The Grammar of English Grammars Part 26

RULE IV.--NO DOUBLING.

A final consonant, when it is not preceded by a single vowel, or when the accent is not on the last syllable, should remain single before an additional syllable: as, _toil, toiling; oil, oily; visit, visited; differ, differing; peril, perilous; viol, violist; real, realize, realist; dial, dialing, dialist; equal, equalize, equality; vitriol, vitriolic, vitriolate_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. The final _l_ of words ending in _el_, must be doubled before an other vowel, lest the power of the _e_ be mistaken, and a syllable be lost: as, _travel, traveller; duel, duellist; revel, revelling; gravel, gravelly; marvel, marvellous_. Yet the word _parallel_, having three Ells already, conforms to the rule in forming its derivatives; as, _paralleling, paralleled_, and _unparalleled_. 2. Contrary to the preceding rule, the preterits, participles, and derivative nouns, of the few verbs ending in _al, il_, or _ol_, unaccented,--namely, _equal, rival, vial, marshal, victual, cavil, pencil, carol, gambol_, and _pistol_,--are usually allowed to double the _l_, though some dissent from the practice: as, _equalled, equalling; rivalled, rivalling; cavilled, cavilling, caviller; carolled, carolling, caroller_. 3. When _ly_ follows _l_, we have two Ells of course, but in fact no doubling: as, _real, really; oral, orally; cruel, cruelly; civil, civilly; cool, coolly; wool, woolly_. 4. Compounds, though they often remove the princ.i.p.al accent from the point of duplication, always retain the double letter: as, _wit'snapper, kid'napper,[114]

gra.s.s'hopper, duck'-legged, spur'galled, hot'spurred, broad'-brimmed, hare'-lipped, half-witted_. So, _compromitted_ and _manumitted_; but _benefited_ is different.

RULE V.--FINAL CK.

Monosyllables and English verbs end not with _c_, but take _ck_ for double _c_; as, _rack, wreck, rock, attack_: but, in general, words derived from the learned languages need not the _k_, and common use discards it; as, _Italic, maniac, music, public_.

EXCEPTIONS.--The words _arc_, part of a circle; _orc_, the name of a fish; _lac_, a gum or resin; and _sac_, or _soc_, a privilege, in old English law, are ended with _c_ only. _Zinc_ is, perhaps, better spelled _zink_; _marc, mark_; _disc, disk_; and _talc, talck_.

RULE VI.--RETAINING.

Words ending with any double letter, preserve it double before any additional termination, not beginning with the same letter;[115] as in the following derivatives: _wooer, seeing, blissful, oddly, gruffly, equally, sh.e.l.ly, hilly, stiffness, illness, stillness, shrillness, fellness, smallness, drollness, freeness, gra.s.sless, pa.s.sless, carelessness, recklessness, embarra.s.sment, enfeoffment, agreement, agreeable_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. Certain irregular derivatives in _d_ or _t_, from verbs ending in _ee, ll_, or _ss_, (as _fled_ from _flee, sold_ from _sell, told_ from _tell, dwelt_ from _dwell, spelt_ from _spell, spilt_ from _spill, shalt_ from _shall, wilt_ from _will, blest_ from _bless, past_ from _pa.s.s_,) are exceptions to the foregoing rule. 2. If the word _pontiff_ is properly spelled with two Effs, its eight derivatives are also exceptions to this rule; for they are severally spelled with one; as, _pontific, pontifical, pontificate_, &c. 3. The words _skillful, skillfully, willful, willfully, chillness, tallness, dullness_, and _fullness_, have generally been allowed to drop the second _l_, though all of them might well be made to conform to the general rule, agreeably to the orthography of Webster.

RULE VII.--RETAINING.

Words ending with any double letter, preserve it double in all derivatives formed from them by means of prefixes: as, _see, foresee_; _feoff, enfeoff_; _pa.s.s, repa.s.s_; _press, depress_; _miss, amiss_; _call, recall_; _stall, forestall_; _thrall, inthrall_; _spell, misspell_; _tell, foretell_; _sell, undersell_; _add, superadd_; _snuff, besnuff_; _swell, overswell_.

OBSERVATION.--The words _enroll, unroll, miscall, befall, befell, bethrall, reinstall, disinthrall, fulfill_, and _twibill_, are very commonly written with one _l_, and made exceptions to this rule; but those authors are in the right who retain the double letter.

RULE VIII.--FINAL LL.

Final _ll_ is peculiar to monosyllables and their compounds, with the few derivatives formed from such roots by prefixes; consequently, all other words that end in _l_, must be terminated with a single _l_: as, _cabal, logical, appal, excel, rebel, refel, dispel, extol, control, mogul, jackal, rascal, damsel, handsel, tinsel, tendril, tranquil, gambol, consul_.

OBSERVATION.--The words _annul, until, distil, extil_, and _instil_, are also properly spelled with one _l_; for the monosyllables _null, till_, and _still_ are not really their roots, but rather derivatives, or contractions of later growth. Webster, however, prefers _distill, extill_, and _instill_ with _ll_; and some have been disposed to add the other two.

RULE IX.--FINAL E.

The final _e_ of a primitive word, when this letter is mute or obscure, is generally omitted before an additional termination beginning with a vowel: as, _remove, removal_; _rate, ratable_; _force, forcible_; _true, truism_; _rave, raving_; _sue, suing_; _eye, eying_; _idle, idling_; _centre, centring_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. Words ending in _ce_ or _ge_, retain the _e_ before _able_ or _ous_, to preserve the soft sounds of _c_ and _g_: as, _trace, traceable_; _change, changeable_; _outrage, outrageous_. 2. So, from _shoe_, we write _shoeing_, to preserve the sound of the root; from _hoe, hoeing_, by apparent a.n.a.logy; and, from _singe, singeing_; from _swinge, swingeing_; from _tinge, tingeing_; that they may not be confounded with _singing, swinging_, and _tinging_. 3. To compounds and prefixes, as _firearms, forearm, anteact, viceagent_, the rule does not apply; and final _ee_ remains double, by Rule 6th, as in _disagreeable, disagreeing_.

RULE X.--FINAL E.

The final _e_ of a primitive word is generally retained before an additional termination beginning with a consonant: as, _pale, paleness_; _edge, edgeless_; _judge, judgeship_; _lodge, lodgement_; _change, changeful_; _infringe, infringement_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. When the _e_ is preceded by a vowel, it is sometimes omitted; as in _duly, truly, awful, argument_; but much more frequently retained; as in _dueness, trueness, blueness, bluely, rueful, dueful, shoeless, eyeless_. 2. The word _wholly_ is also an exception to the rule, for n.o.body writes it _wholely_. 3. Some will have _judgment, abridgment_, and _acknowledgment_, to be irreclaimable exceptions; but I write them with the _e_, upon the authority of Lowth, Beattie, Ainsworth, Walker, Cobb, Chalmers, and others: the French "_jugement_," _judgement_, always retains the _e_.

RULE XI--FINAL Y.

The final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is generally changed into _i_ before an additional termination: as, _merry, merrier, merriest, merrily, merriment_; _pity, pitied, pities, pitiest, pitiless, pitiful, pitiable_; _contrary, contrariness, contrarily_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. This rule applies to derivatives, but not to compounds: thus, we write _merciful_, and _mercy-seat_; _penniless_, and _pennyworth_; _scurviness_, and _scurvy-gra.s.s_; &c. But _ladyship_ and _goodyship_, being unlike _secretariship_ and _suretiship_; _handicraft_ and _handiwork_,[116]

unlike _handygripe_ and _handystroke_; _babyship_ and _babyhood_, unlike _stateliness_ and _likelihood_; the distinction between derivatives and compounds, we see, is too nice a point to have been always accurately observed. 2. Before _ing_ or _ish_, the _y_ is retained to prevent the doubling of _i_: as, _pity, pitying_; _baby, babyish_. 3. Words ending in _ie_, dropping the _e_ by Rule 9th, change the _i_ into _y_, for the same reason: as, _die, dying_; _vie, vying_; _lie, lying_.

RULE XII--FINAL Y.

The final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a vowel, should not be changed into _i_ before any additional termination: as, _day, days_; _key, keys_; _guy, guys_; _valley, valleys_; _coy, coyly_; _cloy, cloys, cloyed_; _boy, boyish, boyhood_; _annoy, annoyer, annoyance_; _joy, joyless, joyful_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. From _lay, pay, say_, and _stay_, are formed _laid, paid, said_, and _staid_; but the regular words, _layed, payed, stayed_, are sometimes used. 2. _Raiment_, contracted from _arrayment_, is never written with the _y_. 3. _Daily_ is more common than the regular form _dayly_; but _gayly, gayety_, and _gayness_, are justly superseding _gaily_ and _gaiety_.

RULE XIII.--IZE AND ISE.

Words ending in _ize_ or _ise_ sounded alike, as in _wise_ and _size_, generally take the _z_ in all such as are essentially formed by means of the termination; and the _s_ in monosyllables, and all such as are essentially formed by means of prefixes: as, _gormandise, apologize, brutalize, canonize, pilgrimize, philosophize, cauterize, anathematize, sympathize, disorganize_, with _z_;[117] _rise, arise, disguise, advise, devise, supervise, circ.u.mcise, despise, surmise, surprise, comprise, compromise, enterprise, presurmise_, with _s_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. _Advertise, catechise, chastise, criticise_,[118]

_exercise, exorcise_, and _merchandise_, are most commonly written with _s_ and _size, a.s.size, capsize, a.n.a.lyze, overprize, detonize_, and _recognize_, with _z_. How many of them are real exceptions to the rule, it is difficult to say. 2. _Prise_, a thing taken, and _prize_, to esteem; _apprise_, to inform, and _apprize_, to _value_, or _appraise_, are often written either way, without this distinction of meaning, which some wish to establish. 3.

The want of the foregoing rule has also made many words _variable_, which ought, unquestionably, to conform to the general principle.

RULE XIV.--COMPOUNDS.

Compounds generally retain the orthography of the simple words which compose them: as, _wherein, horseman, uphill, sh.e.l.lfish, knee-deep, kneedgra.s.s, kneading-trough, innkeeper, skylight, plumtree, mandrill_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. In permanent compounds, or in any derivatives of which, they are not the _roots_, the words _full_ and _all_ drop one _l_; as, _handful, careful, fulfil, always, although, withal_; in temporary compounds, they retain both; as, _full-eyed, chock-full_,[119] _all-wise, save-all_. 2. So the prefix _mis_, (if from _miss_, to err,) drops one _s_; but it is wrong to drop them both, as in Johnson's "_mispell_" and "_mispend_," for _misspell_ and _misspend_. 3. In the names of days, the word _ma.s.s_ also drops one _s_; as, _Christmas, Candlemas, Lammas_. 4. The possessive case often drops the apostrophe; as in _herdsman, kitesfoot_. 5.

One letter is dropped, if three of the same kind come together: as, _Rosshire, chaffinch_; or else a hyphen is used: as, _Ross-shire, ill-looking, still-life_. 6. _Chilblain, welcome_, and _welfare_, drop one _l_. 7. _Pastime_ drops an _s_. 8. _Shepherd, wherever_, and _whosever_, drop an _e_; and _wherefore_ and _therefore_ a.s.sume one.

RULE XV.--USAGE.

Any word for the spelling of which we have no rule but usage, is written wrong if not spelled according to the usage which is most common among the learned: as, "The brewer grinds his malt before he _brues_ his beer."--_Red Book_, p. 38.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The foregoing rules aim at no wild and impracticable reformation of our orthography; but, if carefully applied, they will do much to obviate its chief difficulties. Being made variable by the ignorance of some writers and the caprice of others, our spelling is now, and always has been, exceedingly irregular and unsettled. Uniformity and consistency can be attained in no other way, than by the steady application of rules and principles; and these must be made as few and as general as the case will admit, that the memory of the learner may not be overmatched by their number or complexity. Rules founded on the a.n.a.logy of similar words, and sanctioned by the usage of careful writers, must be taken as our guides; because common practice is often found to be capricious, contradictory, and uncertain. That errors and inconsistencies abound, even in the books which are proposed to the world as _standards_ of English orthography, is a position which scarcely needs proof. It is true, to a greater or less extent, of all the spelling-books and dictionaries that I have seen, and probably of all that have ever been published. And as all authors are liable to mistakes, which others may copy, general rules should have more weight than particular examples to the contrary. "The right spelling of a word may be said to be that which agrees the best with its p.r.o.nunciation, its etymology, and with the a.n.a.logy of the particular cla.s.s of words to which it belongs."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 647.

OBS. 2.--I do not deny that great respect is due to the authority of our lexicographers, or that great improvement was made in the orthography of our language when Dr. Johnson put his hand to the work. But sometimes one man's authority may offset an other's; and he that is inconsistent with himself, destroys his own: for, surely, his example cannot be paramount to his principles. Much has been idly said, both for and against the adoption of Johnson's Dictionary, or Webster's, as _the criterion_ of what is right or wrong in spelling; but it would seem that no one man's learning is sufficiently extensive, or his memory sufficiently accurate, to be solely relied on to furnish _a standard_ by which we may in all cases be governed.

Johnson was generally right; but, like other men, he was sometimes wrong.

He erred sometimes in his _principles_, or in their application; as when he adopted the _k_ in such words as _rhetorick_, and _demoniack_; or when he inserted the _u_ in such words as _governour, warriour, superiour_. Neither of these modes of spelling was ever generally adopted, in any thing like the number of words to which he applied them; or ever will be; though some indiscreet compilers are still zealously endeavouring to impose them upon the public, as the true way of spelling. He also erred sometimes _by accident_, or _oversight_; as when he spelled thus: "_recall_ and _miscal, inthrall_ and _bethral, windfall_ and _downfal, laystall_ and _thumbstal, waterfall_ and _overfal, molehill_ and _dunghil, windmill_ and _twibil, uphill_ and _downhil_." This occasional excision of the letter _l_ is reprehensible, because it is contrary to general a.n.a.logy, and because both letters are necessary to preserve the sound, and show the derivation of the compound. Walker censures it as a "ridiculous irregularity," and lays the blame of it on the "_printers_," and yet does not venture to correct it!

See Johnson's Dictionary, first American edition, quarto; Walker's p.r.o.nouncing Dictionary, under the word _Dunghil_; and his Rhyming Dictionary, Introd., p. xv.

OBS. 3.--"Dr. Johnson's Dictionary" has been represented by some as having "nearly fixed the external form of our language." But Murray, who quotes this from Dr. Nares, admits, at the same time, that, "The orthography of a great number of English words, is far from being uniform, even amongst writers of distinction."--_Gram._, p. 25. And, after commending this work of Johnson's, as A STANDARD, from which, "it is earnestly to be hoped, that no author will henceforth, on light grounds, be tempted to innovate," he adds, "This Dictionary, however, contains some orthographical inconsistencies which ought to be rectified: such as, _immovable, moveable; chastely, chastness; fertileness, fertily; sliness, slyly; fearlessly, fearlesness; needlessness, needlesly_."--_Ib._ In respect to the final _ck_ and _our_, he also _intentionally departs from_ THE STANDARD _which he thus commends_; preferring, in that, the authority of _Walker's Rhyming Dictionary_, from which he borrowed his rules for spelling. For, against the use of _k_ at the end of words from the learned languages, and against the _u_ in many words in which Johnson used it, we have the authority, not only of general usage now, but of many grammarians who were contemporary with Johnson, and of more than a dozen lexicographers, ancient or modern, among whom is Walker himself. In this, therefore, Murray's practice is right, and his commended standard dictionary, wrong.

OBS. 4.--Of words ending in _or_ or _our_, we have about three hundred and twenty; of which not more than forty can now with any propriety be written with the latter termination. Aiming to write according to the best usage of the present day, I insert the _u_ in so many of these words as now seem most familiar to the eye when so written; but I have no partiality for any letters that can well be spared; and if this book should ever, by any good fortune, happen to be reprinted, after _honour, labour, favour, behaviour_, and _endeavour_, shall have become as unfashionable as _authour, errour, terrour_, and _emperour_, are now, let the proof-reader strike out the useless letter not only from these words, but from all others which shall bear an equally antiquated appearance.

OBS. 5.--I have suggested the above-mentioned imperfections in _Dr.

Johnson's_ orthography, merely to justify the liberty which I take of spelling otherwise; and not with any view to give a preference to that of _Dr. Webster_, who is now contending for the honour of having furnished a more correct _standard_. For the latter author, though right in some things in which the former was wrong, is, on the whole, still more erroneous and inconsistent. In his various attempts at reformation in our orthography, he has spelled many hundreds of words in such a variety of ways, that he knows not at last which of them is right, and which are wrong. But in respect to _definitions_, he has done good service to our literature; nor have his critics been sufficiently just respecting what they call his "innovations."

See Cobb's Critical Review of the Orthography of Webster. To omit the _k_ from such words as _publick_, or the _u_ from such as _superiour_, is certainly _no innovation_; it is but ignorance that censures the general practice, under that name. The advocates for Johnson and opponents of Webster, who are now so zealously stickling for the _k_ and the _u_ in these cases, ought to know that they are contending for what was obsolete, or obsolescent, when Dr. Johnson was a boy.

OBS. 6.--I have before observed that some of the grammarians who were contemporary with Johnson, did not adopt his practice respecting the _k_ or the _u_, in _publick, critick, errour, superiour_, &c. And indeed I am not sure there were any who did. Dr. Johnson was born in 1709, and he died in 1784. But Brightland's Grammar, which was written during the reign of Queen Anne, who died in 1714, in treating of the letter C, says, "If in any Word the harder Sound precedes (_e_), (_i_), or (_y_), (_k_) is either added or put in its Place; as, _Skill, Skin, Publick_: And tho' the additional (_k_) in the foregoing Word be an _old Way_ of Spelling, yet it is now very justly left off, as being a superfluous Letter; for (_c_) at the End is always hard."--Seventh Edition, Lond., 1746, p. 37.

OBS. 7.--The three grammars of Ash, Priestley, and Lowth, all appeared, in their first editions, about one time; all, if I mistake not, in the year 1763; and none of these learned doctors, it would seem, used the mode of spelling now in question. In Ash, of 1799, we have such orthography as this: "Italics, public, domestic, our traffic, music, quick; error, superior, warrior, authors, honour, humour, favour, behaviour." In Priestley, of 1772: "Iambics, dactyls, dactylic, anapaestic, monosyllabic, electric, public, critic; author, emperor's, superior; favour, labours, neighbours, laboured, vigour, endeavour; meagre, hillock, bailiwick, bishop.r.i.c.k, control, travelling." In Lowth, of 1799: "Comic, critic, characteristic, domestic; author, _favor, favored, endeavored, alledging_, foretells." Now all these are words in the spelling of which Johnson and Webster contradict each other; and if they are not all right, surely they would not, on the whole, be made more nearly right, by being conformed to either of these authorities exclusively. For THE BEST USAGE is the ultimate rule of grammar.

OBS. 8.--The old British Grammar, written before the American Revolution, and even before "_the learned Mr. Samuel Johnson_" was doctorated, though it thus respectfully quotes that great scholar, does not follow him in the spelling of which I am treating. On the contrary, it abounds with examples of words ending in _ic_ and _or_, and not in _ick_ and _our_, as he wrote them; and I am confident, that, from that time to this, the former orthography has continued to be _more common than his_. Walker, the orthoepist, who died in 1807, yielded the point respecting the _k_, and ended about four hundred and fifty words with _c_ in his Rhyming Dictionary; but he thought it more of an innovation than it really was. In his p.r.o.nouncing Dictionary, he says, "It has been a custom, _within these twenty years_, to omit the _k_ at the end of words, when preceded by _c_.

This has introduced a _novelty_ into the language, which is that of ending a word with an unusual letter," &c. "This omission of _k_ is, however, too general to be counteracted, even by the authority of Johnson; but it is to be hoped it will be confined to words from the learned languages."-- _Walker's Principles of p.r.o.nunciation_, No. 400. The tenth edition of Burn's Grammar, dated 1810, says, "It has become customary to omit _k_ after _c_ at the end of dissyllables and trisyllables, &c. as _music, arithmetic, logic_; but the _k_ is retained in monosyllables; as, _back, deck, rick_, &c."--P. 25. James Buchanan, of whose English Syntax there had been five American editions in 1792, added no _k_ to such words as _didactic, critic, cla.s.sic_, of which he made frequent use; and though he wrote _honour, labour_, and the like, with _u_, as they are perhaps most generally written now, he inserted no _u_ in _error, author_, or any of those words in which that letter would now be inconsistent with good taste.

OBS. 9.--Bicknell's Grammar, of 1790, treating of the letter _k_, says, "And for the same reason we have _dropt_ it at the end of words after _c_, which is there always hard; as in _publick, logick_, &c. which are more elegantly written _public, logic_."--Part ii, p. 13. Again: "It has heretofore joined with _c_ at the end of words; as _publick, logick_; but, as before observed, being there quite superfluous, it is now left out"--_Ib._, p. 16. Horne Tooke's orthography was also agreeable to the rule which I have given on this subject. So is the usage of David Booth: "Formerly a _k_ was added, as, _rustick, politick, Arithmetick_, &c. but this is now in disuse."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, Lond., 1814, p. 80.