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Simpler Spelling
Word of the Day
Archive of Discussions
April-June 2015

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Tuesday, June 30, 2015:  "befrend" for "befriend"

IE is not just an absurd spelling for what is a simple short-E, but is also ambiguous, having two common pronunciations, long-I as in "refried beans" and long-E, as in "fiend", a word that children in English-speaking countries often confuse with "friend". The sound is short-E, so let's drop the I, whereupon every reader will see a short-E: "befrend".

Munday, June 29, 2015:  "absensha" for "absentia"

This is one of those words* in which the dopy letter sequence TIA or TIO is pronounced as tho written with SH. Unfortunately, some people who see a T, insist on pronouncing a T, which produces the spelling-pronunciation àab.sén.tee.ya. Wrong. Let's make the correct pronunciation clear: "absensha".
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* This term is ordinarily used only in the legal phrase, from Latin, "in absentia", which refers to trial of a person "even tho absent" from the courtroom, as in not yet apprehended, and unlikely to be apprehended anytime soon. 

Sunday, June 28, 2015:  "vanadeum" for "vanadium"

In today's word, we have yet another of those innumerable words in which a long-E sound is written with an I. Why? We have the letter E for that sound. Let's use it: "vanadeum".

Saturday, June 27, 2015:  "eureea" for "urea"

UR at the beginning of a word could be pronounced with a short-U or the ER-sound of "better" and "ermine", in words like "urgent" and "urban". That's not the sound here, which is a long-U with initial Y-glide. To show that clearly, we could write YU, but that's fairly unusual for a long-U sound in traditional English. More common is EU, so let's use that.

The second issue in today's word is the word's stress, which falls on the second syllable. That is not clear from the letter sequence EA, which could be stressed, as in "rhea" and "idea", or unstressed, as in "area" and "cornea", or even pronounced as one syllable rather than two ("pea", "sea"). To show that the long-E is stressed, we can double the E, which will induce most readers to give it the appropriate emphasis: "eureea".

Friday, June 26, 2015:  "toppanodd" for "tapenade"*

This Food Friday, let's fix the name of a paste that came into English from the French "tapénade". The French spelling is entirely inappropriate to English. TAPE is an English word, pronounced with a long-A (taep); but that's not the pronunciation here. -ADE is also English, found in many words, and also pronounced with a long-A ("renegade", "lemonade", "palisade"). Here, the two A's are both pronounced as short-O. If that's the pronunciation, let's make that the spelling.

The middle syllable contains the vowel sound schwa, which is most frequently and comprehensibly written with an A. So let's put an A there in place of the E.

The last issue today is that the word's stress falls on the last syllable, an unusual pattern for a noun in English. To show that, we need to double the D. Should we also add an -E ("toppanodde") to make that stress even more obvious? Not necessary, and possibly misleading, because there are words in which a final-E is pronounced, not silent ("abalone", "calliope"). -DD, without more, should suffice to cue the reader to place the word's stress on the last syllable.

Putting this all together, we get: "toppanodd".
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* Merriam-Webster Online: "a seasoned spread made chiefly with mashed black olives, capers, and anchovies".

Thursday, June 25, 2015:  "sinyu" for "sinew"

EW does not spell the long-U sound, with initial Y-glide. Rather, if you sound it out, it should be seen as representing a sort of twisted long-O. To show a long-U with initial Y-glide in this part of the word, we might write EU, but "sineu" might puzzle many readers. UE would not be clear as to whether there is or is not a Y-glide before the U-sound (consider "true", "glue", and "due" as most people say it). YU seems a quick fix for showing a long-U with initial Y-glide in this location. It's an unusal solution, found among common English words only in "Kikuyu", but clarity and simplicity make a good case for using it here: "sinyu".

Wensday, June 24, 2015:  "smij" and "smijjen" for "smidge", "smidgen", "smidgin", and "smidgeon"

We have here FOUR occurrences of the absurd and inefficient spelling formulation DG, one of which is also the even longer and less efficient formulation DGE, for a simple J-sound. Let's replace them all: with J, in final position in "smij"; with JJ midword, where it should mark the prior vowel, I, as having its short sound.

As regards the sound before the N, it's  a schwa, so could be written with almost any vowel. I and E are probably closest to the actual sound, but IN would be a poor choice, because it might be taken as representing a sloppily-pronounced -ING verb form, which it is not. So E is the better choice. In any case, we can reduce the number of spellings from four to two. That assuredly fulfils the promise of this website, "Simpler Spelling": "smij", "smijjen".

Tuesday, June 23, 2015:  "skif" for "skiff"

Why should there be two F's in "skiff"? We don't write "iff", so don't need two F's here either: "skif".

Munday, June 22, 2015:  "seralyo" for "seraglio"

Today's bizarrely-spelled word is from Italian, even tho it refers to an Islamic institution, the harem, or a palace in the Moslem world, specifically, a Turkish palace. If the spelling were appropriate to English, that would be defensible, but the spelling is decidedly un-English, so needs to be fixed. There is no G-sound, so should be no G. The IO does not have the sounds in "Iowa" or "Ohio", but is supposed to represent the sound of YO as in "arroyo" and "yo-yo". The AGL sounds like AL as in the nickname "Al", "alcohol", and "palimony", so if we drop the G, the AL remaining should be clear. Putting this all together, we get: "seralyo".

Sunday, June 21, 2015:  "Sarracen" and "Sarracennic/al" for "Saracen" and "Saracenic/al"

AR is ambiguous, but is probably most commonly pronounced with a "broad"-A, which is the same sound as short-O ("car", "star", "participate"). That is not the sound here, which is a regular short-A. That is most clearly shown by ARR ("arrow", "barren", "carriage"). So let's double the R.

The second issue is in the derived adjectives, "Saracenic" and "Saracenical", in that a single-N leaves unclear whether the preceding-E is long or short. It's short. To indicate that, we should double the N. So today's three related words resolve to: "Sarracen", "Sarracennic", and "Sarracennical".

Saturday, June 20, 2015:  "sidewauk" for "sidewalk"

Why on EARTH is there an L in this word? There is no L-sound, so should be no L-character. The sound is that of AU in "auk", "haul", and "aura", so let's replace the L with U: "sidewauk".
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My thanks to "Doghouse..." for this suggestion.

Friday, June 19, 2015:  "scampy" for "scampi"

This Food Friday, let's fix the term for a dish in Italian cuisine (or perhaps we should say "cookery", in that "cuisine" is decidedly French) for shrimp prepared in a sauce that combines garlic and lemon. In English, an -I at the end of a word is often pronounced as long-I (as in "phi", "thesauri", and "staphylococci"), but here, it's pronounced as long-E. To show that sound at the end of an (English) word, we generally would write -Y or -EE. If the word be a noun, we might see -EE as the better ending. Here, "scampi" can be a noun, for the shrimp dish itself, or an adjective, for shrimp prepared in this way. Given that, -Y is probably the better ending: "scampy". 

Thursday, June 18, 2015:  "seeroprevvalence" for "seroprevalence"

Yesterday, we dealt with a word that started out with SERO- but was pronounced with the ER-sound or short-E, not a long-E, as is the case with today's word. To show the long-E sound, we need merely double the E.

The second problem with today's word is that the second-E in the traditional spelling is short, which a single-V beyond it does not plainly show. But if we double the V, everyone will see that it is short: "seeroprevvalence".

Wensday, June 17, 2015:  "serratonin" for "seratonin"

The single-R in today's word leaves unclear whether the E before it is long, as in "serous" and "serious", or short, as in "serigraph" and "seraglio"? It's short. To show that, we need merely double the R. Further, the O is pronounced as a schwa, but many people try to pronounce an O in a place like this as long. A better spelling for a schwa in that location would be A, so let's replace the O with A: "serratonin".

Tuesday, June 16, 2015:  "seecant" for "secant"

Altho some people might not see a problem with the present spelling, others will see ambiguity in the pronunciation of the E in the SEC start to the word, given a somewhat similar and very frequently occurring word, "second", which has a short-E. To make clear that this E is long, we should add a second-E: "seecant".

Munday, June 15, 2015:  "reveel" for "reveal"

EA is highly ambiguous ("heal", "real", "health", and "area" are a few of the words in which EA is pronounced differently, as, respectively, heel, reel or rée.yal, heltth, and áir.ee.ya). Here, the sound is a simple long-E, which would be much better spelled EE: "reveel".

Sunday, June 14, 2015:  "peeton" for "piton"

This spelling is very ambiguous for so short a word. The I could be long, short, or pronounced as a long-E. The O might be short or said as a schwa, as in "button". The word's stress could fall on either the first or the second syllable. Let's see if we can make all of this clear. The pronunciation is pée.ton, with a full short-O in the second syllable. So that's the way we should spell the word, minus the accent, of course. The only significant ambiguity remaining is whether the O is short or a schwa, but most readers will probably see it as the full short-O it is: "peeton". 

Saturday, June 13, 2015:  "perripatettic" for "peripatetic"

PERI- is unclear, and could be pronounced with a long-E, as in "period". In actuality, the sound is that which is most commonly spelled ER. The way to show that is to double the E. Three syllables later, we come to another E that could be given its long sound. It's actually short, tho, and the way to show that is by doubling the following-T: "perripatettic".

Friday, June 12, 2015:  "pastrommee" for "pastrami"

This Food Friday, let's fix a word that ends in I, which many readers could see as being pronounced as long-I because of words like "alkali" and "fungi". In actuality, the sound is long-E, which is most clearly indicated, in the case of a noun, by EE. Another improper spelling is an A for a short-O sound. If the sound is O, let's write an O. And since the O is short, we need to double the consonant after it, the M. Putting this all together, we get: "pastrommee".

Thursday, June 11, 2015:  "pynt" for "pint"

An I followed by two consonants should be short, as in "hint", "mint", and "sprint".* Here, however, the sound is long-I, which, midword, is much better written Y ("plywood", "pyromaniac", and "cryogenic"): "pynt".
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My thanks to "Clap..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

* Last nite's episode of the television game show Jeopardy had a category "Words That Should Rhyme [But Do Not]", which included, for instance, "pirate" and "irate". That was an indirect acknowledgment that the spelling of English is insane, because we should be able to use one word as a model for other words of parallel spelling. But cannot.

Wensday, June 10, 2015:  "placeebo" for "placebo"

The present spelling of today's word is ambiguous. It could be seen as a compound word, of "place", with a long-A, and "bo". What such a word might mean is hard to see, but there are lots of words we don't know. The actual pronunciation is pla.sée.bo, in which the A is pronounced as a schwa. To show that, we can simply double the E, whereupon the other sounds fall into 'place': "placeebo".
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My thanks to "fishstick..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015:  "odeus" for "odious"

There are two problems in this six-letter word. First, there is an I that takes neither of I's sounds, long as in "Iowa" and short as in "pig". The actual sound is long-E, so let's replace the I with E. The second problem is that there is an OU but no OU-sound. If we drop the O, the correct pronunciation will be clear. And we save a letter, which is all to the good: "odeus".

Munday, June 8, 2015:  "nebbula", "nebbulee",  and "nebbulas" for "nebula", "nebulae", and "nebulas"

A single-B leaves unclear whether the E before it is long or short. It's short. To show that, we need merely double the B. The plural takes two forms, "nebulae", pronounced néb.yoo.lèe, which is not at all clear from the spelling, and "nebulas", just like the singular except for an S at the end. To show the irregular plural, we should write the last syllable with EE; to show the regular plural, we just add an S to the singular: "nebbula", "nebbulee", and "nebbulas".

Sunday, June 7, 2015:  "monseenyer" for "monsignor"

In English, the two-letter consonant cluster GN should be pronounced simply as a ("hard"-) G followed by an N, as in "dignity" and "agnostic". Today's word, however, derives from Italian, where GN represents the sound sequence commonly written NY or NI in English ("canyon", "onion"). Of those two English spellings, NY is clearly better, so let's write that.

As regards the sound of the I, it represents neither of I's own sounds, long as in "rite" and short as in "sin". Rather, it is said as an English long-E, and the best way to show that is with EE.

The last issue is the capital-M that is often, but not always, employed in today's word. As a title or form of direct address immediately before a person's name ("Monsignor Kennedy"), it can of course be capitalized, as might be "cardinal". But aside from that, we need not capitalize it any more than we do "archbishop" when it is not in front of a particular archbishop's name: "monseenyer".

Saturday, June 6, 2015:  "moter/cycle" for "motor/cycle"

OR often takes an AU-sound, as in "or", "for", and "nor". That fact leads many people to mispronounce words like "mentor" as tho they also have an AU-sound. Let's make plain that the sound in today's words is NOT that of AU but the sound in innumerable words spelled with ER, by replacing the OR with ER: "moter" and "motercycle".
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My thanks to "Clap..." for "moter".

Friday, June 5, 2015:  "motiv" for "motive"

We have again today one of those myriad words in which an E is silent. Why is it there if it has no sound? IVE should be read as having a long-I, which the otherwise-silent E indicates in words like "hive", "strive", and "revive". But here, the I is short, so the E is misleading. Let us save ourselves a letter, and some possible confusion, by dropping this E: "motiv".
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* The same change applies to derivatives such as "automotiv", "emotiv", "electromotiv", and "locomotiv".

Thursday, June 4, 2015:  "morover" for "moreover"

The present spelling suggests that the word has four syllables, whereas it actually has only three. The traditional spelling derives from the two separate words, "more" and "over", from which the compound word was created. Readers were not to see the E in the middle as taking a sound. But how is the new reader to know that? If the E is silent, it shouldn't be there, so let's just drop it, OK?: "morover".

Wensday, June 3, 2015:  "moast" for "most"

A reader ought to be able to rely on a vowel followed by a two-letter consonant cluster's being short. But here, an O followed by ST is long. To show a long vowel before two consonants, we need to write the vowel sound clearly in itself, not by what follows it. "Most" is parallel in sound to "toast", "roast", and "boast". Let's make the spelling parallel too: "moast".

Tuesday, June 2, 2015:  "morfeen" for "morphine"

There are two serious problems with today's word. First, a simple F-sound is represented by the preposterous and unphonetic spelling PH, which is actually pronounced as it should be, as a P-sound followed by an H-sound, in words like "uphill", "uphold", and "upheaval". If the sound is F, let's write F.

The second problem is that -INE is highly ambiguous. Sometimes it is pronounced with a long-I ("mine", "tine", "refine"). Other times it is pronounced with a long-E ("machine", "chlorine", "aquamarine"). Yet other times it is pronounced with a short-I ("medicine", "adrenaline", "clandestine"). That ambiguity has given us more than one pronunciation for some words ("tetracycline", "endocrine", "antihistamine") . We need to clarify that in today's word, the sound is long-E. The clearest way to write that is EE: "morfeen".

Munday, June 1, 2015:  "misteek" for "mystique"

There are three oddities in today's word. First, a Y, midword, does not represent a long-I sound, as it does in words like "byline", "myopia", and "cyan". Rather, it represents a short-I. We don't need Y for that sound. We have an I.

The second oddity is that the one I that is in the word is pronounced with neither of I's sounds, long as in "irony", "high", and "enlightened", and short as in "it", "fish", and "income". Rather, it represents a long-E. Why? If the sound is long-E, let's write that clearly, with EE.

The third oddity is that a simple K-sound is written as -QUE, a ridiculous spelling that in at least one informal spelling, "barbeque", is pronounced as a full syllable to itself. If the sound is K, let's just write K: "misteek".

Sunday, May 31, 2015:  "messeannic" for "messianic"

In the noun from which this adjective derives, "messiah", the IA takes what should be its usual, if not only sound, a quick sequence of long-I, as in "ivy" and schwa (e.g., "viaduct", "diagram"). But in today's adjective, the I represents a long-E, and the A represents a full short-A. It is this kind of bizarre alteration of sounds between related words that makes it so hard for people to learn to read and spell English. If the sound is E, let's write E. To show that the resulting EA does not represent a single sound, as in "pea" or "bean", but the A represents its full short sound, we can double the N after the EA, which will cue readers that there are two sounds in the EA sequence, the first a long-E and the second a short-A: "messeannic".

Saturday, May 30, 2015:  "montozh" for "montage"

The present spelling looks as tho the word should be pronounced món.taj or món.tij, or perhaps món.taeg. In actuality, the word has neither of G's customary sounds, "hard" as in "bagel" and "soft" as in "vantage". Rather, this G is pronounced as in French when G precedes E or I. In English, that sound is best written ZH.

Moreover, the A before that G takes neither of A's sounds in English, long as in "aching" and short as in "back". Rather, it takes a French sound too, what in English is called "broad"-A, as in "father" — which is not surprising, given that the word came to us from French. Broad-A is just another name for the short-O sound, and in this word, an O would be much clearer: "montozh".

Friday, May 29, 2015:  "lytmoteef" for "leitmotif" and "leitmotiv"

The two current spellings differ at the end, where one has an F and the other a V. But the V is pronounced as an F, because the word is German in origin. So the V has got to go.

The second issue is that EI is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced as long-I and other times as long-E, as in the two pronunciations of "either" and "neither". Here, the sound is long-I, which, midword, is better shown by a Y, as in "bypass", "thyroid", and "dynamite".

A third issue is that the I in the last syllable takes neither of I's own sounds, long as in the pronoun "I" and short as in "if". To show the actual sound, long-E, we should replace the I with EE: "lytmoteef".

Thursday, May 28, 2015:  "keeloid" for "cheloid" and "keloid"*

CH is an absurd way to spell a simple K-sound. We have the letter K. Let's use it, as the preferred spelling, "keloid", already does. How did the alternative spelling "cheloid" arise?

The second issue is that the single-L leaves unclear whether the sound of the preceding-E is long or short. It's long, so we might just leave the one L. But some readers might see the E as short, as in "elocution" and "develop". So let's make plain the sound of the E by doubling it: "keeloid".
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* A medical term for scar tissue.

Wensday, May 27, 2015:  "jimminy" for "jiminy" and "jimminy"

Altho dictionaries recognize only "jiminy" with one M, the form with two M's is commonplace online. It also happens to be a better spelling, because it at once shows that the first-I is short and that this three-syllable word takes its stress on the first syllable: "jimminy".

Tuesday, May 26, 2015:  "impresareo" for "impresario"

IO at the end of a word should be pronounced as a long-I followed by a long-O, as in "bio". Here, the sound is long-E followed by long-O, as in "video". So we should replace the IO with EO.

There is one other problem area, the sound of the A. Is it "broad"-A, the same sound as short-O, or does it represent a flat-A, which is also the sound of AI? Because of the ambiguity, there are two pronunciations, one with a short-O, which before R we could represent by A, but in that case, we would need to double the following-R to show that the E just beyond does not affect the sound of the A. But the second pronunciation has an AI-sound, so the -ARE- would be a pretty good representation of the sound, as in "scare", "dare", and "fare".

Since there are two pronunciations, tho, we should just leave that part of the word as it is: "impresareo".

Munday, May 25, 2015:  "hipocrisy" for "hypocrisy"

Y, midword, should be reserved for the long-I sound, as in "byword", "hyperbole", and "tyrant". Here, the sound is short-I, which would be much more clearly represented by the letter I itself: "hipocrisy".

Sunday, May 24, 2015:  "jentoo" for "gentoo"*

Why on Earth would we ever spell a J-sound with G? We have a J. Let's use it: "jentoo".  
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* Microsoft's Encarta dictionary: "a penguin with a distinctive white patch above each eye".

Saturday, May 23, 2015:  "fastiddeus" for "fastidious"

There  are two things wrong with today's traditional spelling. First, there's an I used to represent a long-E in the third syllable. Why? Second, there is an OU but no OU-sound in the last syllable. Let's replace the I in the third syllable with E, and drop the O entirely. That would leave "fastideus", which many people might read wrong, as having a long-I in the second syllable. To show that the correct sound is short-I, we need to double the following-D: "fastiddeus".

Friday, May 22, 2015:  "enchilodda" for "enchilada"

This Food Friday, let's make a minor change to the spelling of a Mexican dish. -ADA could be pronounced with a long-A before the D ("cicada", British traditional pronunciation of "armada"), whereas the sound here is "broad"-A, the same sound as short-O. How is the reader to know that from the spelling, in that A has a long sound, as in "atrium", a short sound, as in "apple", and in some words a "broad" sound as in "father". Let's replace that A with O, and show it to be short by doubling the D after it: "enchilodda".

Thursday, May 21, 2015:  "ecosistem" for "ecosystem"

There are two pronunciations for the first syllable of today's word, one with a long-E and the other with a short-E, so we can't change that spelling, which allows for both pronunciations. But there is a problem in the third syllable that we definitely can and should fix: a Y for a simple short-I sound. Midword, vocalic-Y should be reserved to the long-I sound ("hydro", "mycology", "nylon"). If the sound is short-I, let's just use an I: "ecosistem".

Wensday, May 20, 2015:  "drej" for "dredge"

DGE is a preposterous way to spell a simple J-sound. Not only is it inefficient, for requiring three letters to represent a single consonant sound, but one of those letters, the G, has its own sound, as in "get" and "gear") which is nothing like that of J. If the sound is J, let's write J: "drej".

Tuesday, May 19, 2015:  "decifer" for "decipher"

PH is an indefensibly absurd way to spell a simple F-sound, esp. in that it sometimes represents what it appears to represent, two adjoining consonant sounds, a P and an H, as in "uphill" and "uphold". If the sound is, instead, F, we should write F: "decifer".
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Note:  "cifer" was used on February 25, 2007.

Munday, May 18, 2015:  "celladon" for "celadon"

The single-L in this term for a grayish-green color and porcelain leaves unclear whether the preceding-E is long or short. It's short. To show that, we need merely double the L: "celladon".

Sunday, May 17, 2015:  "catheedral" for "cathedral"

The two-letter consonant cluster DR should be seen as marking the preceding vowel as short. Here, however, the vowel is long-E. The clearest way to spell that is EE. So let's use that: "catheedral".

Saturday, May 16, 2015:  "capaishus" for "capacious"

-CIOUS is a preposterous way to spell something that sounds like SHUS. If the sound is SHUS, let's spell it SHUS. The sound of the A before that suffix is unclear. Is it long or short? Long. To show that, especially before a two-letter consonant cluster like SH, we need to show the sound of the vowel within the spelling of the vowel, not by what follows it. The two spellings most likely to be read as long-A are AI and AY. Midword, AI is more common, so let's use that: "capaishus".

Friday, May 15, 2015:  "calamaree" for "calamari"

This Food Friday, let's fix the term for squid used as food. There's only one problem in the spelling, a final-I that should be pronounced as a long-I, as in "alkali", "pi", and "stimuli". Here, it's pronounced long-E. The clearest way to write that is EE: "calamaree".

Thursday, May 14, 2015:  "ceerus" for "cirrus"

The double-R suggests that the preceding-I is short, as in "it". However, the actual vowel is long — long-E! To show that, we should change the I to EE. Then the double-R becomes obviously unnecessary. One R will do very nicely: "ceerus".

Wensday, May 13, 2015:  "calammity" and "calammitus" for "calamity" and "calamitous"

A single-M leaves unclear whether the A before it is long or short. It's short. To show that, we need merely double the following-M. That would have the additional virtue of cuing the reader to stress the second syllable, which would also make it unlikely that the I in the third syllable would be long.

The second problem with today's words is that there is, in the last syllable of "calamitous", an OU but no OU-sound. If we drop the O, what is left will be pronounced correctly, as a schwa: "calammity" and "calammitus".

Tuesday, May 12, 2015:  "boalt" for "bolt"

Ordinarily, a reader should be able to rely upon a vowel followed by two consonants being short, but here, the O is long. That peculiar pattern holds for most words with OLT or OLD, with few exceptions (for instance, "poltroon", "folderol"), so some defenders of spelling chaos say it's OK to have this exception to a general rule in these two patterns. But why should the reader have to memorize one special rule after another after another?

There may be no completely unambiguous way to write today's word, or others of its pattern, but we plainly need to write the long-O clearly in itself, not by what follows it. We might write OE or OA: "boelt" or "boalt". OA is more common before L ("goal", "foal", "shoal"), so let's use that: "boalt".

Munday, May 11, 2015:  "bach" for "batch"

If we don't need a T in "bachelor" or "bachelorette", we don't need a T in "batch": "bach".

Sunday, May 10, 2015:  "antifon" and "antiffony" for "antiphon" and "antiphony"

In today's word, we have one of those appallingly frequent uses of the dopy spelling PH for a simple F-sound. The sound is F, so let's write F in respelling "antiphon". In the related word "antiphony", we need a double-F to show that the I is short. Doubling the F has the added virtue of cuing the reader to stress the second syllable: "antifon" and "antiffony".

Saturday, May 9, 2015:  "appoplexy" for "apoplexy"

We have today the opposite of the issue from Thursday, when "acclivity" involved a double consonant after an initial-A, but should not have, because the A represented a schwa. Here, the word starts with an A followed by a single-consonant, but the sound of the A really is short-A, not schwa. To show clearly that the A is NOT a schwa, but a full short-A, we need to double the P: "appoplexy".

Friday, May 8, 2015:  "ambeant" for "ambient"

The I in today's word represents neither of I's own sounds, long as in "bite" and short as in "bit". Bizarrely, it is pronounced as long-E. Why would we write a long-E sound with an I? We should substitute an E for the I. That would produce a double-E, which would be read as long-E by itself, without a second vowel sound before the NT. To show a schwa between the long-E and the NT, we can use the letter A, as in "miscreant": "ambeant".

Thursday, May 7, 2015:  "aclivvity" for "acclivity"

This two-dollar word for the upslope of a hill has the wrong consonant doubled. A double-C should mark the preceding vowel, an A, as short. In actuality, the sound is none of A's usual sounds (long as in "fate", short as in "fat", and "broad" as in "father"). Rather, it represents a schwa, which at the beginning of many words is represented by the letter A and a single consonant beyond ("around", "about", "afar"). Let's use that convention, and drop the second-C.

We do, however, need a double consonant later in the word, the V, to make clear that the preceding-I is short: "aclivvity".

Wensday, May 6, 2015:  "apend/ij" for "append/age"

A double-P should mark the vowel before it as short, but here, the A represents a schwa, not the short-A sound. Schwa at the beginning of a word is ordinarily spelled just-A ("around", "about", "ajar"), with a single vowel thereafter. Let's write that.

As for the noun derived from the verb, AGE should be pronounced with a long-A, as in the word "age" itself, "rage", and "stage". Here, the sound is a schwa so close to the sound of short-I that we might better write an I.

The third problem is that GE should be pronounced with G's own, unique sound, as in "gear", "get", and "gecko". Here, however, the sound is that of J. We have a J. Why would we not use it?

Putting this all together, we get: "apend" and "apendij".

Tuesday, May 5, 2015:  "wijjon" for "widgeon" and "wigeon"

Today's word, for a type of duck, has a J-sound but no J. Rather, two absurd formulations, in two alternative spellings, DGE and GE, stand in for a simple J-sound. We do have a letter, J, for that sound. Let's use it. In that the vowel before that sound is short, we should double the J. We double other consonants to signal that a prior vowel is short ("imminent", "letter", "dipper"). Why not J?: "wijjon".

Munday, May 4, 2015:  "tinj" for "tinge"

We have here another of the innumerable misuses of GE for a simple J-sound. The letter J was designed to represent that sound. Why would we ever not use it?: "tinj".

Sunday, May 3, 2015:  "sploch" for "splotch"

CH is enuf to express the CH-sound as in "church". We don't write "tchurtch", do we? Let's save ourselves a letter and just write: "sploch".

Saturday, May 2, 2015:  "sfinx" for "sphinx"

We have today another of the preposterous PH's that stand in for an ordinary F-sound. If the sound is F, let's write F: "sfinx".
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My thanks to "Music..." for this suggestion.

Friday, May 1, 2015:  "squob" for "squab"

This Food Friday, let's change the vowel in this term for a young pigeon used as food. The present vowel is A, but it represents neither of A's regular sounds, long as in "ate" or short as in "at". Rather, it's "broad"-A, but how is the reader to know that? Broad-A is the same sound as short-O, and in this word, O would indeed be said right, with its short sound. So let's write: "squob".

Thursday, April 30, 2015:  "strabizmuss" for "strabismus"

There are two S's in today's word, one of which is, as the reader is entitled to expect, pronounced as an S. The other, however, is pronounced as a Z. Indeed, if either were to be said as a Z, the one at the end of the word would be the one to bear that sound, in that a final-S often marks the plural, and in that use is generally (tho not always) pronounced as Z. To show the proper sounds, we need to write the first-S as Z and the second as SS: "strabizmuss".

Wensday, April 29, 2015:  "stollid" for "stolid"

OL is ambiguous, and often pronounced with a long-O ("sold", "holy", "bolster"), whereas here, the sound is short-O. There is no completely unambiguous way to write a short-O before an L-sound, but we are accustomed to seeing a double consonant as marking any prior vowel as short, and it works with short-O in some words ("hollow", "pollen", "collar") so let's use that: "stollid".

Tuesday, April 28, 2015:  "stojjy" for "stodgy"

DG is a preposterous way to spell a simple J-sound. DG should be used only for the two sounds D and G in sequence, as in "handgun" or "headgear". If the sound is J, however, we should use J. If the vowel before the J-sound is short, we should write a double-J: "stojjy".

Munday, April 27, 2015:  "stich" for "stitch"

If we don't need a T in "which" and "rich", we don't need it in "stitch": "stich".

Sunday, April 26, 2015:  "sinnod" for "synod"

Midword, Y should be reserved for the long-I sound in "lyceum", "myocardial", and "pyrocantha". Here, the sound is short-I, which is much better shown by the letter I followed by a double consonant, in this case, N: "sinnod".

Saturday, April 25, 2015:  "shril" for "shrill"

This is easy. There is only one L-sound in today's word, so we need only one L. We can drop the superfluous second-L, and saving a letter is all to the good: "shril".

Friday, April 24, 2015:  "spachala" for "spatula"

This Food Friday, let's fix the spelling of the name of a utensil used to scrape, mix, and turn foods. The traditional spelling looks as tho it should be pronounced spa.túe.la, whereas it is actually pronounced spáa.cha.la.

T does not spell the CH-sound, as in "chaffinch". CH does. So let's replace the T with CH.

The second issue is the U, which before a single-L is likely to be read by many people, esp. new readers or people outside the traditional English-speaking countries, as a long-U, whereas it actually represents a schwa sound. Schwa is ordinarily best written with A ("about", "babushka", "America"). So let's replace the U with A: "spachala".
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My thanks to "Music..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, April 23, 2015:  "rennegade" for "renegade"

RE is a common prefix, commonly pronounced with a long-E or, if unstressed, short-I. Here, the syllable is stressed, but the sound is short-E, not long. To show that, we should double the following-N: "rennegade".

Wensday, April 22, 2015:  "plattipuss" (singular) and both "plattipusses" and "plattipi" (plural) for "platypus", "platypuses", and "platypi"

Why would we write a short-I sound midword with Y, which is much better reserved, midword, to the long-I sound ("byword", "dynamic", "pyrite")? A short-I is much better written with I.

The second issue falls in the syllable before the Y, the A. A single-T after it does not clearly indicate a short-A sound, but if we double the T, the reader will see the A as short.

There is a third issue, the single-S at the end could be seen as a marker of the plural, pronounced as Z, whereas it is actually an integral part of the base word, and is pronounced as S. To show that, we should double the S.

Putting this all together, we get: "plattipuss" for the singular and "plattipusses" and "plattipi" for the plural.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015:  "picchur" for "picture"

Just as in yesterday's word, T in today's does not spell the CH-sound (as in "church"). CH does.

Further, URE should be pronounced with a long-U sound, but here, the UR forms the sound most commonly written ER, but also, in some words, AR ("library"), IR ("bird"), and OR ("bettor"). We could replace the URE with the most common spelling, ER. But since there is a UR in the traditional spelling, maybe it's a good idea to leave that spelling. In any event, we assuredly don't need an E after the UR in today's word, so let's just drop it, OK?: "picchur".
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My thanks to both "Music..." and "Tom... for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Munday, April 20, 2015:  "pechulant" for "petulant"

T does not spell the CH-sound (as in "church"). CH does: "pechulant".

Sunday, April 19, 2015:  "plattinum" for "platinum"

A single-T leaves unclear the sound of the A before it. Is is long, as in "plating", or short, as in "platitude"? It's short. To show that we need to double the T: "plattinum".

Saturday, April 18, 2015:  "patootee" for "patootie"*

IE is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced as long-I ("tie", "pie") but other times being pronounced long-E ("cutie, "yuppie"). There's no way the reader can know which sound to use. Here, the sound is long-E, which in final position could be shown by -Y or -EE. Here, -EE is definitely the better solution, because it has the added advantage of clarifying the other problem in today's word, the sound of the OO.

OO has both a long sound, as in "toot", and a short sound, as in "foot". There's no absolutely clear way to show which sound applies in any given word, but a silent-E after an intervening consonant (as in "snooze" and "groove") may cue some readers to use the long sound. If we use EE at the end of today's word, then, rather than either of two ambiguous spellings, IE and Y (which could represent a long-E sound — or, in "clipped" British accents, short-I — as in "healthy", or a long-I sound, as in "qualify"), we simultaneously suggest to the careful reader that the OO takes its long sound. Let's do that: "patootee".
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* I was surprised to find that Dictionary.com showed only the sense of "sweetheart"; Merriam-Webster Online did not have the word at all; Cambridge Dictionaries had only the definition "an attractive woman"; and only Oxford Dictionaires included, after the sense "sweetheart", the sense I was accustomed to, "buttocks" or butt.

Friday, April 17, 2015:  "omminus" for "ominous"

The sound of the first-O in today's word is short-O, which is not at all clear, esp. inasmuch as the word derives from "omen", which has a long-O. To show the proper short-O, we need merely double the M.

The second problem is an OU but no OU-sound. Rather, the sound is schwa, which will become clear if we get rid of the needless and misleading O before the U: "omminus".

Thursday, April 16, 2015:  "nostalja" for "nostalgia"

Why would we write a simple J-sound as GI? : "nostalja".

Wensday, April 15, 2015:  "moolozh" for "moulage"*

There are two problems with today's word. First, there is an OU but no OU-sound. Second, the GE does not represent either pronunciation a reader would be likely to guess, a regular G-sound, as in "get", or a J-sound ("gentle"). Rather, the sound is that in words like "genre" and "collage", the voiced-SH sound that is sometimes written ZH. Let's use that: "moolozh".
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* "[T]he process of making a mold or cast of something such as a footprint in the course of a criminal investigation". (Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation.)

Tuesday, April 14, 2015:  "mozy" for "mosey"

Why is there an S in this word? There's no S-sound. The sound is that for which the letter Z was invented. So let's write Z. -EY is ambiguous, and can sometimes be pronounced as a long-E ("hey", "survey"), whereas here it pronounced long-E, which in final position is much better written as just-Y. Putting these two fixes together, we get a spelling parallel to "cozy": "mozy".

Munday, April 13, 2015:  "monnogram" for "monogram"

A single-N leaves unclear whether the preceding-O is long or short. It's short. To show that clearly, we need merely double the N: "monnogram".

Sunday, April 12, 2015:  "lattiss" for "lattice"

ICE should be pronounced with a long-I, as in the word "ice" itself, "nice", and "device". Here, however, the sound is short-I. How on Earth is a reader, esp. outside the traditionally English-speaking countries, to know that? S/he cannot.

To show the sequence short-I plus the S-sound, we should write ISS: "lattiss".

Saturday, April 11, 2015:  "koasher" for "kosher" and "kasher"

A two-letter consonant cluster should mark the preceding vowel as short (as "nosher" and "josher", which are exactly parallel in spelling to the standard spelling "kosher"), but here, the preceding vowel is long-O. Interestingly, there is an alternative spelling, "kasher", and two alternate pronunciations, one of which is how the standard spelling should be read, kósh.er. (The other pronunciation is ka.sháir.) To show a long-O, we need to select a spelling that conveys the vowel sound in itself. Long-O could be shown by OH ("ohm") , OE ("toe"), or OA ("roast"). Midword, OH is very unusual, so is not a good choice. OE isn't bad, but midword it might be read as representing two sounds, in adjoining but separate syllables ("poet"). OA would thus seem the best choice: "koasher".

Friday, April 10, 2015:  "heekama" for "jicama"

This Food Friday, let's fix the very un-English spelling of the name of a tuberous root eaten as a vegetable in Mexican cookery. In Spanish, J takes the sound of English H, and I takes the sound of English long-E. To show the proper consonant sound at the beginning of the word, we should write H. To show the sound of the vowel immediately following, we should write EE, the clearest English rendering of long-E. We might also change the C to K, tho we don't really have to do that, because C before A would be read correctly, as having the sound of English K. So if we feel that the least change that makes the sounds clear is the best change, then this would be the best spelling: "heecama".

Thursday, April 9, 2015:  "impovverish" for "impoverish"

OVE should be pronounced with a long-O ("cove", "grove") or, possibly, long-U without an initial Y-glide ("move", "prove"), or with a short-U ("glove", "cover") or short-O ("novel", "provenance"). It is the fact that letter combinations like this have multiple possible pronunciations that makes using English so difficult. It's bad enuf for people raised in an English-speaking country, but is almost impossible for the billions of people all around this planet who need to learn English, despite its insane spelling. In today's word, the vowel in the second syllable is short-O. To show that, we need merely add a second-V after the O: "impovverish".

Wensday, April 8, 2015:  "huzbandry" for "husbandry"

We have, here again, an S that stands for a Z-sound. We have the letter Z for that sound. Why would we use an S?: "huzbandry".

Tuesday, April 7, 2015:  "gardean" for "guardian"

Why is there a U in this word? GUA should be pronounced as tho the U is a W ("guava", "guar [gum]", "guacamole"). Here, however, the U is silent. Why on Earth is it there if it's silent? G does not need a U after it to show that it takes G's own sound rather than a J-sound if what follows is an A, O, or U, because it would not be seen as representing a J-sound (despite the oddity "margarine"). So we can get rid of the U.

The other issue is an I that stands in for a long-E. If the sound is E, we should write E: "gardean".

Munday, April 6, 2015:  "feury" and "feureus" for "fury" and "furious"

-URY is ambiguous. "Jury", "luxury", "penury", "treasury", and "bury", for instance, are pronounced júer.ee, lúk.sha.rèe or lúg.zha.rèe, pén.ya.rèe, trézh.a.rèe, and búr.ee. Here, the sound is long-U with an initial Y-glide. To show that clearly, we need merely insert an E before the U, which will be read as the opening Y-glide, as in "euphoria", "euphorbia", and "euphemism".

In the adjective, we need to make the same change before the first-U, and also change the I in the second syllable to E, because it represents neither of I's sounds, long as in "spike" and short as in "spin", but long-E. If the sound is E, we should write E.

The second problem with the adjective is that there is an OU but no OU-sound. We can spell the actual sound better and save ourselves a letter if we merely drop the O: "feury" and "feureus".

Sunday, April 5, 2015:  "expeate" for "expiate"

There is one problem, in the middle of this word, an I for a long-E sound.  If the sound is E, let's write E: "expeate".

Saturday, April 4, 2015:  "sader" for "Seder"

(Continuing the discussion from yesterday of two terms from Passover:) The ceremonial dinner held on both of the first two nites of Passover (among some groups of Jews) is written "Seder", with a capital-S and pronounced with a long-A in the first syllable, even tho the spelling suggests that it should be pronounced with a long- or even short-E. To show that it is actually a long-A, we need merely replace the first-E with an A.

A second issue is the unnecessary capital-S. We don't capitalize "dinner" or "ceremony", so need not capitalize "seder": "sader".

Friday, April 3, 2015:  "gafilta" for "gefilte"

Let us depart, for two days, from the usual alphabetical order in this project, to adjust two words connected with the Jewish festival of Passover, the first two days of which are today and tomorrow.

One of the foods traditionally served during the ceremonial dinner associated with Passover is gefilte fish. "Gefilte" is a misleading spelling, in that many readers would expect the final-E to be silent, while others might expect it to be spoken, as a long-E, as in "abalone" or "adobe". Neither guess is correct. Actually, the final-E is pronounced as a schwa, which is much better written as A. Indeed both E's are pronounced as schwa, so both should be written as A: "gafilta".

Thursday, April 2, 2015:  "distopea/n" for "dystopia/n"

Today's words, the noun "dystopia" and its adjective, "dystopian", both have two defects. First, there is a Y midword, which should be pronounced as long-I, as in "dynamic" and "hybrid", but is actually pronounced as a short-I. To show that, we need merely replace the Y with I.

The second problem is the IA at or toward the end of the two words, which should represent a long-I followed by schwa ("diatom", "diagram") but which here is pronounced as long-E plus schwa. If the sound is E, why would we not write E?: "distopea" and "distopean".

Wensday, April 1, 2015:  "dubeus" for "dubious"

Why is there an OU in today's word, when there is no OU-sound? If we drop the O, we are left with -US, which will be read correctly, so let's just drop it, OK?

The second problem appears just before the OU in the traditional spelling, an I that does not represent either of I's sounds, long as in "tie" and "five" or short as in "tin" and "flip". Rather, the sound is long-E. As so often, we should ask, if the sound is long-E, why would we write it with an I? Putting these points together, we get: "dubeus".


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SSWD is a project of L. Craig Schoonmaker , Newark, New Jersey, United States, creator of Fanetik: Reformed (Phonetic) Spelling — at Least for Teaching. For information about other ways to change irrational spellings, search the Internet for "spelling reform".

Please send comments and suggestions to: Fanetiks@aol.com.