Please note: This website has no control over the ads placed here by Google AdSense. Caveat emptor.

Simpler Spelling
Word of the Day
Archive of Discussions
January-March 2012

Click here for today's suggestion.
Click here to return to the archive index.
Click here for a list of possible future words.
Click here for the principles that govern the selection of words.

Saturday, March 31, 2012: "janggle" for "jangle"

NG is ambiguous, most commonly being pronounced as in "sing", "along", and the -ING ending, but also sometimes having an additional hard-G sound (as in today's word, "finger", and "language". In addition, there are places where the N and G represent only their own separate sounds, not a third sound as well ("ingrained", "ungainly", "engaged"). There are yet other places in which the N and G represent separate sounds, but the G takes its "soft" (J) sound ("ingest", "angelic", "astringent"). We need to show all these sounds clearly.

In today's word, the NG-sound is followed by a "hard"-G sound. To show that, we need merely double the G: "janggle".

Friday, March 30, 2012: "indefattigable" for "indefatigable"

The stress in this six-syllable word is not clear from the traditional spelling. Doubling the T will tell readers to stress the syllable before the (double-)T. There is another oddity about this word. It derives from "fatigue", which has a U after the G. But the longer word doesn't have a U. So why should the shorter word? Since it also has an I for a long-E sound, I offered it here as "fateeg", on May 10, 2005. Now we can clean up the derivative: "indefattigable".

Thursday, March 29, 2012: "homewerk" for "homework"

"Werk" for "work" was offered here on September 20, 2004, and various other words with "work" in them other than in the first syllable have also been offered with the uniform substitution "werk". Here's another one: "homewerk".
____________________

My thanks to "GreenD..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, March 28, 2012: "griffin" for "griffin", "griffon", and "gryphon"

We have today a word with three forms in traditional spelling. The spelling "griffin" is the most common, and most sensible, so we should banish the other two, for the sense "a fabled monster, usually having the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion". There are some animals whose name employs the spelling "griffon", which is fine for those senses. The absurd spelling "gryphon", however, is never fine: "griffin".

Tuesday, March 27, 2012: "frollic" for "frolic"

The single-L in today's word leads the reader to think the O before it must be long, but in fact the O is short. To show that, we should double the L: "frollic".
____________________

Interestingly, a K is inserted into the standard spellings of the past and present-progressive forms of this verb, "frolicked" and "frolicking", and the agent noun, "frolicker". As reformed, then, these forms become "frollicked", "frollicking", and "frollicker".

Munday, March 26, 2012: "emmigrant" and "emmigration" for "emigrant" and "emigration"

A single-M leaves unclear the sound of the E in today's related words. Is it long ("email", "emasculate", "emaciate")? Is it short ("emanate", "eminent", "emulate")? It's short, which we can make crystal clear by doubling the M: "emmigrant" and "emmigration".
____________________

Note that the opposites of today's words do have a double-M: "immigrant" and "immigration".

Sunday, March 25, 2012: "drole" for "droll"

A two-letter consonant cluster should mark the prior vowel short, but here, the O is long. We need a different conventional spelling pattern to show that: "drole".

Saturday, March 24, 2012: "celler" for "cellar"

With today's word, the issue is not so much how to pronounce it but knowing how to spell it on hearing it. AR is commonly pronounced with a "broad"-A / short-O (the same sound), as in "cart", "park", and "starvation". That is not the case here, where the sound is the one most commonly written ER. People should be able to rely on consistency in spelling conventions, so when they plug in ER for the sound most often written that way, they will be right. We shouldn't have to memorize lists of thousands of words that are not spelled as we have every reason to think they should be spelled.

Actually, the first thought of the hearer of this word is that it should start with an S, but we already have a word "seller", which means something else entirely. Being able to distinguish in writing between words that are pronounced the same is one of the few defensible features of the chaos that is traditional spelling: "celler".
____________________

My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.

Friday, March 23, 2012: "bluewit" for "blewit/s", "bluette", and "blewitt"

This Food Friday, let's fix the multiply-spelled name of a pale-bluish mushroom that is also called "blue-leg". EW is a peculiar and unphonetic way to spell a long-U sound. If you say a short-E followed by a W-sound, you actually get a kind of long-O sound. UE as in the color "blue" is plainly the way to go for the long-U sound, and IT is the way to go for the end sound. But we need a W-glide between those two, as will make clear what might not be clear if we just wrote three vowel letters in a row, "blueit". Some readers would see the E and I as belonging together, and would be unclear about whether that letter combo should take a long-E or long-I sound, as in the two pronunciations of "either". Tho some people might argue for a shorter spelling, "bluit", that spelling is parallel to "fruit" and similar to "bruise", in which the UI represents only a long-U sound, not also a second, short-I sound. No, let's use a slitely longer but much clearer spelling: "bluewit".

Thursday, March 22, 2012: "angger" and "anggry" for "anger" and "angry"

NG is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced by itself ("sing", "ringer", "hanger"), other times having a hard-G sound as well ("linger", "hunger", "congregate"), yet other times as a regular N plus J-sound ("fringe", "impinge", "ingest"), and yet other times as the ordinary N and G sounds in sequence, not interacting ("ungainly", "ingrained", "ungodly"). In today's related words, the N and G do interact to create the familiar NG-sound, and there is as well a ("hard") G-sound. To show that, we need merely double the G: "angger" and "anggry".
____________________

My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, March 21, 2012: "vejtabul" for "vegetable"

There are three things wrong with the spelling of today's word, two of which we can fix easily.

(1) GE is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced with an actual ("hard") G-sound ("get", "gear", "gecko"); sometimes with a J-sound ("gentle", "gesture", "germinate"); sometimes even with a ZH-sound ("genre", "garage", "collage"). Here, the sound is J, so we should write a J.

(2) Because GE rather than J is presently used to represent the J-sound, some people are misled into thinking that the GE represents an entire syllable, when it actually represents only a sound, the J-sound. So common is that misinterpretation that a lot of people are led to the spelling-pronunciation véj.a.ta.bòol, which is just plain wrong. Once we replace the GE with J, and no following-E, the spelling pronunciation will disappear, which is all to the good.

(3) One problem remains, however: "table" is a word to itself, pronounced with a long-A. That is not the sound here, which is instead two syllables, the first of which has a schwa, and the second of which has a short-OO before an L-sound. Respelling this presents problems: "-tabool" will be seen by some readers as having a long-OO, as in "bamboo"; "-tabul" might be seen right, tho, parallel to "beautiful" in its last syllable. It's worth a try: "vejtabul".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a somewhat different solution.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012: "trouzer/s" for "trouser/s" and "trowser/s"

Today's word has two accepted spellings, neither quite right. OW, in the alternate spelling, is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced with an OU-sound ("crown", "frown", "trowel"), but other times being said with a long-O ("crow", "flown", "bellow"). The sound here is OU, so should be spelled OU, as in the preferred traditional spelling.

The second problem is that the S after the OU represents not an S-sound but a Z-sound. If the sound is Z, let's write a Z. That's what it's for. The final-S is a grammatical marker of the plural, and there is a singular form, "trouser", without it. We hesitate to change this grammatical marker, so will leave that S in the plural: "trouzer/s".

Munday, March 19, 2012: "singgular" and "singgularrity" for "singular" and "singularity"

SING is a word to itself, pronounced with an NG-sound but not a hard-G sound as well, even in derivatives like "singer". To show that in these words unrelated to "singing", there is a hard-G sound, we need to double the G. (Yes, that is a little paradoxical for "singular".)

In "singularity", we have an additional little problem with the AR, which is often pronounced with a broad-A/short-O (the same sound), as in "bar", "star", and "partisan". That is not the sound here, which is a regular short-A as in "at". To show that sound, we should double the R, on the model of "arrow", "carrel", and "barren"). Doing so would have the additional virtue of suggesting that the word's stress falls on the third syllable, which it does: "singgular" and "singgularrity".
____________________

My thanks to "Firewall..." for "singgular".

Sunday, March 18, 2012: "richual" for "ritual"

Neither T nor TU spells the CH-sound. CH does: "richual".
____________________

My thanks to "Red..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, March 17, 2012: "pennicillin" for "penicillin"

A single-N leaves unclear the sound of the E. Is it long ("penalize", "penology")? Is it short ("penant", "penitent")? It's short. To show that, we need merely double the N. Everything else is fine. Note that the L was already double, to show plainly that the first-I is short: "pennicillin".

Friday, March 16, 2012: "aur" for "oar"

OA is ambiguous ("float", "boa", "board", and "oasis" are pronounced floet, bóe.wa, baurd, and oe.wáe.sis). The AU-sound is probably the least common pronunciation of OA. In many cases where OA precedes R, we can simply drop the A, but not here, because we already have a word "or". Here, we need another solution: "aur".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, March 15, 2012: "milliterry" for "military"

There are two bad areas in today's word. A single-L leaves unclear the sound of the first-I, which I actually heard a reporter on a Chinese-owned television station out of California pronounce with a long-I sound. So we should double the L.

The second problem is the ARY, which looks as tho it should be pronounced with an AI-sound ("Mary", "wary", "scary"). It is actually pronounced like "Jerry", "berry", and "merry"). So let's spell it that way: "milliterry".

Wensday, March 14, 2012: "litteral" for "literal"

LITE is a familiar, informal spelling for "light", with a long-I sound. That is not the sound here, which is short-I. The way we would ordinarily show a short vowel is by doubling the consonant after it. There is, in fact, a word pronounced the same but with a different spelling and sense, "littoral", that does have a double-T, with less justification, because LITO might not be seen as having a long-I by as many people as would see a long-I in LITE. Still, a double-T is appropriate in both these words.

While "littoral" will be seen by many people as having an AU-sound in the second syllable — it does not — in that OR is most commonly read that way, it's probably better not to change its spelling to "litteral", but to leave a written distinction between the two words. For what is now "literal", we should write: "litteral".
____________________

My thanks to "fishstick..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012: "kumotockay" for "kumotake"

TAKE is an ordinary English word, pronounced in one syllable, with a long-A. That is not the sound here, which is two syllables, with a short-O in the first and long-A in the second. To show that, we need to change the -TAKE to -TOCKAY: "kumotockay".
____________________

I would ordinarily use a food word for Food Friday, but we are at a point in the alphabetical order this project follows where we have only one word that starts with the next letter in sequence, which is K because we have run out of I's and J's. So, let's fix this name, from Japanese, of an edible mushroom also called "hen of the woods".

Munday, March 12, 2012: "hul" for "hull"

We don't need a double-L at the end of this word. A single-L will do quite nicely, esp. for the noun. With the verb, we will have to double the L before adding -ED and -ING (but not -S). However, that follows a standard rule for verbs that have a short vowel in the last syllable (e.g., "ban/ned", "pen/ned", "begin/ning", "don/ning", "shun/ned"), so people will know to do that: "hul".
____________________

My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, March 11, 2012: "gitar" for "guitar"

GU should be pronounced with either a U-sound ("gut", "gulag", "gusto") or W-sound ("guava", "guacamole", "anguish"). Here, the sound is just a plain old G (or "hard"-G). Let's drop the useless U: "gitar".
____________________

My thanks to "Gator..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, March 10, 2012: "flo" for "flow"

OW is ambiguous, having two sounds of comparable frequency. One is a long-O sound ("crow", "glow", "show"). The other is an OU-sound ("now", "brown", "cow"). So how do we know which sound to supply in "flow"? We don't. If we drop the W, however, the reader will know to say a long-O: "flo".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

Friday, March 9, 2012: "expozay" for "exposé" and "expose"

Most people do not know how to put an accent over a vowel in ordinary typed text, as in emails and text messages, so the noun "exposé" (pronounced èks.poe.záe) ends up looking like the verb "expose" (pronounced ek.spóez). English does not use accents, in any case, so this French spelling should be conformed to English conventions. That means the accent has to go, in all uses, which again confuses the issue of which word is intended. To make plain which word we mean, we need to give "exposé" a phonetic spelling: "expozay".

Thursday, March 8, 2012: "diminnish" for "diminish"

Single consonants in early syllables leave unclear both the sound (long-I or short) and the syllabic stress of those syllables. The M goes with the second syllable, so we can leave that as-is. But the N goes with the preceding-I, so should be doubled to show that that vowel is short. That will have the added virtue of suggesting that the second syllable bears the word's stress, which it does: "diminnish".

Wensday, March 7, 2012: "catterwaul/ing" for "caterwaul/ing"

CATER is a word to itself, pronounced with a long-A. Today's word/s, by contrast, have a short-A. To show that, we need to double the T: "catterwaul/ing".

Tuesday, March 6, 2012: "brillyant" for "brilliant"

IA is easily seen as representing two adjoining vowel sounds, long-I followed by a schwa ("reliant", "defiant") or long-E followed by a schwa ("wisteria", "hysteria").  Here, however, the sound is consonantal-Y followed by schwa. If there is a Y-sound, why not show it with a Y?

The L-sound might be shown by a single-L, since there are only a couple of common words ("drily", "wily") in which ILY has a long-I sound. But LL is a better representation of the "dark-L" sound (articulated farther back in the mouth, as in "cold", "wellness", and "beautiful", than the "light-L" in "light", "alive", and "lull", said farther forward, closer to the light). LL definitely marks the first-I short, and additionally suggests that the first syllable takes the word's stress, which it does. Moreover, the traditional spelling has two L's. So let's leave two L's: "brillyant".

Munday, March 5, 2012: "aleel" for "allele"*

ALL is commonly pronounced with an AU-sound (as in the word "all" itself, "ball", and "recall"). That's not the sound here, which is a schwa. The L-sound goes with the second syllable, as it does in "alarm", "alert", and "alike". AL before a consonant is, however, also sometimes read with an AU-sound ("already", "altogether", "albeit"). That is not the situation here, in which the AL precedes a vowel. Even in such a circumstance, AL is sometimes read together in one syllable, with a short-A ("alimony", "alabaster", "aloe") or the AI-sound ("alien/ate"). Sometimes we cannot achieve perfect clarity, but we can improve upon the present spelling: "aleel".
____________________

* "One member of a pair or series of genes that occupy a specific position on a specific chromosome." (American Heritage Dictionary) The science of a term may or may not be easy to understand or remember, but the spelling can be made clear/er, so we at least have a good chance to sound-out a scientific word when we encounter it.

Sunday, March 4, 2012: "vizhon" for "vision"

SI does not spell the ZH-sound. ZH does: "vizhon".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Saturday, March 3, 2012: "uphoalster/y" and "uphoalsterer" for "upholster/y" and "upholsterer"

A three-letter consonant cluster (here, LST) should mark a preceding, single, vowel letter short, but here, the preceding vowel is long-O. We need to show that in the spelling of the vowel itself.

For O, we could write OE, OA, or OH ("uphoelster", "uphoalster", or "uphohlster". OE might be read as two syllables, as in "poet", "coed", and "churchgoer". OA might be read as two syllables, as in "inchoate", "cloaca", and "koala", but midword would most likely be seen as one syllable ("coal", "boat", and "encroach"). OH before a consonant is uncommon, tho certainly not unheard-of ("kohl", "kohlrabi", and "ohm"), so will "look funny" to some readers. I think OA is the best choice: "uphoalster/y" and "uphoalsterer".
____________________

Some people do not pronounce the H in these words, but we should retain it for those who do pronounce it. Those who wish to drop the sound can do that without dropping the letter from the spelling.

Friday, March 2, 2012: "taheeny" for "tahini"

This Food Friday word (for "a paste made of ground sesame seeds") has two I's pronounced like long-E. Why would we use an I for a long-E? That's the "Continental" value of I, but the sound system of English vowels is different from that of (European) Continental languages, and I at the end of a word in English is often said as long-I ("hi", "alkali", "stimuli").

At the end of a word, the long-E (or, in "clipped" British accents, short-I) sound is usually written with a Y. Midword, a long-E is most clearly written EE. Before a single consonant, a single-E sometimes suffices ("deny", "arena", and one pronunciation of "amenable"; the second, which has a short-E, shows the problem). I think "taheny" would be seen by many readers as having a long-A or, less likely, short-E. Let's not risk ambiguity, but use two E's: "taheeny".

Thursday, March 1, 2012: "skane" for "skein"

EI is ambiguous, most commonly being pronounced as either long-E ("weird", "receipt", "caffeine") or long-I ("eiderdown", "height", "feisty"). Altho there are some common words with EI pronounced as long-A ("weigh", "freight", "reins"), most readers seeing EI in an unfamiliar word would not guess it to have a long-A sound. To make plain the sound in "skein", let's respell it to a clearer pattern: "skane".

Wensday, February 29, 2012: "rellic" for "relic"

RE is a common prefix, ordinarily pronounced with a long-E. That is not the sound here, which is short-E. The way we usually mark a short-E is by doubling the following consonant. Let's do that: "rellic".

Tuesday, February 28, 2012: "parralax" for "parallax"

The wrong consonant is doubled in this word. AR is often pronounced with a "broad"-A or short-O (the same sound), as in "bar", "star", and "afar". The sound here, however, is short-A, as in "arrow", "barrel", and "arrogant", which is more commonly written, as you see from the three sample words earlier in this sentence, with ARR. So let's double the R.

The L-sound does not need to be doubled, because it goes with the syllable after it. More to the point, it shouldn't be doubled, because (a) that suggests that the ALL should be pronounced like the ALL in words like "all", "ball", and "call"; and (b) a double-L suggests to the reader that the syllable before it should take the word's stress, whereas the stress actually falls on the first syllable.

So the present double-L should be single, and the present single-R should be double: "parralax".

Munday, February 27, 2012: "olfactery" for "olfactory"

OR is commonly pronounced with an AU-sound (as in "baud", "pause", and "astronaut". That is not the sound here, which is, instead, the sound most commonly written ER. Let's use that: "olfactery".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, February 26, 2012: "monnasterry" for "monastery"

We have in today's word two short vowels followed by a single consonant, as leaves the sound of each vowel, long or short, ambiguous (compare the feminine given name "Mona", which has a long-O). Let's make plain that both these vowels are short, by doubling the following-N and -R: "monnasterry".

Saturday, February 25, 2012: "lul" for "lull"

The first and last sounds of today's word are the same but spelled differently. The noun form, singular and plural ("lul/s") would not need a double-L. The verb would, in forms like "lulled" and "lulling", but that follows a common rule, to double a final consonant after a short vowel sound before adding a grammatical ending, so there's no reason to retain the double-L in the base word: "lul".
____________________

My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.

Friday, February 24, 2012: "weetlacoachay" and "kweetlacoachay" for "huitlacoche" and "cuitlacoche"

This Food Friday, let's fix the two names from Mexican Spanish for "corn affected with [a] black fungus [that causes "corn smut"], having a sweet, smoky flavor, considered a delicacy and used in a variety of Mexican dishes." In order to know how to pronounce these words, you first must know they derive from Spanish. If you think they are French, which they could well be, the -CHE could be pronounced with an SH-sound. Instead, it is pronounced with the same CH-sound as in English "church". Alas, many people in English-speaking countries seem to think that CH in all foreign words is pronounced like SH, so say things like sha.véz for "Chavez". But the sound is properly CH, and the E after it is pronounced, not silent. The sound in that final-E is long-A, which in final position in English is generally written AY. Let's write that.

The UI at the start of both words is pronounced in one syllable, like "we" or "wee". Midword, we should write WEE.

The initial-H of "huitlachoche" is silent in Spanish, so can be silent in English. And if it's silent, we don't need to write it.

The initial-C of "cuitlachoche" is pronounced like K, and K goes better with W than would C ("kweet~" rather than "cweet~").

The O is pronounced long, which you would not know from OCH, given that a two-letter consonant cluster should ordinarily mark the preceding vowel as short. We can show it long by writing OA, as in "coach", "poach", and "broach".

Putting this all together, we get: "weetlacoachay" and "kweetlacoachay".
____________________

"Huitlacoche" is regarded as a variant of "cuitlacoche" in Spanish. This is English, and I'm not about to guess which form speakers of English will prefer, so offer both. We could use QU in the reform of "cuitlacoachay" ("queetlacoachay"), but that would put it farther from "weetlacoachay". I think it's better to keep the two spellings close.

Thursday, February 23, 2012: "jermofobea" and "jermofobe" for "germophobia", "germophobe", "germaphobia", and "germaphobe"

Why is there a G in these words, when the sound is J? We have a letter J for that sound. Let's use it. As for PH for a simple F-sound, that is indefensibly absurd, so let's just substitute F. And why would we write IA for a long-E sound plus schwa? If the sound is long-E, let's write an E. Finally, altho A is the most common spelling for a schwa, any vowel letter can represent schwa. The spellings of today's words with O ("germophobia" and "germophobe") are more common than those with A ("germaphobia" and "germaphobe"), so we can leave the O: "jermofobea" and "jermofobe".

Wensday, February 22, 2012: "eeger" for "eager"

EA is ambiguous ("knead", "bread", "break", and "Sean" are pronounced need, bred, braek, and shaun). EE would be much clearer: "eeger".

Tuesday, February 21, 2012: "defference" for "deference"

"Defer", to which today's word is related, would suggest that "deference" should be pronounced like "defer" plus -ENCE, dee.fér.ans. In actuality, it's pronounced déf.er.ans, with a short-E in the first syllable. If we double the F to show the short-E, we simultaneously suggest that the word's stress falls before the double-F, which it does. Note the pattern of "difference", which we should follow here: "defference".

Munday, February 20, 2012: "cellofane" for "cellophane"

There is one problem with today's word, the preposterous two-letter spelling PH for a simple F-sound: "cellofane".

Sunday, February 19, 2012: "boath" for "both"

A two-letter consonant cluster, such as the TH here, should mark the preceding vowel short ("Goth", "hypothesize", "apothecary"). Here, the O is long. We need to show that in the spelling of the vowel itself. We can use the pattern of "oath" and "loath": "boath".
____________________

My thanks to "Clap..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, February 18, 2012: "amigdala" for "amygdala"

Y, midword, should be reserved for the long-I sound. Here, the sound is short-I, so I is a much more sensible rendering than Y: "amigdala".

Friday, February 17, 2012: "vetterinarean" and "vetterinerry" for "veterinarian" and "veterinary"

ETE is easily seen to represent a long-E in a single syllable ("athlete", "compete", "delete"), or two syllables ("meter", "meteor", "pretentious"). That is not the sound here, which is short-E. To mark that sound clearly, we need to double the T.

In "veterinarian", we have an IA for a long-E sound, then schwa. Why would we use I to represent an E-sound? Let's use E.

In "veterinary", we have an AR to represent the sound most commonly written ER. When compared to "veterinarian", that A is especially inappropriate, because it suggests the AI sound of "fairness" and "airmail", which is not the right sound at all. Let's show the right sound: "vetterinarean" and "vetterinerry".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for "vetterinarean".

Thursday, February 16, 2012: "uphoald" for "uphold"

OLD should be pronounced with a short-O, given the two-letter LD consonant cluster, but it is actually pronounced with a long-O. To show a long-O before L, OA is much better ("coal", "foal", "goal". Let's use that. Note that this is one of several places in which PH does not represent an F-sound, but exactly what it looks like, a P-sound followed by an H-sound: "uphoald".

Wensday, February 15, 2012: "therremin" for "theremin"

The spelling of this name for an electronic musical instrument looks like a compound word formed from "there" plus "min". We know what "there" means, but "min"? Well, it's not a compound at all, but the name of the Russian inventor of the instrument. That is no reason to spell the word in a misleading fashion. If we merely double the R, people will know how to pronounce it: "therremin".

Tuesday, February 14, 2012: "syon" for "scion"

Why is there a C in this word, if it's not pronounced? Let us rigorously eliminate all silent letters. (The so-called "silent-E" or "magic-E" that marks as long a vowel before an intervening consonant ("ate", "prize", "note") is not really silent, because its presence or absence makes a difference.)

There is a proper noun of the same sound as today's word, but spelled "Sion", which is another name for "Zion". So we cannot just drop the C from "scion". Fortunately, there is another way to show a long-I sound midword — Y. Let's use that: "syon".

Munday, February 13, 2012: "rijjid" and "rijiddity" for "rigid" and "rigidity"

G is a dopy and misleading way to write the J-sound. After all, G before I is still sometimes pronounced ("hard"-)G, not J: "give", "gift", "ginkgo"/"gingko" (and yes, there are two accepted spellings for the name of that tree and dietary supplement). If the sound is J, we should just write J — or double-J after a short vowel, as in the first of today's paired words. In the second word, a single-J will suffice, since the J-sound goes with the following syllable. The consonant that needs to be doubled in the second word is the D, to show that the preceding-I is short, which is not clear from a single-D after it: "rijjid" and "rijiddity".

Sunday, February 12, 2012: "feenix" for "phoenix" and "phenix"

PH is a ridiculous, ambiguous ("uphold", "uphill"), and inefficient way to write a simple F-sound. OE is a ridiculous way to write a long-E sound, which is why there is a second spelling, "phenix", without an O. A single-N after the E, however, leaves unclear whether the E is long or short. It is long, which would be much better shown by EE: "feenix".

Saturday, February 11, 2012: "nommayko" for "nameko"

"Nameko" is the name of the most popular (edible) mushroom in Japan, so I would ordinarily use it on a Food Friday. But we have no other N's in the list, so let's deal with it now.

Syllabic stress in words from Japanese is a dicey matter. Some people even assert the impossibility, that Japanese does not have syllabic stress. In transliterating this word, we can choose a spelling that follows English conventions, which the present spelling does not, but suggests syllabic stress; or a spelling that is ambiguous as to stress. "Nommaiko" would suggest, to many readers, stress on the first syllable, and that might actually be right, to the English ear. "Nahmaiko" or "nahmayko" would not cue syllabic stress.

The online pronunciations I found suggest an English stress pattern of nóm.ae.kòe, so "nomm-" would seem appropriate.

What about the long-A sound in the middle syllable? AI in other transliterations from Japanese (for instance, "haiku") represents a long-I sound. AY would probably not be read that way. So let's write: "nommayko". 

Friday, February 10, 2012: "mytockay" for "maitake"

This Food Friday word is the name, from Japanese, of a mushroom, that is known in cooking circles but has not yet made it into the lexicon at Dictionary.com.* Its spelling reflects the "Continental" values employed in transliterating Japanese words, in that Japanese is not written in the roman alphabet. In this case, the "Continent" of those phonetic values is Asia, not Europe, but in any case, English is not a "Continental" language, so "Continental" spellings should be eliminated from English and replaced with English conventions.

In this case, we should use a Y to represent the long-I, midword, that is instead represented in the first syllable of today's word by AI (which in English should be pronounced long-A, as in "paid", "laid", and "raid", not long-I).

The second-A has neither of  English-A's standard sounds, long as in "ate" and short as in "at". The English sound is "broad"-A, which is the same sound as short-O. So we should write O, and to mark it short before a K-sound, we should write CK as in "block", "hock", and "clock".

The last syllable contains a long-A, which in English is commonly written, in final position, as AY.

Putting this all together, we get: "mytockay".
____________________

* Also called "hen-of-the-woods mushroom = ram's head mushroom = sheep's head mushroom = kumotake mushroom".

Thursday, February 9, 2012: "lepper", "lepprosy", and "leprottic" for "leper", "leprosy", and "leprotic"

EPE in "leper" is ambiguous, and should ordinarily be pronounced with a long-E, but here the sound is short-E. "Leprosy" could be read right, but the word is unclear as to whether the P ends the first syllable or starts the second, as it does in "leprotic". It is thus better to double the P for "leprosy" as well, in order to show that the P-sound ends the first syllable.

In "leprotic", the vowel whose sound needs to be clarified is the O, which is short. If we show that by doubling the T, we also show that the word's stress falls on the second syllable, so the P goes with that syllable, and we don't need to double it: "lepper", "lepprosy", and "leprottic".

Wensday, February 8, 2012: "histery" for "history"

Altho "story" and "history" are related terms, 'historically speaking', they are not pronounced the same. OR ordinarily is said with an AU-sound (as in "aura", "caustic", and "raucous") . That is not the sound here, which is, rather, the sound most commonly written ER. So let's use that, in order not to confuse new readers: "histery".

Tuesday, February 7, 2012: "jenshan" for "gentian"

We have here another case of G being used for a J-sound. That makes no sense, so let us always replace G with the proper J in such words. The other problem today is TI for the SH-sound. If the sound is SH, let's just write SH: "jenshan".

Munday, February 6, 2012: "frujivor" for "frugivore"

Why is there a G here, when the sound is J? No good reason, to be sure. Let's fix that. We also don't need an E at the end of the word, so let's drop it and save ourselves a letter: "frujivor".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

A "frugivore" / "frujivor" is "any chiefly fruit-eating organism, as certain bats".

Sunday, February 5, 2012: "efuljent" for "effulgent"

This refined word for "shining forth brilliantly" is spelled misleadingly. First, a double-F suggests that the first syllable bears the word's stress, whereas the second actually does. Second, the G represents not G's own, unique sound (expressed by no other letter) but J's sound. We have a J. Why would we use a G if the sound is J?: "efuljent".

Saturday, February 4, 2012: "durigurr" for "de rigueur"

Today we have a phrase that is never separated into its constituent elements, so should be treated as a single word. The vowel in the first syllable of this term from French for "required by etiquette or fashion" (tho it literally means "of strictness") should be pronounced as a short-OO ("good", "book", "foot"). Putting OO there, however, would produce "door-", which would likely be misread as having the AU-sound of the regular word "door". UR is probably clearer, and can be read as either a schwa, which some people say here, or a U-sound, long or short. That's about as far as we can narrow things down. Often, in nonsystematic spelling reform, the most you can do is replace a bad spelling with a spelling that is not as bad.

The second element of the phrase has the odd letter sequence UEU, which is found in only two common words, "liqueur" and "queue". That sequence is hard for people to remember, and its pronunciation is unclear. We could eliminate the U's and leave the E ("riger"), but many people might see the I as long and the G before E as taking a J-sound ("danger", "integer", "villager". We could eliminate the UE and leave the second-U ("rigur"). That would probably be read right, so let's do that.

To show that the word takes stress on the last syllable, which is fairly unusual, we can double the final-R. Let's do that too: "durigurr").

Friday, February 3, 2012: "calseum" for "calcium"

We have, this Food Friday, a word with two C's, pronounced differently. C has no sound of its own, but stands in for K (mainly before A, O, and U) or S (mainly before E and I).* The general use of C rather than K for the K-sound is part of the distinctive "look" of English, as distinguishes it from, say, Geman, which prefers the letter K for the K-sound. So, altho K may be more sensible, let's leave the C at the start of today's word.

The C in the middle, however, is harder to defend. If the sound is S, let's use S.

The I represents neither long-I (as in "ideal", "riding", and "alibi") nor short-I (as in "it", "fink", and "riding"), but a long-E sound. If the sound is long-E, why would we write it with an I? Let's use E: "calseum".
____________________

My thanks to "Clap..." for this suggestion.

* In case you are new to this site, I underscore A and I when I refer to the letters, to distinguish from the words "A" and "I".

Thursday, February 2, 2012: "boald" for "bold"

OLD should be pronounced with a short-O, given the two-letter consonant cluster after the O (compare "folderol" and one pronunciation of "doldrums"), but the O is actually long. This may be a common pattern that children in English-speaking countries learn early, but it is one of those noxious exceptions to the rules that make English so hard to learn, esp. for people outside the English-speaking countries, whom we need constantly to keep in mind as English grows around the world. We need to be consistent, so that every vowel followed by a consonant cluster is short.

To show a long vowel before a consonant cluster, then, we need to use a spelling of the vowel that in itself tells the reader that the sound is long. In the case of long-O, we have three choices: OH, OE, and OA. (There actually are some words with OU for long-O ("dough", "although", "borough"), but that kind of unphonetic dopiness is what we are trying to get away from. OU should be pronounced with the OU-sound, but all too often is not.)

OH midword will look odd to many people ("bohld"). OE's not so bad ("boeld"), but some people will see it as two syllables, as in "poem", "coed", and "phloem".

OA could also be read as two syllables, but we have a bunch of words in which OA is readily understood to represent a single sound, long-O ("coal", "boast", "approach"). Let's use that: "boald".
____________________

My thanks to "Clap..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Wensday, February 1, 2012: "acomplish/ment" for "accomplish/ment"

Why is there a double-C in these words? That should signal a full short-A before it, whereas the sound here is schwa. Let's save ourselves a letter and get rid of a needless C: "acomplish/ment".

Tuesday, January 31, 2012: "wijjit" for "widget"

DG is an absurd and inefficient way to spell the J-sound. We have the letter J for that sound. Let's use it. Actually, in today's word, we should double the J to show that the preceding-I is short. Furthermore, E is the wrong vowel for the sound in the second syllable, which is a short-I. So let's use an I: "wijjit".
____________________

This new spelling has the additional virtue, to my mind's eye, of having four dotted letters in a row.

Munday, January 30, 2012: "venty" for "venti"

Today's word, from Italian, is widely known but has not yet entered the English lexicon at Dictionary.com or Merriam-Webster online. It has, however, made it into the Oxford Dictionaries Online, as a trademarked term (by Starbucks, I assume) for "a serving of a drink of coffee measuring 20 US fluid ounces".

The final-I is ambiguous, and could be pronounced long-I, as in "alibi", "alkali", and "cacti", but is actually pronounced as long-E. A long-E (or short-I in "clipped" British dialects) in final position is generally written -Y. Let's write that: "venty".

Sunday, January 29, 2012: "trueth" for "truth"

The two-letter consonant cluster TH should make the preceding vowel short, but in fact the U is long. The noun derives from the adjective "true", which shows how the noun should be spelled: "trueth".
____________________

My thanks to "Dogs..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, January 28, 2012: "sater" for "satyr"

There's no reason for a Y to appear in this word. It would not be guessed on hearing, and represents nothing but the sound most commonly spelled ER, so let's spell it that way: "sater".

Friday, January 27, 2012: "ravveoly" for "ravioli"

This Food Friday, let's fix the name of a popular Italian filled-pasta dish. "Ravioli" is a perfectly sensible spelling in Italian. English is not Italian, and "ravioli" is a perfectly absurd spelling for the word's sound in English. We have two I's, but not one I-sound, not long as in "kite", not short as in "it". We also have a single-V after the A, which leaves unclear whether the A is long or short. It is short, so we should indicate that, by doubling the V: "ravveoly".

Thursday, January 26, 2012: "fobea" and "fobic" for "phobia" and "phobic"

PH is a preposterous and ambiguous ("uphold", "uphill") spelling for a simple F-sound. IA is a silly way to spell the sound sequence long-E, schwa. If the sound is long-E, why would we spell it with an I?

"Phobia" rhymes with "fovea", which is intelligently spelled. So we should adopt that pattern for "phobia".

The adjective "phobic" does has an I-sound, short-I, which is well spelled as -IC.

The spellings for the stand-alone noun and adjective should also be employed in words that end in the suffix "-phobia" or "-phobic": "fobea", "fobic".

Wensday, January 25, 2012: "oppera" for "opera"

A single-P renders unclear the sound of the O before it, esp. since there is an E after it. Is the O long ("dope", "rope", "cope")? Nope, it's short. To show that, we need merely double the P: "oppera".
____________________

Many people actually say "opera" as two syllables, with the central-E being muted. But since other people do pronounce the E, we should retain it in a reformed spelling. People who mute the E in "opera" can perfectly well mute it in "oppera".

Tuesday, January 24, 2012: "naitiv" and "nativvity" for "native" and "nativity"

IVE should be pronounced with a long-I ("thrive", "alive", "deprive"). Here, the I is short. To show that, we need merely drop the final-E.

The A in "native" is long. The single-T after it may not make this clear enuf (in light of words like "national", "natural", and "anatomy"). So let's show a long-A clearly, which we generally do within a word by writing AI ("paid", "stain", "waist").

In "nativity", we can leave the A as-is, because it represents neither long-A nor short-A, but a schwa.

In "nativity", it is the first-I that we should be concerned with making clear for new readers, and esp. for the billion people around the world who are learning English as auxiliary language at any given time. People within English-speaking countries may know that I before a single-V is usually short unless the V is followed by E — and even, often, when it is followed by E ("give", "abrasive", "driven"). But a reader shouldn't have to know that. The spelling should show the pronunciation, without more.

Putting this all together, we get: "naitiv" and "nativvity".

Munday, January 23, 2012: "miald" for "mild"

ILD should be pronounced with a short-I ("mildew", "wilderness", "building"), but here is pronounced with a long-I. A long-I and following L cannot really be said in the same syllable. Rather, a little schwa sound has to be inserted between the I-sound and the L-sound. A is the most common and readily recognized spelling for a schwa in this position ("dial", "vial", "denial"), so let's use that: "miald".
____________________

My thanks to "Music..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, January 22, 2012: "lamppoast" for "lamppost"

OST should be pronounced with a short-O ("posture", "imposter", "apostrophe"), given that the O is followed by two consonants. In actuality, it is said with a long-O, and we thus need to show that, within the spelling of the vowel sound, not by means of consonants following it.

To do that, we need merely write OA, as in "toast", "boast", and "roast": "lamppoast".
____________________

My thanks to "Fisherman..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Saturday, January 21, 2012: "hypopottasemea" for "hypopotassemia" and "hypopotassaemia"

This is an alternative term for the medical condition hypokalemia,* abnormally low levels of potassium in the blood. In this term, the double-S of "potassium" is retained, even tho it can mislead readers into thinking the syllable before it (the word's fourth) is stressed, whereas it is actually the fifth syllable that takes the word's primary stress. So let's get rid of one of the S's.

There is a tertiary stress on the third syllable, which we can indicate by doubling the T at the end of it.

As with "hypokalemia", the alternative spelling with AE is absurd, so let's get rid of that pointless A.

And, in the word's ending, why should we spell a long-E sound with an I? Putting this all together, we get: "hypopottasemea".
____________________

* I offfered that term as "hypokalemea" on January 3rd.

Friday, January 20, 2012: "gambony" for "gamboni"

This Food Friday, let's address the name of an edible mushroom. A final-I is ambiguous (e.g., "alibi", "alkali", and "hippopotami" have a long-I sound, whereas "broccoli", "origami", and "khaki" take a long-E, and yet other words, like "bronchi", "a priori", and "semi" can be pronounced with either long-I or long-E.

There is no absolutely unambiguous way to show a long-E sound at the end of a word, but -Y is much more likely to be read right, esp. given the existence of the word "bony": "gambony".

Thursday, January 19, 2012: "fuzileer" for "fusilier" and "fusileer"

IER is ambiguous (e.g., "amplifier", "carrier", "bandolier", "couturier": pronounced  áam.pli.fìe.yer, káa.ree.yer, bàan.da.léer, kue.túer.ee.yàe). Here, the sound is long-E, which should be spelled EER (as in "career", "engineer", and "bandoleer" — an accepted alternate spelling). There is as well an alternate spelling for today's word, with EER: "fusileer". That brings us to the other problem area in today's word, in both spellings, the S, which is pronounced as tho Z. If the sound is Z, let's write Z: "fuzileer".

Wensday, January 18, 2012: "explosiv" for "explosive"

IVE should have a long-I sound ("strive", "knives", "alive"). Here, however, the I is short. To show that, all we need to do is drop the final-E, which also saves us a letter, which is all to the good: "explosiv".
____________________

My thanks to "JEA..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012: "doctrin" for "doctrine"

-INE is a tricky ending, sometimes being pronounced -ien, other times -een, still other times -in. "Tetracycline" is pronounced all three ways by different people in different countries. In "doctrine", however, there is no variation. Everybody says it as -in, with a short-I. So we shouldn't spell it with a final-E, which confuses the issue for no good reason: "doctrin".

Munday, January 16, 2012: "cozerree" for "causerie"

Almost everything in this word from French is spelled wrong for English. Tho the word* starts with CAUSE, it isn't pronounced like that word but with a long-O. And the E after the S is pronounced as part of the following syllable. To show that there are three syllables, we can double the R. The S is pronounced as a Z, so should be a Z. The IE is pronounced not as a long-I ("pie", "belie", "denied") but as long-E, which is more clearly shown by EE. That has the additional virtue of suggesting that the last syllable is stressed, which it is. Putting this all together, we get: "cozerree".
____________________

* Dictionary.com: "1. an informal talk or chat. 2. a short, informal essay, article, etc."

Sunday, January 15, 2012: "beeatify" for "beatify"

EA is ambiguous, usually being said as one syllable and either long-E ("beat", "mean", "peace") or short-E ("breast", "wealth", and "Godhead"). Sometimes, however, it represents two vowel sounds that divide into two syllables, as here and in "creation" and "reanimate". We really need to guide the reader when EA takes an unexpected pronunciation. Here, we can do that by doubling the E, to show that the A-sound is separate from the initial long-E sound: "beeatify".  

Saturday, January 14, 2012: "aulternativ" for "alternative"

AL is ambiguous, usually taking the sound of short-A ("Al", "pal", "alimony") but sometimes also, as here and in "already" and "altogether", the AU-sound. To cue the reader when the AU-sound is to be said, we need merely add a U between the A and L.

At the end of the word, IVE should be pronounced with a long-I, as in "alive", "jive", and "beehive". Instead, the sound is short-I. To show that, we need merely drop the final-E.

So we add a letter toward the beginning, drop a letter at the end, and end up with a spelling that is the same length but clearer: "aulternativ".

Friday, January 13, 2012: "veltonshouwoong" for "Welstanschauung"

This is the pretentious, original, German word for "worldview": "a comprehensive view or personal philosophy of human life and the universe". Altho we don't need a German-form word for that sense, if we retain that form in English, we should conform its spelling to English norms, which includes not capitalizing it just because it's a noun: "veltonshouwoong".
____________________

The OO represents the short-OO of "good" and "book", not the long-OO of "boot" and "bamboo". Alas, there is no way to show that distinction in traditional spelling conventions.

Thursday, January 12, 2012: "vollume" for "volume"

A single-L leaves unclear the sound of the preceding-O, which could be seen, esp. by new readers from outside the old-line English-speaking countries, as long. It's actually short. The way we usually mark a short vowel is by doubling the consonant that follows it. Let's do that here:  "vollume".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a different solution.

Wensday, January 11, 2012: "tromp" for "trompe"

Altho "trompe" is an antique word, it remains part of the lexicon of English, stupidly spelled. The final-E suggests that there is something more than would be conveyed simply by "tromp", be it a long-O before the MP, or a second syllable, such as a long-E ("calliope"). There is no alteration to another sound, nor any such extra syllable. The final-E is entirely superfluous, so should be dropped: "tromp".
____________________

There is already an uncommon word "tromp", but since both words occur only rarely, we need not worry about any possible confusion.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012: "skeptic" for "sceptic" and "skeptic"

"Sceptic" is one of the dopiest spellings in all of English, one of very few in which C before E is pronounced as a K-sound. There is no reason we should permit such nonsense. The standard spelling uses K. The absurd alternate spelling with C should be absolutely banished from all countries: "skeptic".
____________________

Naturally, all derivatives take the same pattern:  "skeptical", "skepticism", etc.

Munday, January 9, 2012: "rettinue" for "retinue"

RE is a very frequently encountered prefix, ordinarily pronounced with a long-E ("relief", "religion", "relate"). Here, the sound is short-E. The simplest way to show that is to double the following consonant, here, the L: "rettinue".

Sunday, January 8, 2012: "pue" for "pew"

EW is a peculiar way to spell the sound long-U with initial Y-glide. If the sound is long-U, let's spell it with a U: "pue".
____________________

My thanks to "Staek..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, January 7, 2012: "opperose" for "operose"

A single-P renders unclear the sound of the preceding-O, which would appear to be long but is actually short: "opperose".
____________________

"Operose" means "1. industrious, as a person. 2. done with or involving much labor."

Friday, January 6, 2012: "morell" for "morel"

This Food Friday, let's fix the name of a type of mushroom, the present spelling of which suggests that the word's stress falls on the first syllable, whereas it actually falls on the second: "morell".

Thursday, January 5, 2012: "lyter" for "lighter"

Altho there is an informal alternate spelling, "lite", for "light", that spelling doesn't work with the noun (cigaret lighter) or the comparative form of the adjective, because of confusion with "liter" (pronounced lée.ter). A contributor to this site came up with a brilliant solution, using Y in place of I in those places. Tho some people might object to different vowels in different forms of a word, this does happen in traditional spelling (e.g., "lie" takes "lying"; "say" takes "said"), so there really isn't any good reason not to make this substitution: "lyter".
____________________

My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, January 4, 2012: "inisheate" for "initiate"

T and I do not combine to create an SH-sound. If the sound is SH, let's just write SH.

And IA is a foolish way to write the sound sequence long-E and long-A. If the sound is long-E, let's write an E: "inisheate".

Tuesday, January 3, 2012: "hypokalemea" for "hypokalemia" and "hypokalaemia"

This medical word

for "an abnormally low concentration of potassium in the blood" has a couple of problems. For one, there is a British version with a dopy AE where the standard spelling has only E. Second, IA is ambiguous, sometimes having a long-I sound ("alliance", "defiant", "diaphragm"), but here containing a long-E. If the sound is E, why not just write E?

There is one good feature of the traditional spelling of today's word, use of a K for the K-sound, rather than the more common C. Let's retain that: "hypokalemea".

Munday, January 2, 2012: "gaun" for "gone"

As discussed here two days ago, the letter sequence O-N-E ought to be pronounced with a long-O, but here is pronounced with an AU-sound. If the sound is AU, the spelling should be AU: "gaun".
____________________

In dialects that feature the "cot-caught merger", it doesn't matter whether one writes "gon" or "gaun", because they will be pronounced the same. But "gaun" is the superior spelling, for allowing speakers who do NOT merge those sounds to know which one to say.

Sunday, January 1, 2012: "extrordinary" for "extraordinary"

I have hesitated to offer this reform in that there are some people who actually pronounce the first two syllables of this long word like the regular word "extra". I thought that was the preference in Britain, but when I checked the Cambridge and Oxford Dictionaries Online, I discovered that the pronunciation with an 'extra' syllable is not standard but dialectal. So we can change this after all, to eliminate one needless syllable: "extrordinary".
____________________

My thanks to "Clap..." for this suggestion.

Click here for today's suggestion.
Click here to return to the archive index.
Click here for a list of possible future words.
Click here for the principles that govern the selection of words.

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