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Simpler Spelling
Word of the Day
Archive of Discussions
July-September 2013

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Munday, September 30, 2013:  "retticent" for "reticent"

The prefix RE- is ordinarily pronounced with a long-E sound, but not here. To show that the E in the RE- here is short, we need merely double the following-T. Once that is done, a second ambiguity, the pronunciation of the I in the second syllable, is also eliminated, since a long-I in such an unaccented place would be unlikely: "retticent".

Sunday, September 29, 2013:  "fennileffrine" for "phenylephrine"

There are four problems with the present spelling. Two of them are PH's for simple F-sounds. Those are quickly fixed by simply writing F. The second-PH occurs after a short-E. To show that, we should double that F.

Today's word also includes a Y for a short-I, whereas a vocalic Y, midword, should be reserved for a long-I sound ("myna", "dynamo", "tycoon"). Here, we need only an I. We don't need a double-L after it to show that it takes its short sound, because the NN just before it and the FF after, make it very unlikely that a long vowel would occur in that location.

The last problem is that the final INE should be pronounced with a long-I ("pine", "define", "borderline"), but here it is pronounced with a short-I. To show the I short, we need merely drop the final-E, which would also allow us to save ourselves a letter.

Putting this all together, we get: "fennileffrin".

Saturday, September 28, 2013:  "overchur" for "overture"

T does not spell the CH-sound (as in "church"). CH does. Moreover, URE should be pronounced with a long-U (as in "abjure", "allure", and "endure"). Here, the sound is that which is most commonly written ER ("better"), but also UR ("urgent"). Since the present spelling includes UR already, let's use that: "overchur".

Friday, September 27, 2013:  "morfeme" for "morpheme"

PH is a ridiculous and ambiguous way ("euphony" but "uphill") to spell a simple F-sound. In today's word,* the sound is just F, so should be spelled by F: "morfeme".
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American Heritage Dictionary: "A meaningful linguistic unit consisting of a word, such as man, or a word element, such as -ed in walked, that cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts."

Thursday, September 26, 2013:  "livvery" for "livery"

IVE should be pronounced with a long-I, as in "five", "jive", and "arrive". Here, the sound is short-I, which can be shown clearly by doubling the following consonant, the V: "livvery".

Wensday, September 25, 2013:  "hallo" for "hallow"

OW is ambiguous, sometimes being said as just long-O and other times as the OU-sound. Here, the sound is a simple long-O, as in "halo", "hello", and "peccadillo", none of which requires a W at the end. Nor does today's word, at least not in its base form.

What shall we do about the -ING, present-progressive form? Is "halloing" likely to be misread to give the O+I combination the OI-sound as in "join"? The comparable form to the verbal use of "hello" is "helloing" (the actual, correct spelling now), so "halloing" should not cause a problem: "hallo".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013:  "gavott" for "gavott"

The final-E on this word (for a French peasant dance) is superfluous, since it serves only to show that the word's stress falls on the last (or, more pedantically, latter) syllable, and a double-T there without a final-E would suffice.  So let's drop the E and save ourselves a letter: "gavott".

Munday, September 23, 2013:  "fuz" for "fuzz"

We don't need two Z's to show a Z-sound at the end of a word. Nor do they serve to indicate syllabic stress, since there's only one syllable. Let's save ourselves a letter and drop the second-Z: "fuz".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, September 22, 2013:  "enjender" for "engender"

Why would we use a G for a J-sound? We shouldn't: "enjender".

Saturday, September 21, 2013:  "deffinit" for "definite"

The prefix DE- is commonly pronounced with a long-E ("deform", "depend", "dehydrate"). Here, however, the sound is short-E. To show that, we should double the following-F.

The second element in this word is a word to itself, "finite", pronounced with two long-I's. But here, both I's are short. To show the first short, we need do nothing, since the FF before it makes a short-I the default, inasmuch as a long-I would ordinarily occur only in a stressed syllable. For the second short-I, however, we need to drop the final-E.

These little changes produce a much clearer spelling: "deffinit".

Friday, September 20, 2013:  "chu" for "chew"

It's Friday, so let's do a Food Friday word that refers to the act by which we reduce large pieces of food to a size at which they can be digested.

EW is an absurd way to write the sound of long-U without an initial Y-glide. If you pronounce this as it is written, you would have to take the E as short, in that it is closed by a consonant, and the W as a glide that combines with the short-E to form a diphthong like long-O. To show a long-U, let's just write U: "chu".

Thursday, September 19, 2013:  "baggett" for "baguette"

GU should be pronounced with a W-sound, as in "guacamole", "guava", and "Guenevere". There is no W-sound here, so let's drop the U. The G-sound follows a short-A, so we need to double the G to show that.

The third little feature of this word is the unusual stress on the second (last) syllable, which here is shown by -TTE. The -E isn't really necessary.

Putting this all together, we get: "baggett".

Wensday, September 18, 2013:  "aquit" for "acquit"

ACQ, with a two-letter consonant cluster, implies that the vowel that precedes it is a full short-A, as in "acquiescence" and "acquisition". It is not. Rather, it is a schwa, which is much better shown by A-alone, as in "ahead", "ajar", and "afar": "aquit".   

Tuesday, September 17, 2013:  "yesses" for "yeses"

Altho most nouns are pluralized simply by the addition of -S or -ES, there are occasions in which an arguably confusing result, such as "buses", which looks as tho it rhymes with "fuses", is altered for clarity. In the cases of "bus", the S is doubled, to produce "busses", which is much clearer. The plural of "yes" would be much clearer if we double its S too: "yesses".
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My thanks to "garden..." and "space..." for this suggestion.

Munday, September 16, 2013:  "whairabouts" for "whereabouts"

Why would we spell an AI sound with E_E? "Where" should be pronounced like "here", with a long-E, but is not. We need to replace the E_E with AI: "whair".

Once we have done that, the second problem in the traditional spelling goes away, the ambiguity of how the EA ("whereabouts") is to be pronounced. The most common pronunciation of EA is long-E "hear", "reason"), but there are others, such as short-E ("head", "breath"), YA ("azalea", "bougainvillea"), AU ("Sean"), and as two syllables, with various pronunciations ("creation", "amphitheater").

If we spell the first element in this compound word as "whair", the second element, "abouts", starts right after the R, so there is no EA and thus no confusion. The first reform makes a second unnecessary: "whairabouts").
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion. In light of this entry, I have changed my recommendation of February 9, 2007 that "where" be reformed to "whare", given that I had not at the time considered compounds like "wherever", "wheresoever", and "whereabouts". So the February 9, 2007 recommendation now reads "where" to "whair".

Sunday, September 15, 2013:  "vassillate" for "vacillate"

There are two small problems with today's word. First, a double-L suggests that the word's stress falls on the syllable just before it, the second, whereas it actually falls on the first. If everything before the LL were fine, we could just drop one of the L's, and save ourselves a letter. But there is a second problem, before the double-L, a C for an S-sound.

Even if we could accept C before an I as having an S-sound, a single-C leaves unclear whether the A that precedes it is long or short. Ordinarily, we can double a consonant to indicate that the vowel before it is short, but we cannot do that with a C, because CC would be pronounced as KS ("accident"). So we need to replace the C with an S, and double that. Once we do so, the LL will no longer be seen as implying that the second syllable is stressed, so we can leave the LL as indicator that the I before it is short: "vassillate". 

Saturday, September 14, 2013:  "teer" for "tear"

We have here a chance to eliminate a homonym pair, the homographic "tear" (water in the eyes, pronounced teer) and "tear" (rip, pronounced tair). Altho on June 3, 2007 we offered "tair" for the word that means "rip", we still need to distinguish the word that concerns eyes, in part because its spelling is ambiguous, in that EA can be pronounced in various ways, not just AI and EE, but also long-A ("break"), AU ("Sean"), in two syllables ("area"), etc. Here, the sound is long-E, which is most plainly written EE. Let's use that: "teer".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Friday, September 13, 2013:  "sollid" for "solid"

A single-L leaves the sound of the O before it unclear. It could be long, as in "solo"; short, as in one pronunciation of "solipsism"; or even a schwa, as in "soliloquy". Here, the sound is short, so we should double the L. Mind you, OLL is never entirely clear, given words like "poll" and "boll", both of which have a long-O despite a double consonant afterward. Still, a double-L is more like clear ("follow", "colleen", "holler"): "sollid".   

Thursday, September 12, 2013:  "rezzervwahr" for "reservoir"

The RE- here does not take a long-E, as most words with this prefix do. To show that the E is short, we should double the following consonant. But that consonant is wrong, an S for a Z-sound. So we first need to replace the S with Z, and then double the Z.

The next problem is that OI in English sounds nothing like its use here. OI ordinarily is a diphthongized combination of AU + long-E ("void", "noise"), and sometimes an additional schwa sound ("boil", "foil"). The sound here, however, is the sound OI has in French, WAH. English is not French, and the sounds of English must be written so they are clear to users of English.

Here, making the sound clear is not as easy as substituting WA, however, because the OI is followed by R, and "war"  is an all-too-familiar word, pronounced with an AU sound. That is not the way the great preponderance of educated speakers say the OIR in today's word. The sound of the A is actually "broad"-A, which is the same sound as short-O. But we can't substitute an O either, because OR would be read wrong too, as also taking an AU sound!

What we actually need to do is write AHR. It may look odd, but we do sometimes use AH in English ("ah", "mahjongg", "autobahn"), so let's use it here: "rezzervwahr".

Wednesday, September 11, 2013:  "paultry" for "paltry"

AL is ambiguous ("alimony", "already", "alert", and "wallet" are pronounced áa.li.mòe.nee, aul.réd.ee, a.lért, and "wól.at"). In today's word, the A represents the AU-sound. Let's spell it with AU: "paultry". 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013:  "mongger" for "monger"

The NG here represents more than the NG-sound as in "sing". It also represents a "hard"-G sound. To show that, we should add a second-G: "mongger".
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Naturally, all combining forms, such as "warmonger" and "fishmonger", take the same change.

Munday, September 9, 2013:  "linniment" for "liniment"

A single-N leaves unclear the sound of the preceding-I, esp. given that there are words like "lining" and "linage", with a long-I. The first-I here, however, is short. To show that, we should double the N after it: "linniment".

Sunday, September 8, 2013:  "inferr" for "infer"

Where does the stress fall in this two-syllable word? You'd have to know it's a verb in order to guess that the second syllable takes the stress. Why should the reader have to know that, or guess at the pronunciation, if we can simply indicate it by doubling the R?: "inferr".

Saturday, September 7, 2013:  "horrer" for "horror"

We have two similar spellings in the two syllables of today's word, but they are pronounced differently. The second is said in the fashion of words spelled with ER ("better", "ermine", "terminate"). Let's spell it that way: "horrer".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Friday, September 6, 2013:  "gazell" for "gazelle"

Altho few people in English-speaking countries would be confused by this word, the hundreds of millions of people trying to learn English in other countries might wonder why there is an E at the end, unless it is pronounced, as in words like "calliope", "epitome", and "psyche". Here, however, it's just silent, intended to show that the word's stress falls on the last syllable, which is fairly unusual for nouns. But is it really necessary? Wouldn't a double-L, without more, indicate that? Surely we can save ourselves a letter here: "gazell".

Thursday, September 5, 2013:  "flimzy" for "flimsy"

The sound of the S here is not S's own, unvoiced sound, but Z's voiced sound. Why would we write a Z-sound with an S?: "flimzy".

Wensday, September 4, 2013:  "envellop" for "envelop"

This word and the related word "envelope" are easily confused, so should be made more different, especially inasamuch as the syllabic stress is not clear. If we double the L, we suggest powerfully that it is the second syllable that is stressed, and that is all to the good: "envellop".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013:  "depputy" and "depputize" for "deputy" and "deputize"

DE- is a common prefix, usually said with a long-E (or, in "clipped" dialects, short-I), as in "deform", "depose", and "denomination". That is not the sound here, which is short-E, as in "definite", "deposition" and "denizen". We have here another demonstration of why English is so hard to learn and use, esp. for people outside the old-line English-speaking countries.

To show that this E is short, we should double the following-P: "depputy" and "depputize".

Munday, September 2, 2013:  "centenairean" for "centenarian"

AR is often pronounced with a "broad"-A, or short-O, the same sound ("mar", "carnage", "tarnation"). That is not the sound here, which is, instead, a flat-A, the sound in "airmail". That sound is best written AI, so let's use that.

Toward the end of the word, we have an I that represents neither of I's own sounds, long as in "irate" and short as in "it". Rather, the sound is long-E. Why would we spell an E-sound with an I? We have an E. Let's use it. Today's word would then end as does "Caribbean", so readers should understand how to pronounce it: "centenairean".

Sunday, September 1, 2013:  "baccalaureat" for "baccalaureate"

ATE should be pronounced with a long-A, but the A here is a schwa. If we drop the misleading final-E, people will understand that the sound is schwa: "baccalaureat".

Saturday, August 31, 2013:  "asine/ment" for "assign/ment"

There are three things wrong with the root word here. First, a double-S suggests that the A before it is short, as in "at". It is actually a schwa. If we delete one of the S's, we make that plain, and save ourselves a letter in the bargain.

The second problem is that there is a G in the word that is not pronounced. If it's not pronounced, why is it there? Let's just drop it, OK?

The two-letter consonant cluster GN should mark the prior vowel short ("ignorant"), but the I is actually long. To show that in the shortened form that drops the silent-G ("asin"), we need merely add an E at the end: "asine/ment".
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My thanks to "Music..." for "asine".

Friday, August 30, 2013:  "verrisimillitudinus" for "verisimilitudinous"

The single consonants R and L in this word leave the sound of the preceding vowels unclear. They could be long, but are not. If we double both the R and the L, we also cue the reader as to where in this long word stresses fall.

Further, there is an OU, but no OU-sound. So let's drop the O and leave the U, which will be clearer: "verrisimillitude" and "verrisimillitudinus".

Thursday, August 29, 2013:  "thurty" for "thirty"

IR is ambiguous, sometimes taking a long-E sound, as in "irritate". Here, the sound is that most commonly written ER ("better"), but also UR ("urge"), OR ("bettor"), and AR ("library").  We could write "therty", but I think that since the first syllable bears the word's stress, UR is better: "thurty".
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My thanks to "Fisherman..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, August 28, 2013:  "soffen" for "soften"

Today's word is a sight-rhyme for "often", but unlike "often", no one pronounces the T. It is silent for everyone, which is a little odd, given that the word derives from the adjective "soft", in which the T is definitely pronounced. To make plain to everyone that the T here is never pronounced, let's just take it out and replace it with a second-F, as in "off": "soffen".
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My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013:  "regurjitate" for "regurgitate"

There are two G's in this word, but only one, the first, represents G's own, distinctive sound expressed by no other letter. The second G stands in for J. Why? If the sound is J, let's write J: "regurjitate".

Munday, August 26, 2013:  "plannet" for "planet"

Today's word contains within it the word "plane", which has a long-A. "Planet", however, has a short-A. To show that, we need merely double the N: "plannet".
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My thanks to "Clap..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, August 25, 2013:  "nefritis" for "nephritis"

We have here another of the absurd spellings that employ PH to represent a simple F-sound. Why on Earth would we not use F for the F-sound?:  "nefritis".
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Note: Naturally, all derivatives of this term should also be changed to replace the PH with F.

Saturday, August 24, 2013:  "moddast" for "modest"

In this fairly short word occur two small problems. First, ODE should be pronounced like the word to itself of the same spelling: with a long-O. The O is actually short, so we need to double the following-D to show that.

Second, the -EST makes this word look like the superlative form of an adjective "mode". But there is no adjective "mode", so we should change the E to A, the most common spelling of schwa, the speech sound that occurs in the second syllable, to prevent readers from being led astray:  "moddast".

Friday, August 23, 2013:  "illeum" and (plural) "illea" for "ileum" and "ilea"

A single-L leaves unclear whether the preceding-I is long or short. It's short, so let's double the L to show that unambiguously:  "illeum" and "illea".

Thursday, August 22, 2013:  "jerrund" for "gerund"

There are two little things wrong with today's word from grammar. First, the G represents not its own, unique sound, which no other letter represents, but J's sound. We have a J. Let's use it.

Second, a single-R leaves unclear whether the E before it is long or short. It's short. To remove any doubt, let's double the R:  "jerrund".

Wensday, August 21, 2013:  "earing" for "earring"

This is a compound word formed from "ear" and "ring". It might more clearly be written "ear-ring", but people have felt no need for a hyphen. If we could dispense with a hyphen, do we really need a second-R? I don't think so: "earing".
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My thanks to "Unicycle..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013:  "desswitude" for "desuetude"

The present spelling for this unusual word (which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as "[a] state of disuse or inactivity" ) is hard to read or guess, since SUE is a word to itself, pronounced sue, but that is not the sound here. Rather, we are supposed to see the vowel U as representing the sound of the consonant W, and the E after it as representing a short-I. Absurd. Let's replace the UE with WI.

The one problem remaining is that the prefix DE- is often pronounced with a long-E, but here the sound is short-E. To show that, we need merely double the following-S:  "desswitude".

Munday, August 19, 2013:  "claustrofobea", "claustrofobe", and "claustrofobic" for "claustrophobia", "claustrophobe", and "claustrophobic"

There are two little problems with these long words. The first is the ridiculous spelling PH for a simple F-sound, which is not just phonetically incorrect, since a P-sound plus H-sound would not combine to make an F-sound, but also ambiguous, in that not all PH's represent an F-sound ("uphill", "uphold", "upholster"). If the sound is F, let's write F.

The second problem occurs only in the name of this psychological condition, an -IA in which the I represents neither of I's own sounds, long as in the first-person pronoun "I", "biting", and "right", and short, as in "it", "spiffy", and "incomprehensible". If the sound is E, let's write an E, which at the end of a word should be read as having a long-E sound ("area", "idea", "apnea"):  "claustrofobea", "claustrofobe", and "claustrofobic".
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My thanks to "fishstick..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, August 18, 2013:  "broashure" for "brochure"

We have here one of those innumerable, dopy spellings in which CH represents a sound other than the CH-sound of "church" — which it should never do. The sound here is SH as in "shush", so let's write SH.

The second issue in today's word is that a two-letter consonant cluster, be it CH or SH, would ordinarily mark the prior vowel as short, but here, the O is long. To show that, we need to write the vowel sound with vowels, not indicate something about that vowel sound by the consonants that follow.

There are three ways we might indicate a long-O midword, OA ("toast", "toad", "throat"), OE  ("doeskin", "desperadoes", "dominoes"), and OH ("kohl", "kohlrabi", "ohm"). OA is by far the most common way to spell long-O midword, and many instances of OE midword are pronounced in two syllables ("coed", "poem", "churchgoer"), so OA is definitely the way to go:  "broashure".

Saturday, August 17, 2013:  "arive" and "arival" for "arrive" and "arrival"

Two R's suggest powerfully that the preceding vowel is short, whereas the actual sound is not short-A but schwa, which does not need a double consonant after it to be clear ("aar", "ahead", "apart"):  "arive" and "arival".
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My thanks to "Music..." for "arrive".

Friday, August 16, 2013:  "wompum" for "wampum"

The vowel sound in the first syllable is short-O, so why is it written with an A?:  "wompum".

Thursday, August 15, 2013:  "topeary" for "topiary"

Why is a long-E sound represented by an I? If the sound is E, let's write an E: "topeary".

Wensday, August 14, 2013:  "swaray" for "soirée" and "soiree"

English does not use accents, so the acute accent here has to go.

In English, OI has a distinctive sound that diphthongizes the AU-sound + long-E. That is not the sound here, which is a short-O. Before an R that sound would most commonly be recast as a "broad"-A, as in "bar", "car", and "star". So let's replace the OI with A.

The EE at the end of today's word does not represent, as the reader has every reason to expect, a long-E sound, but a long-A. At the end of a word, long-A would most commonly be written as AY. So let's write that.

Putting this all together, we get: "swaray".

Tuesday, August 13, 2013:  "rapproashmonn" for "rapprochement"

The good news is that the first four letters of this long word are fine. Some people pronounce the A as "broad" (as in "father"), but the more common pronunciation is a regular short-A. Since both are A-sounds, we can leave the A.

The vowel in the second syllable is a long-O, but it is followed by a two-letter consonant cluster, which would ordinarily mark the prior vowel as short. To show that the O is long, we need to write it in vowels within itself, not mark it by consonants after it. Midword, OA is the clearest and most common way to do that ("road", "toast", "roach").

The consonantal sound at the end of the second syllable is SH (as in "shush"), so we should write SH, not CH..

The last syllable is written entirely wrong. It works fine in French, but this is English. The suffix -MENT in English is pronounced much as it looks, with every letter pronounced. except that the E is pronounced as a schwa. That is not the sound here, which has a short-O, not either long- or short-E-sound, nor schwa; and the T is silent.

Moreover, the word's main stress falls on the last syllable. We don't, and usually cannot, indicate syllabic stress in spelling, but if we drop the final-T and substitute a second-N, that will suggest stress at the end of the word: "rapproashmonn".  

Munday, August 12, 2013:  "ferramone" for "pheromone"

The first thing wrong with today's word is the absurd spelling PH for a simple F-sound. If the sound is F, and there is a letter F, let's just use that.

The second problem is that a single-R permits the E before it to be seen as long, but it's not. If we double the R, it becomes plain that the ER forms the the sound most commonly written that way.

The third problem is that the O between the R and M might be seen by some people as representing a full O-sound, long or short, whereas it is actually pronounced as a schwa, and schwa is most commonly and clearly written with an A.

The last syllable is perfect just as it is!

Putting this all together, we get: "ferramone".

Sunday, August 11, 2013:  "moistcher" for "moisture"

T does not spell the CH-sound. CH does. But here, we can't simply replace the T with CH, because an S precedes it, and SCH can be misread as representing the SH-sound of "shush". What we can do to make the sound clear, is to retain the T but add a CH after it.

The second problem here is that URE should be pronounced with a long-U, but is actually pronounced like the sound most commonly written ER or UR ("murder") but also AR ("friar"), IR ("bird"), etc. We could use either ER or UR in this word. Since it already has a UR, let's leave that and simply drop the misleading final-E: "moistchur".

Saturday, August 10, 2013:  "jerrontollojy" and "jerrontolojjical" for "gerontology" and "gerontological"

The first, of several, problems in today's related words is that the sound of the E is unclear because there is only one R following it. It could, therefore, be long. It's not, but forms with the following-R the standard ER-sound of "older", "wiser", and "sicker").

The second issue is why there are two J-sounds represented not by J's but by G's. That makes no sense. Let's replace them with J's.

The third issue is that the O before the L in "gerontology" is short; in "gerontological", however, it represents a schwa. To show the short-O at the end of the third syllable, we should double the following consonant, which is a standard way to show a short consonant. Here, that consonant is L, which would, alas, leave some ambiguity, because OLL can, oddly, be pronounced with either a long-O ("poll", "roll", "toll") or short-O ("doll", "loll", "moll"). But a double-L might be understood by new readers as having a short-O more easily than would a single-L.

The single-L in "gerontological" starts the fourth syllable, so does not need to be doubled. The O that precedes it represents a schwa, not an O-sound, but in that there is no unique way to represent schwa everywhere in Traditional Orthography, any vowel can be used for that purpose, so we can leave O there.

By contrast, the O before the J-sound in "gerontological" is definitely short, so we need to show that in the usual way, doubling the consonant immediately following. Here, that is a J, and there is no rational justification for refusing to double a J.

Putting this all together, we get: "jerrontollojy" and "jerrontolojjical". 

Friday, August 9, 2013:  "flak" for "flak" and "flack"

The two words today are both accepted variant spellings. We plainly don't need CK to represent a single K-sound, so let's drop the C and save ourselves a letter: "flak".

Thursday, August 8, 2013:  "erzots" for "ersatz"

There are two small problems with this word. First, the A represents neither of A's basic sounds, long as in "fake" and short as in "flak". Rather, it represents the "broad"-A, which is the same sound as short-O. So let us write an O in the first syllable.

The second problem is that the S and Z in this word are the reverse of what they should be. The S that starts the second syllable represents the voiced sound that should be shown by Z, while the Z that ends the word is pronounced as S! That makes no sense at all, and is typical of the craziness that makes it so hard for people to learn and use Traditional Orthography. We need to separate these two sounds onto the appropriate letter, unvoiced as S, always, and voiced, as Z, always: "erzots".

Wensday, August 7, 2013:  "dosij" for "dosage"

AGE should be pronounced with a long-A, but here it represents a schwa so close to a short-I that we might better write an I: "dosij".
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My thanks to "fishstick..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013:  "cattenerry" for "catenary"

There are two small problems with today's word.

First, the letter sequence ATE occurs midword, and could be (mis)read as having a long-A, whereas the A in the first syllable is actually short.

Second, the ARY ending could be read with a flat-A sound, as in "nary", "chary", and "scary". That is not the sound here, which is actually the sound most commonly written ER. To show that, we should write ER, but to show that sound clearly before the final-Y, we need to double the R: "cattenerry".

Munday, August 5, 2013:  "backanal" for "bacchanal"

The CH here does not convey the usual CH-sound, as in "church", and CCH is an odd consonant cluster that would not be guessed by people who hear the word said. Indeed, many new readers would have no idea how it's to be pronounced. Is there a K-sound followed by a CH-sound? No, there is not. Let's leave the first-C, get rid of the CH, and replace it with a K, to show the actual sound, a K midword: "backanal".
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Note: "Bacchanalia" was used, as "backanailea", on March 11, 2013.

Sunday, August 4, 2013:  "anex" for (the verb) "annex"

We have here a single spelling for two forms of a word, one a noun, which takes stress on the first syllable, so is spelled properly, with two N's ("annex"), the other a verb, which takes stress on the second syllable, so is spelled improperly, in that the two N's lead the reader to think the stress falls on the first syllable, which is wrong for the verb. If we simply drop the second-N, we cause the reader to see that the N goes with the second syllable, and the A represents the unstressed sound, schwa ("ajar", "afar", "around", "about"), which is correct. We also save ourselves a letter, which is all to the good: "anex".

Saturday, August 3, 2013:  "temerrity" for "temerity"

A single-R at the end of the second syllable leaves unclear the sound of the preceding-E, which could be read as long. (The first-E is not affected by the second, because the M goes with the second syllable.) To make plain that the second-E takes the ER-sound, we need to double the R. That has the additional virtue of cuing the reader into definitely placing the word's stress on the second syllable, where it belongs: "temerrity".

Friday, August 2, 2013:  "saychem" for "sachem"

The two-letter consonant cluster CH should mark the preceding vowel short, but in fact the A is long. To show a long-A midword, we could insert either a Y ("saychem"; compare "cayman") or I ("saichem"; compare "stain"). Some AI's represent other sounds than long-A, however: "plaid" (pronounced with a short-A, plaad), "said" (pronounced with a short-E, sed), "stair" (pronounced with a flat-A stair), and others ("daiquiri", "dais"), so Y seems the better choice: "saychem".

Thursday, August 1, 2013:  "rij" for "ridge"

Today's word warrants the same change as yesterday's ("partridge" to "partrij"), so let me simply repeat yesterday's argumentation: DGE is a ridiculous and inefficient way to write a simple J-sound. We have a letter J. Let's use it: "rij".
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The plural could be "rijes" or "rijjes", tho JJ might lead some readers to think the word's stress falls on the second syllable, when it actually falls on the first syllable. I suspect people could easily adjust to "rijes", ignoring the possible effect of the E upon the prior syllable's vowel, as we ignore the E in the grammatical endings -ED and -ER, which are not perceived as affecting the quality of the vowel in the immediately prior syllable.

Wensday, July 31, 2013:  "partrij" for "partridge"

DGE is a ridiculous and inefficient way to write a simple J-sound. We have a letter J. Let's use it: "partrij".
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The plural could be "patrijes" or "partrijjes", tho JJ might lead some readers to think the word's stress falls on the second syllable, when it actually falls on the first syllable. I suspect people could easily adjust to "partrijes", ignoring the possible effect of the E upon the prior syllable's vowel, as we ignore the E in the grammatical endings -ED and -ER, which are not perceived as affecting the quality of the vowel in the immediately prior syllable.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013:  "mitokondreon" and "mitokondrea" for "mitochondrion" and "mitochondria"

The CH in today's scientific words (singular and plural) represents not the standard English CH-sound (as in "church") nor a harsh guttural (as in "loch") but a simple English K-sound. We have a K. Let's use it.

The other problem with both words is the use of an I for a long-E sound. We have an E. Why would we use an I for an E-sound?: "mitokondreon" and "mitokondrea".

Munday, July 29, 2013:  "jinseng" for "ginseng"

The sound at the start of this word is J, not G: "jinseng".

Sunday, July 28, 2013:  "efruntery" for "effrontery"

Why is there an O in this word, when the sound is short-U? Let's write U if that's the sound. We also don't need a second-F, in that the F-sound goes with the second syllable, not the first. So we can save ourselves a letter with no loss in comprehensibility by dropping the second-F: "efruntery".

Saturday, July 27, 2013:  "deezel" for "diesel"

This type of automotive engine is named for its German inventor, Rudolf Diesel. In German, an E between vowels is understood to be pronounced like English-Z, but some people who don't know German have seen that S as being pronounced like an English-S, and thus given the word an erroneous spelling-pronunciation with an S-sound. We should correct that, by changing the S to Z.

We should also correct the misleading IE, which could be read as a long-I, to EE, to show that it represents a long-E sound. Merely dropping the I would probably not be clear ("dezel"). Let's splurge and spend another E to make absolutely plain how this word is supposed to be pronounced: "deezel".

Friday, July 26, 2013:  "cattawompus" for "catawampus" and
"cattywampus"

Today's dialectal word for "askew" has two spellings, neither quite right, in that both use an A for a short-O sound in the third syllable. The least we should do with this word is agree on a single spelling, change the A in the third syllable to O, and use a double-T to show that the first-A is short. The Y of the second spelling is a bit too much, since most speakers don't say a long-E there, but a schwa, which is much better shown by A: "cattawompus".

Thursday, July 25, 2013:  "baikalite" for "Bakelite"

The present spelling of today's three-syllable word has produced the mistaken two-syllable spelling-pronunciation báek.liet. To show three syllables, we need to replace the medial-E with A, to show that there is a syllable there, and the vowel is schwa. "Bakalite" might be seen by some readers as having a short-A in the first syllable, whereas that A is actually long. So we can add an I there to show a long-A (as in "raid", "paid", and "staid").

That takes care of the sounds. There remains one small matter, the capital-B of the original trademark. We don't need to preserve that feature, since we don't capitalize "plastic", and it is not reasonable to impose upon ordinary users of the English language the obligation to remember what is and is not a trademark: "baikalite".

Wensday, July 24, 2013:  "annion" for "anion"

It may not be possible to make the pronunciation of today's word (áan.ìe.yan) entirely clear, due to the existence of words like "onion" (ún.yan) and "union" (yúen.yan), in which the ION is pronounced as tho written YON. Still, this minor respelling might help: "annion".

Tuesday, July 23, 2013:  "trunchon" for "truncheon"

Why is there an E in the traditional spelling of this word? There is no E-sound, and the word is only two syllables, tho an E would suggest it is three. Let's just drop it, OK?: "trunchon".

Munday, July 22, 2013:  "sodder" for "solder"

This is one of the odder words in Traditional Orthography, with a silent-L. Why? If there is no L-sound, there should be no L in the spelling. The L should be replaced by a second-D, to show that the O is short, as in "fodder", "plodder", and "hot-rodder": "sodder".

Sunday, July 21, 2013:  "robottic" for "robotic"

A single-T leaves the sound of the O unclear. Is it long, as it looks? No, it's short. So let's double the T, to show that plainly. Once we do that, we also show that the word's stress falls on the second syllable, which is distinct from the stress on the first syllable in the base noun, "robot": "robottic".
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My thanks to "fishstick..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, July 20, 2013:  "fylum" and (plural) "fyla" for "phylum" and "phyla"

We have here another of those ridiculous words in which a simple F-sound is spelled with a two-letter consonant cluster that, said in sequence, would not produce any such sound. Let's just get rid of the PH and replace it with F: "fylum" and (plural) "fyla".
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My thanks to "Fieyer..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Friday, July 19, 2013:  "manggo" for "mango"

This Food Friday, let's make plain that the NG in the name of this tropical fruit represents not just the NG-sound (as in "fling", "among", and "sung"), but also a "hard"-G sound after it (as in "finger" but not "singer"). To do this, we need merely add a second-G: "manggo".

Thursday, July 18, 2013:  "in/sannity" for "in/sanity"

The base word here is "sane", which has a long-A. The new reader, esp. outside the old-line English-speaking countries, would be justified in thinking, therefore, that the noun "sanity" also has a long-A, esp. since there is only one N in it. However, that is not the case, and the A is short. We can show that clearly, in both the positive and negative versions of this word, simply by doubling the N: "insannity" and "sannity".

Wensday, July 17, 2013:  "hadeez" for "Hades" and "hades"

The current spelling of this word (in its ordinary sense of "hell", not the sense of the name of an ancient Greek God, so we don't need a capital-H) looks like the plural of "hade", pronounced in one syllable, but there is no such word as "hade", and the word has two syllables. To show the second syllable, and show as well that the word is not a plural, we need only replace the ES with EEZ: "hadeez".

Tuesday, July 16, 2013:  "gunnel" for "gunwale" and "gunnel"

We have today a word that has a bizarre standard spelling, "gunwale", with a silent-W and an unexpected ALE, and an alternative spelling that, as so often happens, is better than the standard. Let's promote the variant to the standard spelling and consign the odd spelling with a W to the trash heap of linguistic history: "gunnel".

Munday, July 15, 2013:  "eyr" for "ere"

The vowel sound in today's word is flat-A, as in "air", "bear", and, especially, "there". But inasmuch as the same letter sequence occurs in "were" and "here" but represents, respectively, short- and long-E, the present spelling isn't clear. We might better use EY before an R. Dictionary.com employs EY for long-A in its pronunciation key, and some people think of the flat-A as a long-A altered by a following-R. If it's good enuf for Dictionary.com, it's good enuf for this respelling project: "eyr".
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This may not be an ideal spelling, but "air" and "heir" are already taken. Besides, the word is rare, so will not cause a problem for most people.

Sunday, July 14, 2013:  "dol" for "doll"

We don't need a double-L at the end of a word to mark the preceding vowel short. Thus, we can delete the second-L here and save ourselves a letter. So let's just drop it, OK?: "dol".
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My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion. In the verb, as in the expression "all dolled-up", we would have to double the D before adding endings such as -ING and -ED, but that follows a standard rule, so does not create a problem.

Saturday, July 13, 2013:  "charj" for "charge"

Why would we use a G to represent a J-sound? We have a J. Let's use it: "charj".
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My thanks to "Moon..." for this suggestion.

Friday, July 12, 2013:  "bosmotty" for "basmati"

This Food Friday, let's fix the name of a type of rice used in Indian cuisine. The two A's both represent not an A sound (long as in "base", short as in "basket") but the "broad"-A which is really a short-O sound. So let's replace both A's with O's.

The two-letter consonant cluster SM plainly marks the first-O short, but the single-T would not make plain that the second-O is also short. To indicate that, we need to double the T. This has the additional virtue of suggesting that the word's stress falls on the second syllable, which it does.

The last little problem is the I at the end of the current spelling, which could be seen as representing a long-I, as in "alibi", "cacti", and "stimuli". That is not the sound here, which is a long-E (or, in "clipped" British accents, short-I), which is much better written -Y.

Putting this all together, we get: "bosmotty".

Thursday, July 11, 2013:  "annodyne" for "anodyne"

A single-N permits the reader to see the A in this unusual word as long, whereas it is actually short. Quick fix: double the N, and we will make plain to everyone that the A is short: "annodyne".

Wensday, July 10, 2013:  "wottle" for "wattle"

The vowel sound in the first syllable of today's word is not either of A's expected sounds, long as in "way" or short as in "wacky". Rather, it is "broad"-A, the same sound as short-O, so O is a better spelling here: "wottle".

Tuesday, July 9, 2013:  "topoggrafy" and toppograffic/al" for "topography" and "topographic/al"

There are two problems with today's words. First is the ridiculous, unjustifiable spelling PH for a simple F-sound. Let's dump it for F.

The second and third issues are the sound of the O's and determining which syllable takes the main stress in the two different forms. In the noun, the first-O represents a schwa, while the second is a full short-O. To show that the first-O is a schwa, we need do nothing, but can leave the single-P, because it goes with the second syllable. But the second-O needs to be shown as short by doubling the G.

In the adjectives, the O's switch sounds, with the first-O being short and the second being a schwa. So we need to double the P but do not need a double-G. We do, however, need a double-F, to show at once that the A — which in the noun is a schwa — is in the adjectives a full short-A! Tho this sounds all very complicated to explain, once respelled, all the sounds become obvious: "topoggrafy", "toppograffic" and "toppograffical".

Munday, July 8, 2013:  "sojurn" for "sojourn"

Not only do we not need a U in this word, but it should also not be there because there is no OU-sound in this word, so having an OU in the spelling is misleading. Let's drop the U and save ourselves a letter: "sojurn".

Sunday, July 7, 2013:  "rif" for "riff"

If we don't need two F's in "if", we don't need two F's in "riff": "rif".
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My thanks to "Moon..." for this suggestion.

Note: In the verb, the F would have to be doubled before the addition of endings such as -ED and -ING, but that follows a well-understood rule, so should not bar a single-F in the root word.

Saturday, July 6, 2013:  "filactery" for "phylactery"

The first three letters of today's word are all wrong. The two-letter sequence PH represents no P-sound and no H-sound, but an F-sound. We have the letter F. Let's use it, and save ourselves a letter.

The Y does not represent, as is common for Y midword, a long-I sound ("cyan", "hydration", "pyromaniac". Rather, it represents a short-I. Let's just spell it with an I: "filactery".  

Friday, July 5, 2013:  "minueshea" and "minuesheyee" for "minutia" and "minutiae"

So much is wrong with these words (singular and plural) that it's hard to know where to start.

The worst part of both is the preposterous use of T to represent the SH-sound, followed by an I to represent a long-E. Let's use SH for the SH-sound and E for the long-E.

In the plural, AE is an absurd way to spell a long-E sound. It should spell only a long-A sound, as in "sundae", but it has in fact several sounds, which is several sounds too many, for example: "aerosol" (flat-A), "aesthetic" (short-E), "maestro" (long-I) "algae" (long-E), "paella" (two adjoining vowels), and "pandaemonium" (schwa). If the sound is long-E, followed by a schwa (in the singular), let's just write EA (as in "apnea", "area", and "cochlea").

The ending of the plural is more complicated, comprising two long-E's in a row. We need to show that. EY is one way to show a long-E ("alley", "whiskey", "baloney"). EE is another ("bee", "agree", "employee"). We can put these two spellings one after the other. The Y will show where the first ends and the second begins.

Another problem is that the sound of the U is unclear, due to the influence of the familiar word "minute", which shares the first five letters with today's words but takes a short-I sound for its U, whereas the U here takes a long-U sound. To show that, we should add an E to the U.

Putting this all together, we get: "minueshea" (singular) and "minuesheyee" (plural).

Thursday, July 4, 2013:  "jerrontocracy" for "gerontocracy"

There are two things wrong with this word. First, why would we spell a J-sound with a G? We have a letter dedicated to that sound: J.

Second, a single-R leaves unclear the sound of the E before it, which could be long but is actually short. To leave no doubt as to its sound, we need merely double the R: "jerrontocracy".

Wensday, July 3, 2013:  "eponnimus" for "eponymous"

Three things in today's word need to be fixed. First is the use of Y to represent a short-I sound, whereas Y, midword, is much better reserved for long-I ("hybrid", "python", "dynamo").

Second, the single-N leaves unclear whether the O before it is long or short. It's short, which we can show simply by doubling the N.

Third, the OU does not represent the OU-sound, but a schwa, which is much better shown by a U, without an O.

Putting this all together, we get: "eponnimus".
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Note: "Epponim" for "eponym" was used on June 11, 2006.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013:  "dynammic" for "dynamic"

There are only two little things wrong with the spelling of today's word, that the sound of the A and the word's syllabic stress are both unclear because there's only a single-M after the A. You can see the problem if you compare the very similar words "dynamo" and "dynamite", in both of which the A represents a schwa and the first syllable is stressed. Here, the A is short, as in "at", and the second syllable takes the word's stress.

If we simply double the M, we solve both problems: "dynammic".

Munday, July 1, 2013:  "kyton" for "chiton"

The CH here represents not the usual CH-sound (as in "church") but an ordinary K-sound. We have a K. Let's use it.

The second problem here is that the I is long, which some people might read correctly. Other people might be tempted to pronounce it short because of the influence of the word "chit". Midword, Y would be clearer: "kyton".

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