different parts of the country, for spelling mostwords your regional accent will not get in the way.)X R IS

Do the following for each word in this list: Look hard t the word.2. Look away and slowly say it aloud, listening to it.3. Write it down as you hear yourself say it.4. Proofread to check what you ve written.

potwigmubendab

What pattern does the above list of words follow? Com-plete this sentence to show the pattern for writing sounds:Each soundDid you write something like this: ach sound is repre


15/205

6 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDsen t one letter not, do it now. Later we ll modifythis rule, but it s a good one to start with.X R IS

Here s a list of words that will check how well you heareach sound in a word. Read each word.2. Look away and say it, listening.3. Write it down.4 Proofread your list against ours.

pin flitpen pramapt grogfro slop

rifthumpyelpshaft

strutblankplumpfrond

strapfifthchumpcleft

wingclothingwhenwhich

A good speller can spell words even when he doesn t knowtheir meaning. you had trouble spelling any of the wordsin this list, you need to practice hearing regular consonantand vowel sounds. List any misspelled words in the spaceprovided at the end of this chapter.) you had no trouble,skip to the Chapter Summary and then go on to Chapter 3e ring pr cticeThe name of a letter is not the same as its sound exceptsometimes in the case of the vowels). For instance, the letter

is named tee and the letter h is named itch To learn how tospell quickly and accurately, you must forget the names ofthe letters and remember just their sounds.egular single consonant sounds

The following list includes all the consonant sounds that


16/205

art l The atterns o nglish 7are most commonly represented by a single consonant letter. Chapter 9 will concentrate on double-letter consonants.)The names of most of these letters include the sound. C, hw n y don t so pay careful attention to their sounds.Some of the sounds listed below can be spelled in otherways, too. For now just learn these most common ways ofspelling the sounds.

usualsound sp lling wor s that us th soundb b bad, big, gibbon, emblem, combinec c comet, clip, incur, uncap, anticd d dab, band, folded, cardinal, drivef f fan, fist, after, if, sift, unflapg g get, grind, chagrin, angry, meagerh h hold, his, ahead, unhelpful, inhumane joy, jay unjust, disjuncture, project lime, link, relate, careful, amiablem m meet, aluminum, amuse, team, emblemn n next, nose, win, tournament, candidp p part, please, carp, desperate, comparer r rug, far, argument, person, irks s say, simple, ask, musty, passt t tag, told, wit, tutor, astutev v vote, wave, vivid, pervade, vivifyw w wit, wasp, renew, allow, awarey y yen, yankee, yippee, coyoteNotice that the consonant letters k q and z are missingabove. The k sound is the same as the c sound. is writtenwith a c almost 7 percent of the time, and most of the rest ofthe time it s written ck For a full discussion, see Chapter10.) The letter q is not represented by a sound in English seeChapter 13). The sound z is most often represented by theletter s and will be discussed fully in Chapter 8.


17/205

8 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDEXERCISE

Say aloud each sound listed above for example, make ahissing sound for s and then say each word that containsthe sound, listening for the sound as you say it. Exaggerateeach sound in the word for instance, for bad say the bsound, then the sound, then the d sound). Get into thehabit of exaggerating until your ear is so well trained thatyou can hear the individual sounds without separating them.

EXERCISEWhen you ve gone through the list once, do it a secondtime. This time, 1 listen for the other sounds in the listedwords; then 2 say other words that have each highlightedsound in them.

EXERCISE 5 you still have trouble hearing a particular sound, open adictionary to the words that begin with that sound, andsound out the words, listening carefully to the way they start. Warning: Some words that begin with s and startwith other sounds. For almost every sound you ll find a few

exceptions. on tlet it throw you. Learning the regularitiesof spelling won t make you a perfect speller, only a verygood one.)egul r conson nt cluster sounds

There are more consonant sounds in English than there areletters to represent them. To make up for this deficiency,we ve adopted the practice of combining two and sometimesthree) consonants to represent the sound. When we hear oneof these sounds, we have to remember to write not one letterbut the combination of letters that represents it.


18/205


19/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDEXERCISE

Repeat the following words several times, carefullypronouncing each sound correctly. Be sure to include the dsound in width.wit wi t

Are you pronouncing with with a hard th sound and widthwith a soft th sound? Can you hear the difference?The hw sound has almost disappeared in AmericanEnglish pronunciation. Most people nowadays make thesame sound w when saying both wet and when There areonly two ways to learn when wh is the correct spelling: 1)exaggerate the difference between the two sounds, pronouncing hw every time you read a wh word so that you train yourmind s ear to think hw, and 2 memorizing all the wordsthat have wh in them. Since there aren t many, we ve listedthem all in Chapter 13.Notice that the ng sound is not quite the same as n g osay the g in ng you begin a g sound but it gets stopped in theback o your mouth before you push any air through thesound. Many people pronounce the sound incorrectly, pushing the air through which is fine for spelling purposes, sincethose o you who do will remember to add the g when spelling). But in some parts o the United States, end-of-word ngis pronounced as i it were just drinkin , slummin . youcan t hear the difference between ng and n you must remember to write ng according to rules o grammar. We ll discussng in greater detail in Chapter 13, along with the other consonant cluster sounds.

EXERCISERepeat Exercises 3, 4, and 5 for the consonant clustersounds listed above.


20/205

art I: The atterns nglish egul r long vowel soundsThe vowels are not as regular as the consonants. There aremany more vowel sounds in English than vowels to represent

them. Therefore, not only does each vowel do double duty,standing for what we call a long as well as a shortsound, but there are also combinations of vowels that repre-sent sounds. Here we ll just list the most regular Englishsounds and the single letters that most often represent them.Later on we ll discuss rules to guide you in choosing amongother spellings.Notice that the long vowel sound is also the name of theletter that represents it. Don t confuse the two, but keep theidea of a letter s sound separated from its name.

soundaeiou

usualspellingae eei you

spelling words that use the soundgate, caper, mayor, placate, inaneevil, weed, indeed, see, equalbite, idol, decide, finite, tryode, focus, pole, duo, pokinguse, usual, reduce, fusion, conclude

egul r short vowel soundsusualsound spelling words that use the sound

aeiou

eiou

fat, cast, matter, staff, uncannymen, let, west, fret, splendidpig, wit, crib, fist, visitcot, plod, flog, fodder, crockbut, slug, rump, uncle, fungus For a complete discussionof this use ofy see Chapter 9Notice that the sound is yu-like the letter name-in words like fusionand use but u without the y sound in words like reduce and concludeWe ll discuss this further in Chapter 9


21/205


22/205

Part The Patterns o English short u is pronounced almost like short i in other words,penis pronounced pin or ust is pronounced jist learn tolengthen the short e or short u sound. for spelling purposes.or example, for pen say peh ehnEXERCISE

Here s a list of words for practice in saying the short e ndshort u sounds:fetchmust gestureundo fencerunt getadjust commentsmudge

hapter SummaryEach English letter or letter cluster stands for a specialsound. The sounds are discussed in this chapter.

Words earnList here all the words you misspelled in Exercises 2 and 9,as well as any others that you want to learn to spell.


23/205

3yllables and tress

In addition to the individual sounds that combine to makewords, there are two other clues to spelling: syllables andstress. It s important to understand both concepts in order tospell well.yllables

Words can be made up of anywhere from one to a dozensyllables. Each syllable must include one and only one)vowel sound, but it may also contain anywhere from no con-sonant sounds to four or more of them.In order to ount how many syllables there are in wordounthowm ny distin t vowel soundsyou hearX R ISTell how many syllables are in each word. If a word hasmore than one syllable, don t worry about where to dividethe syllables. We ll discuss that later.)

pugslantfista

candidalsoblossomfragrant

mitigatecorrectionbeautifyquantity

triumviratequalificationceremonialcuriosity

Did you guess that all the words in the first column are onesyllable, all the words in the second column two syllables, allthe words in the third column three syllables, triumvir tefour syllables, and the last three words in that column five


24/205

Part The Patterns English syllables? Then you don t need any more help with syllabifi-cation. you didn t guess correctly, go over the followingexercise several times, until your ear recognizes how wordsbreak up into syllables.EXERCISE

Read each of the following words slowly, syllable bysyllable, hitting your hand on your lap to mark each syllables if you were beating a drum. We ve begun with somewords that are very easy to syllabify.)

na tivesig nalup setop ticcan did i sopugslantquackblos somfra grantmit i gatecor rec tion

or der ysim i armu si calcon du dvebe u ti fyquan ti tydy na mitedy nam icbat tietri um vi ratequ l i fi c tioncer e mo ni alcu ri os i ty

Although experts agree on what a syllable is, they on talways agree on where to divide syllables. Most popular sthis method:Following a long vowel sound, a consonant s usually putwith the next syllable cy-clone . Following a short vowelsound, a consonant s usually put with that syllable (civ-il)unless the next syllable s accented (ci-vi -i-ty). twoseparate consonants occur one after the other, one usuallygoes with the previous syllable and the other with the nextsyllable after a short vowel sound, but after a long vowel


25/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDsound they both go with the next syllable ira-grant .Consonant clusters are always treated as one consonantwash-er .

you were following this method, you would write cer-emo-ni-al correctly. However, in speaking we glide the rsound between the ce and the next e and it s almostimpossible to hear whether it belongs with the first or secondsyllable. You would divide blos-som and cu-ri-os-i-ty asshown, but in speaking most of us say blo-ssom and cu-ri-osi ty you need to divide syllables correctly in writing,consult your dictionary. To spell correctly, it s usuallyenough to be able to distinguish how many syllables a wordcontains and approximately where they divide.

tr ssIn almost all English words having more than one syllable,

we come down harder on one syllable than any of the others.In addition, many words have another syllable that s given amidway stress. Luckily, in order to spell correctly you neednot be able to differentiate light stresses-only the strongones, since some spelling generalizations depend on whetherthe syllable is stressed strongly or not. Stress will be important only when we get to Latin- and Greek-derived words.)

EXERCISETo test your ear for stress differentiation, go back to thelist in Exercise and, for each word in the list, put an accentmark ) after the last letter in the stressed syllable. Check

your answers against those at the end of the book. you marked all the words correctly, you don t need anymore help training your ear to hear stress. Turn to Chapter 4.

you got some of the stress marks in the wrong place, do thefollowing exercises.


26/205

art The atterns o nglish EXERCISE

Read the following list aloud, reading each stressedsyllable very loudly and each unstressed syllable very softly.Do it over and over, reading more and more quickly andnaturally, until you can hear the difference when you reusing normal-sounding speech.

(1)na -tivesig -nalup-seto p -ticcan -didat -sopugslantquackblos -somfra -grantmit -i-gatecor-rec -tion

EXERCISE 5

(2)o r -der-Iysim -i-Iarm u -si-calcon-du -civebeau -ti-fyquan -ti-tydy , -na-mitedy-nam -icbat -tietri-um -vi-ratequal-i-fi-ca -tioncer-e-mo -ni-alcu-ri-os -i-ty

Practice repeating aloud each of the following pairs ofwords, listening for the difference in stress in each pair:dynamite dy -na-mite)method (meth -od)rigid rig -id)telephone tel -e-phone)

dynamic (dy-nam -Ie)methodical (me-thod -I-cal)rigidity (ri-gid -i-ty)telephonic (tel-e-phon -Ie)

(The spelling p for sounds, and all other irregularspellings, will be discussed as we go along. For now, don tworry about them. One thing at a time )


27/205

8 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDEXERCISE

For extra practice in hearing stress, there's nothing likereading aloud sing-song poetry, for instance the verses ofEdward Lear and John Greenleaf Whittier. Longfellow, too,is full of regular stress patterns that will help train your ear.To start you off, mark the stressed syllables in the followingfamous stanza by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and compare your marks with our answer at the end of the book.

Life is real Life is earnestAnd the grave is not its goal; ustthou art, to dust returnestWas not spoken of the souL

hapter umm ry There are as many syllables in a word as there aredistinct vowel sounds.2. Syllables with a long vowel sound always divide afterthe vowel. Syllables with a short vowel sound usuallydivide after the next immediate consonant orconsonant cluster.3. Consonant clusters are always treated as one consonant.4. In multisyllable words, one syllable is nearly alwaysstressed more than the others.

Words to earnHave someone test you on the words highlighted in thischapter, and write your personal demons here.


28/205

4Big Words Comefrom ittl Ones

A group o researchers spent several years and lots o thepublic s money feeding spelling rules into a computer andthen asking the computer to spell the 17,000 or so words thatcomprise most educated persons vocabularies. The com-puter only spelled about percent correctly, but it wouldhave gotten t least 8 percent i only the researchers hadbeen able to perfect a rule so that the computer could recog-nize the fact that, in English, most big words especiallywords o three syllables and more) grow from little words.Since most people easily recognize the little words, once youknow how to spell those little words you re practically homefree.There are two ways in which big words are made. See iyou can find the two ways by studying the following lists. 1)

overruncitywidefr meworkc nnoth ndkerchiefneverthelessnineteenwithheldgr pefruitforehe dwh le onec reworn

2)kindestecomingdiso eygree lec rryingcour geousthous ndthsch nge lepu liclymisspellle flessenrich


29/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIED 1)steersmanspearmint

sharecropperchoirmastergingerbreadusyness

2)abreastprofiteernonconfidentialdisestablishmentsubmarginallyre ommend

We hope you figured out the following pattern: Big wordsare usually made by 1) combining little words or 2) addingbeginnings or endings to little wordsWhen you re combining little words, you have to makesure that you spell the right little words. For example, thefirst part of whalebone refers to a whale, not a wail. Theword that has to do with limiting the right to copy is copy-right not copywrite. The word forehe d means the front fore) partof the head, and has no relationship with the wordfor Busyness is quite a different word from business If youdon t know the difference, use a dictionary.) To help you, wehave highlighted some of these homonyms words that soundalike but are spelled differently because they mean differentthings) throughout the book. They must be memorized alongwith their separate meanings. If you re not familiar with ahomonym s meaning, the only accurate guide is a dictionary.Did you notice, in the second list of words above 2), thatseveral beginnings and endings can be strung onto one littleword? That s one of the most popular patterns for formingwords in our language.English started out as a Germanic language, and most ofits regular spelling patterns come from those long-ago roots.Almost all the one-syllable words with simple a e or uvowel spellings instead of ou ea and such), and some regular two-syllable words as well, are native English and arederived from the same words as modern German. You canrecognize native English words not only from their regularvowel spellings, but also from the ideas these words stand


30/205

Part I: The Patterns English for. In general, they are all the words needed to express thesimple thoughts and activities in which people took partbefore they became educated and industrialized: words likefood, sky, Sunday, axand pig.But English also has two other kinds of words in it:

Latin and Greek words have been coming in since thetime of the Renaissance and now comprise at least halfof the words in an educated person s vocabulary. Theyfollow a regular, orderly pattern of spelling and addprefixes and suffixes to make bigger words. We ll lookat them in artIV.2. Invasion words came in mostly between the tenth andfourteenth centuries, though they re still trickling intoday. They came from Norman, Saxon, Dutch, German, and even Eskimo words igloo is Eskimo). Mostof these words don t fit into regular English spellingpatterns. However, a great many of them follow thepattern of our Latin imports. They are mostly words ofone and two syllables where vowel sounds are writtenwith more than one letter bait, weapon, haunch .

Let s focus now on the words in the first and oldest group,native English. You ve already studied them in school from agrammatical point of view. Here we ll concentrate on spelling, not grammar.hapter ummary

Big words are usually made by a) combining littlewords, or b) adding beginnings or endings to littlewords.2. Native English and Latin- and Greek-derived wordsgenerally follow regular patterns of spelling. Invasionwords don t.3 Homonyms must be memorized along with their separate meanings.


31/205


32/205


33/205


34/205

5ative nglishWord ndings

Native English word endings all follow essentially thesame pattern o spelling. Once you learn it many spellingmistakes disappear. These are the most common Englishword endings:

enIy-est-ful-th-ish

less-inged-ness-er

Let s begin our study o these endings with n exercise.EXERCISE

In the following words cross out the common Englishendings. Examine the rest o each word to find the patternfor adding these endings to words:soulfuldearlywishedcandidlyfollower

guilelessgrowthsoloingseventhmisty

fondnesscurbinghollownesslovelyfixednessComplete this sentence to show the pattern you observed:Common native English endings are added to

Here s the pattern you should have found restated: Pat-tern for adding common endings other than the z or ssound : the ending to the complete wor This rule

5


35/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDshould help you spell many words you ve had trouble withuntil now.Get to know the common English endings listed above, sothat you can recognize them t the ends of words. Thenyou ll never again have trouble spelling words like resolutely ndhundredth.

roblems with oeThe ending ed is pronounced t afterp k th soft), s, shand h because it s hard to say the sound d after thesesounds. Try it yourself with the following words:

trappedmissed pickedvanished doffedpitched unearthedpassed

Despite the t pronunciation, only a few common verbendings are actually spelled to Memorize them as exceptionsto the ed rule. Notice how we ve grouped them for easiermemorization.)

crept felt dreamt burnt leftkept dealt meant builtslept knelt sentwept spentswept bent

After a t sound, ed is pronounced short e d simplybecause the d sound gets swallowed after the t sound:outwitted carpeted created

These words cause no spelling trouble. Just spell them theway they sound, remembering to include the entire smallerword in the large one.


36/205

Part /L Regularities in Native English Words 27The ending ful

The soundful spelledful practically every single time inthe English language. There are only three exceptions: full and words made up of full another wordfullback, full-length2. the word full an ending fuller, fullest, fullness,

fully ut not willfulness3. the ending -fully, made up of -ful -Iy respectfullyn all other cases the soundful spelledful even the wordfulsome, which means abundant.The ending al Iy

Some Latin derived words add the native ending -Iy afterthe Latin ending al They sometimes cause spelling prob-lems. Memorize these demons.

finallyunusuallygenerallytypicallyuniversallyespecially

occasionallyformally

But notice that these words don t contain al:publicly particularly formerly

The following word in the midst of a spelling changeand both forms are considered correct:frantically franticly

inal s n z sounds to show pluralNative English words are often made plural by adding a z


37/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDor s sound at the end. is always spelled sMost English nouns show plural by adding -s:

one house several housesone proof several proofsNotice that houses ends in a hard s z sound and pr s endsin a soft s sound. But both are spelled the same. [Some veryold nouns child, ox, woman, and man make other changesto show plural. But all except women are spelled exactly theway they sound.] the noun already ends in an s type of sound s, ss, ch,sh, x z we make sure that people know we mean plural byadding the sound ez, spelled -es:

one grassone boxone witchone buzz

several grassesseveral boxesseveral witchesseveral buzzes

Your ear should be able to guide you in spelling these wordscorrectly. the noun ends in a v sound, we also add -es.

several wolvestwo halvesNotice that the singular of these words is sounded andspelled with nfsound while the plural changes to v. Again,if you pronounce these words correctly and listen to themcarefully, you ll spell them correctly every time. There sonly one English word that has a v sound spelled/. 0/the singular noun ends in the sound there isn t anypattern for correct spelling of the plural because our spellingof these words has been changing.


38/205

Part II: Regularities in Native English Words 29one potatoone proone ghetto

several potatoesseveral prosseveral ghettos or ghettoesYour best bet is to consult a dictionary for words ending in othe singular noun ends in a long e sound spelled y the yis usually changed to and es is added:

one city several citiesWe ll have more to say about this y i ending in Chapter 19.In the third-person-singular form of the present tenseverbs also have a zsound ending:

I claimgoI comeI pityI blessI wish

he claimshe goeshe comeshe pitieshe blesseshe wishes

Compare the above spellings with the spelling rules weobserved for plural nouns. Do these words follow thoserules? _Then here s a rule that will take the guesswork out o whena final zsound is spelled sand when it s spelled es:Pattern for spelling the z or s sound at the end a pluralnoun or a verb: For words having v long e spelled y or i ors like sounds before the last z sound the z sound is spelledes. Otherwise it is spelled s Nouns ending in are madeplural with either s or es.or s to memorize

The following are the only common one syllable words


39/205

3 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDth t end in a z sound th t are spelled z not s

fez quiz adz whizOther demons th t trip people up are:

tries replies buys wholly whole lySee Chapter 9 for discussion of the i y substitution.)

n some cases we seem to drop n e or to double the finalconsonant when adding the common endings.

lover blabber trapped createdYou II have no trouble with these words once you ve read thenext two chapters.

EXERCISEFind the misspelled words nd spell them correctly:

hundrethclockingspilldstowesgr npreviewslanlubberwillfulgoosberrystovesfleebittenblessednessyourselfslearninginstigateseverthing

copicatmanyfeatheredfuHfilluntimelyhousemadeh rtfeltghostlywheruponhurtfulfulminatehurridlyaccustomdforemostachievdthereforeaccidently


40/205

Part II: Regularities in Native English Words 3hapter Summary

The most common native English word endings -en-ful less ness -ly th ing er est ish ed andy are generally added to the entire little word. n afew cases -ed is changed to t2. Native English words often add a z or s sound at theend to show a plural noun or a third person singularpresent tense verb. or words having v long e spelledyor or s like sounds before the last z sound the zsound is spelled es. Otherwise it is spelled s Nounsending in 0 are made plural with either sor es.

3 Only one English word spells the v soundj. oj.

Words earnHave someone test your spelling of all the demons and

other words listed in heavy type in this chapter and add yourmisspelled words to the demons listed below. Also add anywords you spelled wrong in Exercise 18.womenn ntpotatoes


41/205

6When to Double Consonants

Researchers tell us that the greatest cause o spelling erroris uncertainty about what letters stand for what Englishsounds. We ve dealt with that in the previous chapters. Thesecond and third largest causes o spelling error, comingright after the big one, are 1 uncertainty about when todouble a consonant, and 2 uncertainty about when to put ina silent e Since these are two o the most easily solvedproblems in spelling, we ll next show you how to keep your-self from making these two mistakes. We expect these solu-tions to improve your spelling so much that you ll haveadded incentive to tackle the rest o the book.This chapter will cover doubled consonants, and Chapter 7will tackle silent Doubling in the middle of wordEXERCISE

Compare the following sets o words and see you canfind a pattern for doubling consonants:dinercomaplanedbaringlatercanescanertrimpalred

dinnercommaplannedbarringlattercanscannertrimmedpallidreddisb

32


42/205

Part II: Regularities in Native English ords Pattern: A consonant is doubled whenDid you write something like ~ consonant is doubled when follows a short vowel sound and there s another syllableafter it Good for you if you noticed that cans doesn tdouble the consonant because no syllable follows it. You realmost completely correct.But now compare the first and second column words inthe next list:

lobbertrussedstrumminghubbublobstertrustystrumpethubcap

Why is the consonant doubled in the first list? Because itcomes after a vowel sound. Why isn t it doubled inthe second list? _Did you guess that it has something to do with the presenceof other consonants?Does this definition hold true for the following words?

stripling sapling trimly wanlyNow take a look at these words:

dinercomaplanerlatertubelessbasin

Why isn t the consonant doubled?Did you notice the long vowel sound in front of eachconsonant?What s different about the words below?cobblerfiddledhuddlingbedraggled

affrontaggregatesaffrondiffraction


43/205

34 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDDid you notice that the root-word ending e is hidden in eachword in column one, and that the words in column two arenot native English words? In Chapter we ll discover thatthe e sound actually begins with a vowel sound, and in partIV we ll see the pattern for doubling that s followed byLatin- and Greek-derived words like the ones in column two.Adding together all our findings, we can come up with arule to guide us in spelling all the native English words of oneand two syllaples, and all the words that are built by addingto these words:

Rule for Doubling Consonants: Words with a long vowelsound VSj before the consonant are written vowelconsonant-vowel VCVj. Words with a short vowel soundSVSj before the consonant are written vowel-consonantconsonant-vowel VCCVj. Here s an acronym suggested byAustralian teacher-author Elsie D. Smelt that may help youremember: VS VCv, SVS= VCCV.When an ending beginning with a vowel is added to a wordwhose final syllable includes a short vowel sound, the finalconsonant is doubled, necessary, to complete the VCCVpattern.This rule also works for many Latin- and Greek-derivedwords committed, commitment, committee ; but we ll lookmore fully at those words in Part IV.

ExceptionsAs we present each spelling generalization, we will listoften-used words that are exceptions to the rule. As you willsee, most exceptions are made for logical reasons.The most common reason for violating the doubled-consonant pattern is to distinguish between two words thatsound alike, or nearly alike. o help readers, the firsttypesetters decided to spell each homonym differently.

n nnhorse-hoarsebut butt


44/205

Part II: Regularities in Native English Words 5The following consonant sounds are usually doubled ttheend of a one-syllable word if they come after a short vowelsound:

f sound unless spelled gh or If : cuff, staff, off, whiff, cliff.Only exception: ifI sound: The common English words that end in ll are onesyllable words like call, till, spell, mall, and similarwords. Only exceptions: nil, pals soundafter e, i, or dress, pass, miss, loss. Exceptions:gas, its, madras, this, yes, axis, bias, oasis, chaosAfter u the s sound s rarely spelled with a double s tthe end of a word: bus, thus. Exceptions: cuss, fuss,discuss, trussz sound spelled z buzz, fizz. Exceptions: quiz, whiz, fez,adz, topaz See also Chapter 8.

Learn the above patterns and have someone test yourspelling of the exceptions. Add your misspelled words to thelist tthe end of this chapter. Also learn these other commonwords that are exceptions to the general rule:addapple oddpurr eggmitt allimagine

EXERCISECheck your understanding of the rule for doubling consonants by correctly spelling each misspelled word in thefollowing list. Answers are tthe end of the book.

mummy saflower coping afixstoped magnate straddle warantdepressed append medling digingfusion appron downtrodden untilldissmis corupt tatoooficial attract sheriffdental fliver boondoggle


45/205

36 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDhapter Summary

1. Words with a long vowel sound LVS before theconsonant are written vowel-consonant-vowel VCV .Words with a short vowel sound SVS before the con-sonant are written vowel-consonant-consonant-vowelVCCV . LVS=VCV, SVS=VCCV.)2. The spelling Ie is pronounced as if it begins with avowel. A consonant before Ie is usually doubled aftera short vowel sound.3. The following consonants are generally doubled after ashort vowel sound at the end a one-syllable word: I s except after u z.Words earn

Have someone test your spelling all the words in heavytype in this chapter, and write down every misspelled word.Also write down every word missed in an exercise. At the end each chapter there s space for putting down the demonsyou find this way, so that you can memorize them.


46/205

lpingBack in Chapter 2, we asked you to accept the spelling rule

that each sound is written as a letter or a letter cluster. InChapter 6, we saw that sometimes a letter is doubled butdiscovered a good reason for the doubling: helps readersknow that what comes before the doubled letter is a shortvowel sound, not a long one. So let s modify the first spellingrule right now:Pattern rspelling English words: Each sound is represented by letter exceptwhen there s reason rdoingotherwise.

We ve already discussed the pattern for writing a consonant as a doubled letter SVS= VCCV, LVS VCV). Nowcompare the words in each line below and see if you can findthe reason for putting an extra e in some words:can cane caning canebreaktub tube tuber tubingrip ripe ripen ripestdon drone drones droningspin spine spinal spineless

A comparison of the first column and the second columnshould enable you to complete the following sentence: Theletter e is added at the end of a one-syllable word to showthat the vowel soundBut now notice what happens when common endings -est-ing -less -en and such) are added to the word. In somecases, we drop the e of the second-column word that gives ita long vowel sound. Can you see why?


47/205


48/205

Part II: Regularities in Native English Words 9Why do you think w add an e to the words in columntwo? To show that the letter g We ll discuss it again in Chapter 11.) Lookt the rest of the

words. When does adding a helping e make the vowel anLVS? Notice that in most cases it does so only if the patternis vowel-consonant-vowel. That shows how consistent spelling really is, if you understand the patterns ofEnglish.Study the word argument. comes from argue, not argeThe rule for adding common endings that w stated in Chapter 5 applies to all the above words.

Silent e is also a clue to the pronunciation of c We lldiscuss that use in Chapter 9. But before w go on, let sreword our silent e rule for easy remembering, and practiceusing it.Pattern for adding silent f a word has a long vowelsound and that L VS isn t followed by a consonant and thenanother vowel, an e is usually written in after the vowel toshow that it s an VSf a word has a soft sound, and it isn t followed by avowel, an e is usually added after the g to show the sound.When adding endings to a word that has a silent e at theend, the e is usually dropped the ending starts with avowel, but is kept the ending starts with a consonant, sothat the V V pattern is kept. Silent e following a soft gsound is normally dropped only before the vowel i We llexplain why in Chapter 11.)Bear in mind that both the doubling of consonants after ashort vowel sound and the adding of silent e after a longvowel sound occur regularly only in native English wor s-though, as we ll see later, the pattern does somewhat influence the other two types of words, Invasion words and Latinand Greek-derived words. And even in native English thereare some exceptions, for instance the words ending in -ld gold, bold, etc.).Demons to learn:

dying-dyeingsmooth-soothe


49/205

protrudeingiceinghirelinguntimlywipeingspitefulintroduceingfortuneate

4 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDnine-ninety-nineteen-ninthwholly whole -ly)courageous, outrageouschangeable, chargeableprestigious, religiousvengeance,acreageexaggerate, marriage marry -age)

The ending sometimes retains the before it and sometimes doesn t. That will be discussed in Chapter 19A number o words that have the soft sound are spelledwithj. We ll look t those words in Chapter 11EXERCISE

Find the misspelled words and spell them correctly,checking your corrections to make sure that you ve followedthe pattern for adding silent broker disclosuremeasurable approvealhumanely distastfulspinal amazementpokeing arrangmentguileless behaveior

kitemaker chafeingprimeary reassureancelivlihood surelyEXERCISE

Follow the instructions for the previous exercise.changeingchangelingagingforgescarragehughly

obligeinfringmentimageinepageantvegtable

rageingspongierstageingtwingesvoyaging


50/205

Part II: Regularities in ative nglish Words EXERCISE

Add the indicated endings to the following words. Thencheck your spelling against the answers at the end of thebook.nature -allyplane + -edprophesy -edwhere -evervalue -ableplan -edstrict -lyun- doubt -ed -lyfamily -arstate -menthero -shope -ingtire -edshine -ingtrue -lyhop -inglay + -cd

study -ingstop -edskin -inguse -ingbecome -ingbelieve -ingbelieve -edboundary -sbuoy -antclimb + -eddecide -eddesire -abledormitory -semploy -edemployee -sfraternity -s

EXERCISE 4Learn the spellings of the following words. Are they exceptions to the rule? Tell why or why not. This question is hard

to answer. on tbe discouraged if you get it wrong.pig onpageantg ogr phygorg oushygi noutrageoussurgeonurgent


51/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDhapter Summary

Native English words follow three basic patterns ospelling: Each sound is represented by a letter unless there s areason for doing otherwise.2. Spellings follow the pattern LVS VCV, SVS VCCV.3 Silent is added t the end o a word with a long vowelsound to satisfy the pattern LVS =VCV.In addition:4. a word has a soft g sound, and it isn t followed by avowel, n is usually added after the to indicate thatsound.5 When adding endings to a word that has a silent tthe end, the is usually dropped if the ending startswith a vowel, but is kept if the ending starts with aconsonant, so that the VCV pattern is kept. following g is an exception.

Words earnList the heavy-type words you can t spell, as well as thewords misspelled in the exercises.


52/205

P RT IRREGUL RITIES IN N TIVE

ENGLISH WOR S


53/205


54/205

8The Consonant Sound

Most consonants are spelled exactly the way they sound, innative English words as well as in Invasion and Latin- andGreek-derived words. But there are several ways to spell boththe and sounds. This chapter will concentrate on z.Back in Chapter 5 we found the pattern for spelling the sound at the end of a plural noun: either -s or -es, dependingon what comes before it arms, armies . We also saw thatthird-person present-tense verbs take the -s ending shevisits . Review the pattern for spelling these endings seepages 25-30 .

Learn the following three words with z-sound endings thatdon t seem to be plural but take that plural-s anyway:scissors tow rds summons

sound at word beginningsThink of all the words that begin with a sound. Here s a

partial list to start you off:zipzincze r

zonezero

zestze lotzipperDid you find any words that begin with the spelling for the sound? Write your own rule for words that begin with a sound: _

2 When to double The sound is usually doubled at the end of a one-syllable

45


55/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDword. Review the rule and examples in Chapter 6.) Inaddition, there s another clue to doubling z. Look at thesewords:

drizzlecausal puzzlenasal dazzledisposalFill in the pattern:

a z sound comes before an -le ending, it s spelled .Before an -al Latin-derived ending, it s spelled . Formore about -le see Chapter 13.)Here are all the words in common use. Notice that thereare only two words jizz and frizz that are also part oflonger words ending in the le sound. Learn them. Then, toknow if the ending is spelled -zzle or -sal you have only todecide if the little word it s tacked onto is one of these two. not, and it s a real word cause dispose , spell the ending-sal.

grizzledsizzle

buzzfizz fizzlefrizz frizzledfuzz

jazz frazzledazzledrizzleembezzleguzzlemuzzlenozzlenuzzlepuzzlesizzle

buzzardfrizzyfuzzygrizzlyblizzard dizzyjazzygizzard

fezzes piazza*quizzes quizzical

whizzes*Piazza is an Invasion word, sometimes pronounced piatza rhymeswith pizza.


56/205

Part l l rregularities in Native nglish Words 47The following are the only words in common use that endwith an undoubled z:

topaz fez quiz whiz adzNotice that fez quiz and whiz have a doubled z beforeendings. They are the only words of their type.The following are the only words with a z sound at the endthat are spelled 8 other than regular plural-noun andpresent-tense-verb endings:

as wasalms his oursdivers adj. * theirs afterwardspampasMost other words that have a z sound at the end are spelled8eor ze.

sound om ined with long soundThink of all the single-syllable words you know that have along a sound before or after the z sound. How are theyusually spelled?

blazecivilization

crazeutilization

dazeazalea

gazezany

Write the rule: Before or after a long a sound t the z soundLearn these exceptionst which invaded from Norman andmore recent French:

braise chaise raise praiseAlso learn the spelling of maize, which comes from an Indianword.*This word means various and is sometimes used instead of the more common diverse which means unlike. You might enjoy comparing the twowords and their pronunciations in a dictionary.


57/205

8 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDThese demon words are Latin- and Greek derived:

accusationmosaic

improvisationprosaic

Notice that accuse and improvise-used with the above end-ings or any other endings -are the only common wordsthat spell the za sound sa All other words that end in the zasound ending are spelled za ending. z sound plus short a sound

Look at these words in which the sound comes before ashort sound:plaza recognizance wizard

Can you think of other words with the short sound?Write the rule.The only common exceptions are words ending in s towhich an ending is added that begins with a short sound:

arousal causal disposal malfeasanceand the following demons:

thousand rosary disaster partisan5 z sound plus short sound

Study the following words and find the rule:impositionexquisitedeposit

depositionrequisitevisitinquisitiontransitrosin


58/205

Part ll Irregularities in Native English Words 49Rule: a short sound follows a z sound, _Exceptions: Words beginning with z zinnia, zipper, zigzag ;words ending in z -ing sizing, whizzing, etc.); andquizzicalyou remember this rule and the previous ones, you llnever get confused again in spelling words ending sition andzationWhen you use this rule, make sure you re pronouncingand hearing your words correctly. Deposit has a short isound. Magazine and similar words have a long e sound. Theending -ing also has a long e sound. z n s

Look at the following words. With your pencil, showwhere each word is accented. n which words is the endingspelled -ize?

gonizeoxi izecomprisememorizere lizerevise

criticizeidolizeespisehomogenizeg lv nizeemise

Can you write a rule for this pattern? the syllable thatsounds like ize is a n) _ , it s spelled -ize. it s an accented final syllable, it s spelled _There are only a few common words other than pluralnouns) with a z sound in n unaccented final syllable thataren t spelled with -ze. Here s the first group to learn. You llremember them quickly if you know the clue that vise and-cise are Latin roots, not endings, and that, for the first-column words, -ise is not a Latin ending, but part of theword. For example, chast without ise isn t a word. In mostcases, this is a good w y to test whether n ending is -ize or-ise.


59/205


60/205

Part III Irregularities in Native nglish Words 5seeing, saying, writing, and proofreading them. You canalways spell them correctly if you say the z sound as if it weres for spelling purposes.

brassieredessert check a dictionary if you confuse this withdesert)dissolvehussar some people pronounce the zsound s)hussy some people pronounce the z sound s)possess, dispossess, possessive, possession, possessor,prepossessingrenaissance some people pronounce the z sounds)scissors

There s only one z word spelled sdiscern

Some people pronounce the s with a soft s sound. n addition, the z sound is sometimes part of the soundspelled with an x which we ll look at more closely in Chapter12. you hear a z sound and it s covered by none of the

previous patterns or exceptions, you ll almost always beright if you spell it with an s.Here are some commonly used words spelled with the let-ter Have someone test your spelling of them and memorizethe misspelled words.

dozefezoozeprizesize

cozyfrenzy amazonhorizoncitizenmagazinerazorenzyme bulldozeeczema


61/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDquizseizesqueezereezefreezefrozesneezewhizg uze

tr peze

Notice that if you know how to spell these words you cancorrectly spell the words that include them: haphazardfreezer frozen frenzied trapezoid etc.EXERCISE

Find the misspelled words nd spell them correctly.sodiaczeppelinrozaryrealizationbraziermaisequizzedcrazilybuzwordexercizecriticizetopaze

televizingproposalmerchandisetrapesoidaldiscernexcemahaphazzardwizardhorizonenzymeresistorsitch

h pter Summary t a word s beginning the sound is always spelled z2. Z is usually doubled t the end of one-syllable words

nd before the e ending.


62/205

Part Irregularities in Native English Words 533. Other than in plural nouns and third-person singularverbs, most words that end in the z sound are spelledseor ze4. The zsound before or after longa s usually spelled z.5. The z sound before a short asound s usually spelled zunless the short is part of a word ending.6. The z sound before a short i sound s usually spelled s7. the ending ize s part of a Latin root it s spelled ise.

it s a suffix shown by the fact that it s an unaccented final syllable), it s spelled ize.8. The endings -wise and ism are always spelled with s9. nmost other cases the z sound is spelled s.

ords earnList the heavy-type words you can t spell, as well as thewords misspelled in the exercises.


63/205

The onsonant ound

The 8 sound is a difficult one because it is usually writtenone of two ways 8 or c and has several other peculiarities aswell. For instance a common 8-sound ending is 8 to showpossession. f you have trouble knowing when to use theapostrophe consult a good grammar book. But there aresome patterns to the spelling of the 8 sound.1 s sound before a u or conson nt

A bit of history helps us find our first generalization. Inearly English the sound s was never written c that letter wasreserved for k sounds:cut come color

The words that spell the 8 sound with a c are mostly derivedfrom French and Latin:

centcemetery malicecertain viceroynecessary civiccycle cisterncymbalIn all of these Invasion words the letter that follows is e ior y Therefore if the letter that follows is not e or y the8sound is spelledNote that an 8 sound before an e or y can be spelledeither 8 or c

consensus similar54

ceiling symbol


64/205

Part III: Irregularities in Native English Words s sound at word beginningsMost words that begin with an s sound in an unaccentedsyllable are spelled with n s sin-cere , se-rene ). Learnthese exceptions that begin with c they are the only commonexceptions to this pattern :

cere r lcere rumcer micertifi tecircuitouscircumference

ess tioncentenni lcentrifug lcenturion

ivili nivilityelesti lcele rity

cementcig rit tiony lonicylindric l

Words that begin with an accented syllable follow noparticular pattern except the one already discussed-that ifthe second letter is a u or a consonant, the first letter isansaEXERCISE

Cross o all o the above words that come from wordsthat are accented on the first syllable. Now you need memorize only the w that are left. The answers are t the end othe book.3 s sound doublings

Study the following words:de ision recipe dulcimer ccede

Can you think o any words in which the s sound is spelledcc? Notice that, in a word like accede, the first c is a ksound. The pattern shown above, which has no exceptions,can be stated thus: I f the s sound is spelled with a c, the c isnever doubled.


65/205

6 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDIn short native English words the s is doubled after mostshort vowel sounds according to the patterns studied inChapter 6:

moss lass kiss gossipIt s also doubled in some words that come from Latin andother languages:

colossal aggressive association assassinOne common doubling s occurs when a Latin prefixending in s comes smack up against a root beginning in s:

assumeMore about that in Part IV

Learn these homonyms:

dissent essay

canvas-canvass counsel-council vice-vise sound after long vowel sound

Most words with an s sound after a long vowel sound spellit c orc silent eat the end of a word):truce nice bracing induce Ucense

That s because an -s after an LVS is usually pronounced -z:miser chose wise use

sound word endingsIn addition to the plural noun and present-tense verbendings that sometimes sound like the s sound cats bathsstuffs several English and Latin endings also end in that


66/205

Part III: Irregularities in Native English Words 57sound. When you hear the following, they re always spelledthe same:

ess as in impress, address, mistress)less as in witless, nevertheless)ness as in wilderness, calmness) on tconfuse the short e sound in ess less and ness withthe vowel sound in ous which is discussed in Part IV. It s aslightly different sound.

Two other common Latin endings, in addition to oushave a soft s sound: the first can be spelled ence or ense; thesecond can be spelled ce or se. We ll hold those problemendings for Part IV.Demon to memorize: embarrass

s soun efore t sounIn many words, a t sound comes right after the s sound:western masthead costly cistern mystery

Pattern: The sound combination is always spelled you can t hear that st sound clearly, open a dictionary towords beginning with st and say them slowly aloud. Somepeople drop the t in words like against and inst nt you do,try to exaggerate your enunciation when you re spelling.

7 s soun followe y s l nt Some words do have a silent t sound between the s and an /or sound. Memorize the spelling of these words so that youcan remember to put in the t:

apostle hustle moisten fasten


67/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDjostle rustle christen hastenbristle bustle glisten chastenwhistle pestle listen chestnutepistle nestlegristle trestle mistletoethistle wrestle

Notice that some the above words ending in -en comefrom smaller words that end in -t or t o will help youremember their spelling. This follows the primary rule English spelling: To spell a big word that comes/rom a smallword, you keep the spelling of the small word except fordropping the silent e that makes a pattern . you veforgotten the rule, review Chapter 4 now. Silent after sound

An annoying number words have a silent c after the ssound. Your best bet is to memorize these words, sincethey re a lot fun to use. Remember that bigger wordsmade from these words are also spelled with an sc.sciencescenescentscepterscintillatescionscissorsscythescenariomuscle

ascendtranscenddescenddiscipleobsceneoscilloscopeprosceniumrescindsusceptiblemiscibleirasciblediscernible

abscessplebisciteasceticdisciplinefascinateoscillateeviscerateresuscitatecrescentnascentmiscellaneous

Many the words in the second and third columns are made


68/205

Part Ill: Irregularities in Native English Words 59up o Latin prefixes that end in s and roots that begin in c.That s why they re spelled the way they are. For example,susceptible is sus cept ending. More about this inChapter 5In addition, there is a Latin -esce ending that s alwaysaccented. Sometimes it has n en or -ence ending added on always spelled-en not -an . You can learn to hear it. It s inthe following common words:

acquiescecoalesceeffervesce

adolescentconvalescencequiescentfluorescentobsolescentphosphorescent

Silent p before s soundThere are just a few common words and the words thatare built up from them) that start with a silent p in front othe s sound. These words all come from Greek. Memorizethem:

psalmpseudopsychepsychopsychiatry

pseudonympsychicpsychoanalysispseudopod etc.)psychosomatic etc.)

10 s sound followed by silent hThere is only one common English word in which the ssound has a silent ch after it:schism pronounced either skism or sism


69/205


70/205

Part ll Irregularities in Native English Words 61EXERCISE

Correct the incorrectly spelled words.centrifugalcentimentalcircuitoussychoticmisilecrestentwhittlessmissiletoescismfluorescent

aggressiveprogresiveclasicalasinineanxioussnesssystempolitenessoccillatecrassconsist

hussleracidmassivenamelessassysupersedeconsensussenter

hapter Summary Before a U or a consonant the s sound is almostalways spelled s. Before e or y it is spelled s or c.2. Most words th t begin with the s sound in nunaccented syllable spell the sound s.3. The s sound is never doubled if it is spelled c.4. After nLVS the s sound is usually spelled c.5. Common word endings are less ness nd ess which

has a vowel sound different from -ous .6. The st sound combination is always spelled st7. in doubt spell the s sound s.Words earn

List the heavy-type words you c n t spell as well as thewords misspelled in the exercises.


71/205

The onsonant ounds and

The consonant sounds v and k cause needless trouble topoor spellers who haven t figured out their patterns o use.Once you understand them, many spelling problems dis-appear.The vsoun

Most people who have trouble with v do so because one othe first words they learn is oj But that s the only word inEnglish that spells the v sound with an With that in mind,you ll never have trouble with vagain.There are only three common v words with a silent infront o the v (in addition to all the words that change f to v to form plurals; see Chapter 5). Memorize them.

lve (meaning to give birth to a calf )s lveh lve (meaning to cut in half )

he k sounMost o our words use the letter for a k sound. K wasalways preferred for native English words, although thereweren t many o them, so think o k as a native Englishletter. C is an import that arrived with Invasion a ndRenaissance words. you aren t sure o a spelling o thesound k you re most likely to get it right i you spell it However, the use o k does follow some clear patterns.Study these four columns o words. Each column shows adifferent pattern in which the letter k is used for the sound

6


72/205

Part III Irregularities in Native nglish ords 6in frontof after a after an afterane i or consonant LVS SVS

keep thank wake sockclear mark like smackkestral sulk stroke pickkine chunk meek wreckhanky brisk bleak panickindergarten mink squeak tropiccool talk week basicCan you complete the patterns?1 t the beginning o a word the sound is spelled _

before the vowels i and yThe reason for this is simple, once you remember that inInvasion and Latin-derived words, the s sound is spelled cbefore the vowels e i and o make sure that you pro

nounce a word correctly if you see it in print, k was adoptedas the better alternative for the k sound in these situations.Before a vowel other than e i or y there are very fewwords that spell the sound k Their unique appearancemakes them easy to memorize. They re all listed below. The sound is spelled c in all others words in which the soundcomes before a u or a consonant.)okayukuleleaskanceskateskulkskullskunk

kangarookaleidoscopekaputkazoo

alkalinebazookamazurkapaprikapolkaswastikavodka

Remember the rule that words made up of little wordsdon t change the spelling of the little words:

bulkhead cookbook bookkeeper remarkable


73/205

64 SPELLING SIMPLIFIED you keep the above thoughts in m n ~ y o u ~ l l be rightmost of the time in your spelling of a sound before a vowelsound.

t the end o a native English word after a consonantsound the sound is spelled _Some native English words of that type are:

coxcomb pancake outcropLatin-derived words spell the sound with a even when it

follows a consonant sound. This rarely occurs t the end of aword. rt IV will help you recognize Latin- and Greekderived words.A few words that aren t native n l i s h ~ but look are:zinc sarcasm rancor rascal rescuetalc talcum tincture arctic

Memorize the spelling of these words, and y o u ~ l l have littletrouble spelling the sound after a consonant sound.3 t the end o a native English word the sound is spelled after a long vowel sound

rare for Latin-derived words to have a sound after along vowel sound unless the LV ends the prefix. In the following w o r s ~ we ve separated the prefix from the rest of theword to clarify this point:re-consider pre-condition anti-climactic

EXERCISEConsult Appendix A and fill in all the prefixes that end ina long vowel sound.

ome people pronounce r ti without the sound. You ll always spell itcorrectly if you enunciate the sound.


74/205


75/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDchord schooner ronchi l rchetypechorus schizophreni di hotomych r cter orchestrchemic l epoch lchemychlorine stom ch nchorchristen ocher lichenchrome che psy hologychrom tic echo

Notice that all the words in column four have the same root:arch. you learn the words in columns one through threetyou should be able to spell other words that contain the sameroots t for example:

chronicle chronometer hronology hronologi lchronic lly synchronize n chronism hronos opechloride hydrochloric hloroform hlorophyllpsyche psychic psy hoti psy hosom tiching he rt che he d che tooth he

k soun fter prefixes en ing in the k sounA number of Greek and Latin derived words combine aprefix ending in c ac-, ec oc-, suc- with a root word be-

ginning in the k sound. Those words are spelled with two sin a row. Here are a fewountccustomccur te

e lesi sti lsuccumsuccoro up tionoccuro sion

Theyt re easy to spell if you separate roots from prefixes asyou sound out the words you r e spelling. Wetll show youhow in rt IV. ksoun emons to memorize

a. A few Invasion words are spelled cc:


76/205

Part IlL Irregularities in Native English Words yucc r ccoonpiccolo to cco st cc tosuccor tocc tmocc sin roccoliucc neer

b. A w native English words have a silent before the it used to be pronounced : lkw lk ch lkst lk t lkc lk olyolk

c. Some words that are recent transplants from French orSpanish spell the k sound or, if at the end, -que:

m nnequintorque croquetpique mosquitoo lique uniqueop qued. The word s cch rin comes from a Greek word,sakcharon meaning sugar. t s the only English word with

two c s and an h in a row.

EXERCISECorrect the misspelled words.

nukleusacrossacceptarticalattaccedsacrifiseridiculouskavalrydocktorsinserelycourseuniquecalc

calkulateclorineachesacharinuniquesyncronizepsychologytobacopicknickingknucklerasclebookeeping


77/205

68 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDhapter Summary

The sound v is spelled v in all cases but one the wordo

2. At the beginning o a word the sound is spelled before the vowels e i and y Otherwise most o thetime it s spelled c3. At the end o a native English word the sound isspelled k after n SVS and k silent after an LVSAfter a consonant it s spelled k4. In Latin-derived words the k sound is usually spelledc5. In Greek-derived words the k sound is sometimesspelled ch

Words earnAfter someone has tested your knowledge o the words inheavy type in this chapter write your demons here alongwith the words you got wrong in Exercise 29


78/205

The onsonantSound

The most common way of writing the j sound is with theletter g In fact the letter j is used less than one fourth of thetime. However there is a pattern for when the j sound iswritten j See if you can find it. Hint: The pattern is similarto one we found for when the s sound is written s

j mj rejaculate

jojocularpejorativejumpjustifysubjugate

Pattern for writing the j sound with j : In most cases writethej sound withj before the letters _Only common exceptions:

algae margarine When theJsound written

The following words offer a clue to the most common useof g for j See if you can find it. Hint: In Latin derived andInvasion words the relationship betweenj and g is similar tothat between s nd c

gisturgent fungigesture gyrategypsyPattern for substituting g for the j sound: In importedwords just as the s sound is written before _


79/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIED , the j sound is most often written in frontof those letters.This is not true of native English words. Memorize thecommon native words in which e or i follows th j sound:

jest jeweljib j ~ l jellyjingle jeer j t jealousjilt jive jiffy jeepjimmyThere are also a w imported exceptions, the majoritycontaining the Latin root ject which is always spelled with a

reject conjecture subject objective etc.)In addition, these common words should be memorized:

jeopardy jejune jettisono help people read th j sound correctly when it s spelledg the silent e is left in before or a consonant.

courageousarrangement changeableadvantageous dungeon gorgeousgeography encouragementBut it s not needed before e i or y since g always has the jsound in these instances.

legion allegiance changing merger spongy

soun efore the long sounA number ofwords seem to have sound before a long sound, when the sound is really a d Memorize these words,exaggerating their enunciation:


80/205

Part III Irregularities in Native nglish Words arduousdeciduousassiduouscredulousmodulusfraudulent

modulateundulategraduateeducateglandularpendulumschedule

gradualresidualindividualverduregrandeurprocedure

soun wor n ingsThe letter never ends a word. Notice how the sound iswritten t the end o native English words:

jteran VSragestagehugewager

fter aconsonantflangeurgedivulgesponge

jteranSVShedge, hedgingdrudge, drudgerybridge, abridgingedge,edgy

Pattern: The sound t the end o a native English word iswritten after a long vowel sound or a consonant, and after a short vowel sound. As with other English words,if an ending is added, the spelling o the word changes,doesn t change) , and the silent e is dropped,kept) before a vowel.Once you understand this pattern, you should never againhave trouble spelling these native English words:fidget gadget bludgeon cudgel grudgingThere are only a w two-syllable native English wordsthat end in the sound other than those derived from onesyllable words). They re easy to memorize.

knowledge partridge porridge cartridge


81/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDThe British follow the same rule for endings before consonants that begin Latin suffixes as they do for those thatbegin English suffixes:

judgement acknowledgement abridgementBut American dictionaries prefer to drop the e beforeendings like ment Memorize these examples:

judgment acknowledgment abridgment Fledgling is spelled without thee in both countries.)

The Jsound In ageThe Latin suffix age is usually pronounced as i it wereshort a j courage . Many, many common verbs and

nouns have this ending, for instance:manage mortgage percentage suffrage envisage

Notice that age words must have t least two syllables.)Exceptions: two common words are spelled ege and one isspelled -ige. Memorize them:college privilege vestige

5 The sound d efore theJsoundSome Latin-derived words that have roots beginning withjstart with the prefix d

adjust adjective adjourn adjacent etc.)You can t tell where the d ends and the j begins by listeningto these words. However, since there s no Latin or Greekprefix that s just a short a sound, nearly every time you hear


82/205

Part III: Irregularities in Native English Words the combination sound short a j t the beginning of aword, you ll be correct if you automatically spell it adj . Theonly common exceptions are:

agenda agile agitate j r6 Two exceptions to all the patterns

Two words that have a j sound don t fit into any of theabove discussions. Memorize them.cordial which is pronounced as if it were spelled corgialexaggerate which is the only commonj-sounded wordspelled with a doubled g

EXERCISE1. Tell what letter is inserted to keep the g sound hard infront of e and i

guess disguise guitar guest guide2. What letter or letters keep the g hard in the following

words?fugue brogue plague rogue fatigue

EXERCISE 31. Name four words that have two syllables and end in

edge or idge.2. Name two words that have two syllables and end inege.3. What ending do most other two-syllable words havethat end in the j sound? You may have foundresponses to 1) and 2 that are different from ours.)


83/205


84/205

A oubleSound Represented byOne Letter xOne English letter is used to represent a combination ofconsonant sounds: the letter x Read the following words

aloud and listen for the hidden sounds.axis execute ixnay oxen flux

attern for the letter x he letter x represents the consonant followed immediately by the consonant . soun wor n ings

The letter x gives trouble because, like the sounds sand zthe sound ks can be written several ways:taxflux tacksflocks attacksattics

o avoid confusion, keep in mind that the cks ending israrely used except in plurals of native English nouns andthird-person singular present-tense verbs see the discussionof the sound in Chapter 10), and that the following, alongwith words derived from them which we re sure you alreadyknow how to spell), are the only common English words thatend nx

axwaxlaxfixsixmix

relaxapexcomplex75

matrixphoenixonyx


85/205

SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDtax annex affixox index prefixbox hex reflex appendixfox sex perplex orthodoxvex vortex paradoxcoax flex latex lynxhoax flux influx larynxsphinx

2 The pr ix exMany Latin-derived words begin with the prefix ex-.There, the ks sound is always spelled x.

extreme exalt existWhen the ks sound comes before a vowel, as in exalt, we tendto pronounce it gs. Don t make the mistake of inserting nextra s in these words after the x.Some Latin-derived words combine the prefix ex- with aroot that begins with ns sound, spelled c:

exceedexcerpt exciteexcess excelexcise except

Memorize these tricky ex- words. They and the words derived from them, like excellent are the only words that beginwith neks sound that are spelled exc-. Also keep in mindthat n x rarely comes anywhere but in the prefix ex- inLatin-derived words. Don t spell the word enacts as if it wereinax.Here are all the commonly used words that have nxburied in their midst. Memorize the ones you don t know.ax

axiomaxisex

nexttextix

elixirvixenox

oxideoxygenux

luxuryjuxtapose


86/205

Part Ill: Irregularities in Native English Words ax ex ix ox ux

axle pretext intoxicate buxomlaxative context proximitymaxim textile toxicmaximum texture toxinsaxophone inexorabletaxi hexagontaxidermy flexiblegalaxy dexteroussextant

perplexityreflexiveThe words reflexive and perplexity should be particularlystudied. Reflexive comes from reflex, not reflect.

The prefix ae plus the s soundNotice that when the Latin prefix ac- comes before a wordbeginning with the s sound, n x sound is created. Spell thesewords correctly even i you think you hear x.accelerator accessible accidentally accept

4 lural ending sThe plural ending -ics is fairly common:

genetics mechanics tactics obstetrics you remember the first rule o English spelling the spell-ing o a small word never changes when it s made longer),you ll never write mechanix or tactix.5 demon tomemorize

There s a tricky word that defies all English spelling


87/205

78 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDpatterns for the sound. t s really a sound butsaying the two together quickly produces ks. Memorize theword:

e zem the Latin prefix ec the root zemaEXER ISE

Correct the misspelled words.expenseecsperienceextremelyextrordinaryecstension

egsplanationexhorbitantexistenceexellentexerciseinexacttocsindeduxs

influxorthodockscomplexexcecuteh pter ummary

1. The letter x represents the consonant cluster ks.2. Only a few words end in the letter x3. Only native English plurals and third-person-singularverbs end in the spelling cks.4. Many Latin-derived words begin with ex5. The Latin prefix ac and the suffix ics are never spelledwithx.Words to earn

List the heavy-type words you can t spell as well as thewords misspelled in the exercises.


88/205

Consonant Clusters:qu ng wh ch sh e

Since there are more sounds in English than there are let-ters to represent them, combinations letters have beendesignated to stand for certain sounds. Let s examine theseletter clusters and their uses.The sound of the letters qu

There no special English sound for the letter com-bination quo Sound out these words and figure out whatcombination native English consonants the cluster over-laps.quiet quite require liqui equ l

Did you figure out that the letters qu stand for the com-bination consonants kw Notice that q without u has nosound; it needs the after it to be complete.This particular combination sounds, kw never existedtogether in native English. The native English word awk-ward awk ward not aw kw ard. All the wordsthat have the kw sound came from other languages. So everytime you hear the sound, it s spelled quo Think qu as oneletter and you won t go wrong. Confusion of kw sound with the cu sound

The combination sounds made by cu different from79


89/205

80 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDthe sound. Say these words over and over; notice howyour lips change and listen for the difference:

cutecourtiercucum ercurequotqu rterquicklyqu rk

qu ft r the prefix cStudy the following words:

cqu int cquit cquireThese words are the only commonly used words that have aLatin root preceded by the Latin prefix acNotice the difference between the spelling of the abovewords and the following which don t contain the prefix ac-but the root aqua:

qu tic qu riumSpelling really does make sensehe sound of the l tt rs The letters ng sometimes stand for a twanging Englishsound that appears at the end of many native English words:

sing r ng elongSay these words over and over listening to the sound. Noticethat the sound said and then the mouth drawn back asif to begin a sound but the sound is never finished.The most common use of the special ng sound is in thepresent-tense ending ing

trou ling connecting l cking


90/205

Part III: Irregularities in Native English Words 81Learn to hear the difference between these two words:

angle ngsound) angel n soft gWhen the common English endings are added to short 0 words andby many speakers to other words as well ,sometimes an extra g sound is inserted to make them easier tosay. Don t spell that extra g sound with another g whenyou re writing the words.

thronging longer strongest wronglyNotice that many common words that include the special sound add that extrag sound for ease of speaking.

angle finger mongrel hungerYou may have already noticed that no common Englishword is spelled with an e before the sound.*)1 ng sound before the k kw, and 9 sounds

Study the following words for their pattern:thankanchoranguishbanquet

winkzincjingletranquilmonkconchcongressconquest

sunkunclebungalowvanquishadjunctinstinctincongruityrelinquish

Pattern for sound before k kw and g sounds: Before a kkw org sound, spell the sound _ ther ng words tomemorize

The following words are often pronounced with an *The proper noun Bengal pronounced eitherBen gal or Beng gal is animport.


91/205

82 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDsound, and that may confuse you about their spelling.

conqueror anxious anxietyWarning: on tconfuse the ng sound with the gn spelling ofthe Latin-derived ign. Say these words, and notice that theydon t use the special ng sound, but a simple n sound:

benign resign assign align

he hw sounAs we pointed out in Chapter 2, the sound hw spelled whis fast disappearing in America. But the spelling lingers on.The best way to get these words right is to memorize them. Keep in mind that words that have these words in them arealso spelled wh for example everywhere.

whackwhalewharfwhat

wheatwheedlewheelwheezewhenwherewhetwhetherwhewwhey

whichwhiffwhilewhimwhimperwhimsywhinewhinnywhipwhirlwhiz

whorl

whiskwhiskeywhisperwhistle

why

whitwhitewhitherwhittle

Memorize the only word of this type that doesn t include afamiliar wh-beginning word:overwhelm


92/205

Part IlL Irregularities in Native English Words 8h sound spelled whThe words that have an sound after the sound exceptfor whorl ended up having the w sound dropped for ease ofpronunciation. The following are the only common words ofthat type, and you probably know how to spell most of themalready.who whom whole whoop whore whose

SilenthNow s as good a time as any to learn the words that used

to be pronounced with an h in them but aren t any longer.You must memorize the fact that they re still spelled with the

heirherbhonesthonorhour

grahamshepherdposthumousexhaustexhibitexhortexhilarate

vehiclevehementannihilate

omonyms to learnThe wh combination is used to flag a number of commonhomonyms. Memorize them.

which-witchwhale-wailwhine-winewhey-waywhere-wearwhit wit

what wattwhet wetwhether-weather

he sounds of hand shThe relationship between h and sh is like that between and s Ch is a hard, strident sound. Sh is a soft whisper. you can t hear the difference right off the bat, say these


93/205

84 SPELLING SIMPLIFIEDwords aloud exaggerating your enunciation until you can.

shipcrusblasbwish

cbipcrutcblatcbwitcb

cbill sbillcbant sban tcbuck sbuckcbop sbop

n s wor n ingsLook at the last three sets ofwords in the above list and atthe words that follow and pick out the formula for word

endings.afteran V

retcbcatcbhitcbscotcbbutcb

aftera consonantbunchlurchfinchporchsearcb

afteran V teachapproachleecbvouchboocb

Pattern for words that end in a ch or sh sound: Words thatend in tHe ch sound spell the sound except after awhen the sound is spelled . Words that end in the shsound spell that final sh sound .Notice that the extra t before the ch isn t dropped evenwhen a common word ending is added in line with our firstrule of English spelling:

crutcbes satchel twitcbedExceptions: A few common words don t insert the t whenthe ch sound ends a word:

rich wbich muchduchess bachelor suchbreechesBreeches is pronounced as ifit were spelled britches .These double-vowel sounds will be discussed in Chapters 19 and 20. Fornow just notice that long vowel sounds before ch are always written withtwo letters.


94/205

Part IlL Irregularities in Native English Words 85 s sound spelledl

There are several Latin endings which have the sh and chsounds in them for instance, -tion -sion -cious -tue and-tuous . We ll look at them in Chapter 6In addition, in words imported from other languages, thesh sound is always spelled simply c before a long e sound.

appreciate appreciable associate fiduciary

3 s sound spelled in importedwordsIn French the sh sound is spelled ch. That s why Frenchimports like chef, chute, and crochet are spelled that way.Watch for these ch words as you read. Most of them beginwith the sh sound; the few common exceptions are:

brochure machine ricochet nonchalant parachuteechelon gauche mustache pistachioAlso learn the word ache, which is spelled with ch and pronounced as if it were spelled ake. Greek-derived words alsospell thek sound ch. See Chapter to

sh sound as aslurred sA few common words slur the s sound so that it soundslike sh simply because it is easier than pronouncing the ssound. That happens mostly before the letter u:

surelysugar cynosuresensual censurenausea* insure

Nausea is shown in Webster s New Collegiate Dictionary 8th ed.) ashaving four correct pronunciations: nau -zee-a, nau -sha, nau -see-a,and nau zh o We learned it as nau zh o


95/205

86 SPELLING SIMPLIFIED5 Uncommon spellings sh and ch sounds

The sh sound is spelled sc in just a w easy-to-Iearnwords:consciencecrescendoconscious

presciencefascismluscious

omniscience

The ch sound is spelled c in the following Italian-derivedwords:cello concerto

he sound the ending IeThe sound the ending Ie is not the same as that the

letter I. Compare the two in these words:saplingdoubtlessfondlyallow

applebottlecandleedible

applejackbottlercandlingmeasles

Do you hear that the words in Column one have a simple Isound, while those in Columns two and three have a veryshort, almost swallowed uh sound in front the I sound? you learn to pronounce Ie correctly when you s it, and tohear it in words in which it appears, you ll usually spell itcorrectly. Notice that the Latin endings ible and able havethat sound.) xceptions in spelling the uhl sound

A w short native-looking words spell the u sound aIil 01 and el There are so w them, you should be ableto remember them and to spell all the others Ie. Here are themost common.


96/205

Part IlL Irregularities in Native English Words -al: medal metal petal bridali t devil evil pupil weevil 1: pistol-el: chattel easel chisel shovel musselmantel weasel shrivel grovel yodeltassel vessel swivel novelhazel drivel modelNote that other -al words don t have that swallowed -uh Isound:

final rascal original equal you don t hear the difference, try saying the above wordswith the Ie ending:

fine-Ie rask-Ie origin-Ie equ-IeDo it over and over until you can sense the difference. Thenlearn to pronounce your words carefully for spelling purposes.

Don t confuse the Ie ending with the ite Latin ending inwords like missile . In these endin

Documents

Spelling Simplified