Please note: This website has no control over the ads placed here by Google AdSense or Tripod. Caveat emptor.
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.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015: "cockateele" for "cockatiel" and "cockateel"
There are two accepted spellings for the name of this small, Australian parrot. That's one more than we need, so let's get rid of the less reasonable, the one with -IEL at the end (which could be pronounced in two syllables), and mandate that only the more reasonable spelling, with -EEL at the end, be used. That would get us to "cockateel".There is, however one additional small matter, namely, that the word's primary stress falls on the last syllable, whereas most people who know it only from reading will likely see it as being stressed on the first syllable. We could add an -E at the end ("cockateele"), as would make some people wonder why it's there, esp. given that a long-E sound is already plainly covered by the EE before the L, so think that maybe the word is stressed on the last syllable. Perhaps not everyone will see that -E as meaningful, because multitudinous English words end in an -E that means nothing. But at least we will have tried to signal the word's proper stress: "cockateele".
Munday, March 30, 2015: "clenly" and "clenliness" for "cleanly" and "cleanliness"
Both of these words derive from "clean", and the adjective, "cleanly", is also the adverbial form of "clean". But "clean" and its adverbial form "cleanly", both take a long-E, whereas today's words have a short-E. To show that unambiguously, all we need do is drop the misleading-A, which also saves us a letter, which is always to the good: "clenly" and "clenliness".
____________________My thanks to "Cal..." for this suggestion.
Sunday, March 29, 2015: "cloroform" for "chloroform"
The CH at the start of this word does not represent the CH-sound, as in "church", which it should, tho saying that sound immediately before an L-sound in the same syllable (as distinct from in adjoining syllables, as in "richly") would be a tad difficult, and definitely un-English. The CH here actually represents a simple K-sound, not even the very guttural CH of "yech" or "challah", but just the regular K-sound of words that originate in English.If the sound is K, we might be tempted to write K. But perhaps that's a step too far, and we could merely drop the H, which would leave C before an L, which everyone will see as represening a K-sound. We would thus achieve the goal of making plain that the sound is that represented by K in many words but also by C in many words, without making too great a change from the traditional spelling. It may not always be the case that the least change is the best change, but here it is: "cloroform".
Saturday, March 28, 2015: "ki" for "chi" or "khi"
The word today is the name of a letter in the Greek alphabet, not the Chinese word for 'life force'.* It has two spellings, both un-English. The form with CH uses that letter combo to represent a K-sound rather than the CH-sound that we are accustomed to in "church". So the CH has got to go.The form with KH is also misleading, because KH rather than a simple-K should represent a different sound, more guttural, as in "khan". That being a foreign sound, most native speakers of English do not draw a distinction, but pronounce KH as tho it were written as merely K. What, then, is the point of drawing a distinction in writing that we do not recognize in speaking? To show a K-sound here, we should write K, not KH.
As for the vowel sound at the end, we have many words in which an I in final position is read as long-I, from "alibi" and "alkali" to "cacti" and "stimuli". So let's use that here: ki.
____________________
* See entry for November 24, 2014.
Friday, March 27, 2015: "cheezburgur" for "cheeseburger"
This Food Friday, let's fix a couple of little problems in the name of one of the most popular foods in Anglo-America.SE is not the way to spell a Z-sound. Z is.
And GE is often seen as representing a J-sound ("gentle", "rage"), whereas here we really do have G's own unique sound. To show that, we can change the E after the G to U, which, before R, will be read correctly: "cheezburgur".
____________________My thanks to "JEA..." for this suggestion.
Thursday, March 26, 2015: "ceezeum" for "cesium" and "caesium"
There are two problems in the short form of today's word, and three in the long form.The first problem shared by both forms is an S that stands in for a Z-sound. A reader, esp. a reader outside a traditionally English-speaking country, should be able to rely upon S representing an S-sound, so let's change the S here to Z, the actual sound.
The second problem shared by both forms is the IU, which should be said with a long-I, as in "triumphal" and "diurnal". Here, the sound is long-E, which should be spelled with an E.
A third problem is found only in the longer, more antique form, "caesium", an AE that does not sound like that in the word "sundae" or feminine personal name "Mae", which is pronounced as long-A. Rather, the sound is long-E. So why is there an A there? There shouldn't be, so let's drop the A, which has already been done in the more common form of today's word.
The last problem with both forms of today's word is that a single-S (reformed to a single-Z) permits different readers to see the preceding-E as long or short. In that it's long, we should make that plain, by adding a second-E.
Putting this all together, we get: "ceezeum".
Wensday, March 25, 2015: "cattaract" for "cataract"
A single-T leaves unclear whether the preceding-A is long or short. It's short. To show that unambiguously, we need merely add a second-T: "cattaract".
Tuesday, March 24, 2015: "caregivver" for "caregiver"
A single-V followed by E will be seen by many new readers, esp. in non-English-speaking countries, as signaling that the I before the V is long, whereas it is actually short. To show that clearly, we need to add a second-V.A second problem with the present spelling is knowing whether, in the GI, the G represents G's own, unique sound, as in "gift", "gibbon", and "ginkgo" / "gingko", or a J-sound, as in "ginger", "gibbet", and "ginseng". There really is no way to show that clearly, without complicating things in other ways, as by writing a "hard"-G before E and I as GU ("guest") or GH ("ghetto"). Only rigidly phonetic spelling reform would permit us always to know how every sound in a given word is pronounced. But if we can improve the spelling without much trouble, we should: "caregivver".
Munday, March 23, 2015: "capree/s" for "Capri/s"
This term for a style of women's pants presents two small problems. First, should it have a capital-C, as in the name of the Mediterranean island from which the term derives, or not? Why would pants require a capital letter? We don't write "Jeans" or "Slacks", so need not write "Capris". Besides, dropping the capital-C makes plain that we are NOT talking about the island, but about the pants.Second, an I at the end of a word is commonly pronounced as long-I, as in "alumni" and "sci-fi". But here, the sound is long-E, which is much better written EE: "capree" [pants] and "caprees".
Sunday, March 22, 2015: "brevvity" for "brevity"
A single-V leaves unclear whether the preceding-E is long or short. It's short. To show that, we need only double the V: "brevvity".
Saturday, March 21, 2015: "breethe" for "breathe"
This word is a perfect rhyme for "seethe", with a long-E and voiced-TH, so should be spelled that way. The present spelling confuses new readers, because it is easily misunderstood as being, instead, "breath", which has a short-E and a voiceless-TH: "breethe".
Friday, March 20, 2015: "beollee" for "bialy"
This Food Friday, let's fix a word familiar to people who know delicatessen foods in the New York City/Newark area but which may not be commonplace elsewhere.* IA is ambiguous, and might be seen as representing a long-I followed by an A-sound or schwa, as in "biathlon", the personal name "Diane", or "defiant"; or a long-E sound followed by an A-sound or schwa ("abbreviate", "coriander"; "agrarian"). Here, the sound is long-E followed by a short-O, or "broad"-A, as in "father". To show that sound combination, we should write EO, followed by a double-L to indicate that the O is short.At the end of the word, we have -Y, which is commonly used for adjectives ("hunky", "tasty") or adverbs ("easily", "subtly"). Here, the part of speech is noun, which is better shown by -EE: "beollee".
____________________* "[A] flat, round, baked roll with small pieces of baked onion on top".
[Mid-20th century. Shortening of bialystoker "of Bialystok" [a city in Poland]] — Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Thursday, March 19, 2015: "biosfere" for "biosphere"
We have again today one of those ridiculous spellings in which PH is used to represent a simple F-sound, which you cannot get from the constituent letters. Rather, P+H should be pronounced as in "uphill" and "upheaval". If the sound is a simple F, let us simply write F: "biosfere".
Wensday, March 18, 2015: "bacterea" and "bactereum" for "bacteria" and "bacterium"
In the paired words "bacteria" and "bacterium", the much more commonly occurring word is the plural, "bacteria", rather than the singular, "bacterium". But both are spelled badly, with IA and IU representing not an I sound followed by either an A-sound or schwa ("triangulate", "Mariah") in the plural, or a long-I followed by a U-sound ("triumphal") or schwa ("diuretic") in the singular, but a long-E followed by some other sound. If the sound is E, let's write E: "bacterea" and "bactereum".
Tuesday, March 17, 2015: "atach" for "attach"
A double-T should mark the prior-A as short ("attic", "attaché), but here, the A represents a schwa. To show that, we need only drop one of the T's, which has the added, welcome advantage of saving us a letter: "atach".
Munday, March 16, 2015: "atrossity" for "atrocity"
The four-character letter sequence CITY will be seen by various new readers, esp. among the billion+ people outside the traditionally English-speaking countries who are trying to learn English for its usefulness in multitudinous fields, as being the familiar word "city", for a populous municipality. That's not the sense here. To alert readers to that fact, we should replace the C with SS: "atrossity".
Sunday, March 15, 2015: "aitheizm", "aitheist", and "aitheistic" for "atheism", "atheist", and "atheistic"
A reader would be justified in seeing the A at the beginning of today's words as representing a schwa, as in "athwart" and "Athena", but here, the sound is long-A. Tho show that, we could use AY or AI. AY would be most appropriate at the end of the word or at least the end of a syllable, not at the beginning. AI is more appropriate at the beginning or middle of a word or syllable, so let's use that.There is one more issue, in the second word of this group. -SM should be read as in "small" and "smattering", with an S-sound followed immediately by an M-sound. Here, however, the S is pronounced as Z, and there is a very short vowel sound (a mini-schwa, as it were) after it before the M-sound. Ideally, the sound in "-ISM" should thus be written "-IZZAM", but readers, at least in the traditionally English-speaking countries around the world, have become accustomed to "-ISM" said as it is said here, and many would object to a much longer spelling — just because it is longer, even tho it would plainly be a much better spelling — so let's just write -IZM here.
Putting this all together, then, we get: "aitheizm", "aitheist", and "aitheistic".
Saturday, March 14, 2015: "aloofe" for "aloof"
OO has two sounds, long as in "food" and short as in "good". There is absolutely no way for the reader to know which is intended, without more. This ambiguity has produced alternate pronunciations, one with long-OO and the other with short-OO, in a small number of words, such as "roof", "room", and "root".In a few words written with OO, there is more to show which OO-sound is meant: a silent-E after a consonant to indicate the long sound: "goose", "ooze", "scrooge". Let's use that convention to show the OO here to be long: "aloofe".
Friday, March 13, 2015: "agloe" for "aglow"
OW is ambiguous, having two common pronunciations, one that is an alternate spelling for the OU-sound and the other of which is an alternate spelling for the long-O sound (as in "no" and "toe"). Here, the sound is long-O, but how is anyone to know that?We could just drop the W, which would leave "aglo". That might suffice. But we can do better. The word's stress falls on the second syllable, which we can suggest by adding an -E to the O. Let's do that: "agloe".
Thursday, March 12, 2015: "vestij" for "vestige"
IGE should be pronounced as in the first part of "tiger", with a long-I and a proper G, the sound that no other letter represents. Here, however, everything is different. The I is short, and the G represents not a G-sound but J's. We have a J. Why would we use anything else to represent its sound? Let's replace the G with J and drop the final-E. Then the proper pronunciation will be as clear in Shanghai or Paris as in London or Newark. A person should not have to be raised in an English-speaking country to read English: "vestij".
Wensday, March 11, 2015: "euzhual/ly" for "usual/ly"
There are two things wrong with today's pair of words. First, the sound of the U is unclear, esp. given that it is followed by S, so some readers, esp. outside of the traditionally English-speaking countries, might see it as sounding exactly like the word "us". Actually, however, the U represents a long-U with initial Y-glide, and the S doesn't have an S-sound at all. Rather, the S combines with the following-U as, mysteriously, even magically, to represent the ZH-sound.If the first-U represents a long-U with initial Y-glide, let's write EU, as in "euphony" and "euphemism".
If the sound of the S + second-U is ZH, let's write ZH.
The rest of these paired words is fine: "euzhual" and "euzhually".
Tuesday, March 10, 2015: "tanuekee" for "tanuki"
Very few people know this unusual word, for the "raccoon dog", an animal of East Asia that different authorities regard as a member of either the dog or the raccoon family — and for its fur. We are, here, concerned not so much with meaning as with spelling the word so that everyone knows how to pronounce it, whether they know the meaning or not. The spelling is, bizarrely, a nonphonetic version, in "Continental" (European) sound values, of a Japanese word. Why would an English word from Japanese be written in a European sound system? It shouldn't. It should be written in a manner that fits English.The word's stress falls on the second syllable. "Tanukee" might or might not be adequate to indicate that. But if we add an E after the U, that should cue readers to place the stress on the middle syllable: "tanuekee".
Munday, March 9, 2015: "tiga" for "taiga"
AI is ambiguous, ordinarily being pronounced as long-A ("pain", "staid", "aim"). Sometimes, however, it represents other sounds: short-E as in "said"; short-A as in "plaid", and here and in the name of a northern antelope, "saiga", long-I. How is the reader to know which sound applies to this fairly unusual word (for a coniferous forest south of the tundra in the northern circumpolar region)?Here, the sound is long-I. Why would we confuse the issue by placing an A before the I? Without the A, the sound of the I would be clear. With it, the sound is unclear. So let's drop the A: "tiga".
Sunday, March 8, 2015: "speer" for "spear"
EA sometimes represents two vowel sounds in sequence, long-E being the first, and something else, such as schwa ("area") or long-A ("create") being the second. Here, however, the EA represents only the single sound, long-E. That sound is more clearly written EE: "speer".
Saturday, March 7, 2015: "suthern" and "sutherly" for "southern" and "southerly"
We have today two derivatives from the word "south". Altho "south" is a fine spelling, because the OU represents the standard OU-sound, in the derivatives, there is still an OU spelling but no OU-sound. Rather, the sound is an ordinary short-U, which would be clearer if we drop the O. That has the added benefit of saving us a letter in each word, which is always to the good: "suthern" and "sutherly".
____________________My thanks to "Clap..." for this suggestion.
Friday, March 6, 2015: "soo-shef" for "sous-chef"
This Food Friday, let's fix a term for an assistant to a head chef. The present spelling is perfect in French, but this is English, so the spelling is very wrong. The first problem is that there is an OU but no OU-sound. The sound is actually long-OO, which would be clear if it were written OO at the end of a word. If we retain the hyphen and write OO just before it, the sound will be clear. Otherwise, we could drop the hyphen and close up the first element and the second. But then the reader could not know whether the OO represented its long sound or short.The second problem is that the second-S, after the OU, is silent. If it's silent, why is it there? Let's just drop it, OK?
The third problem is that the CH represents not the English CH-sound, as in "church", but the French-CH, which equates with the English SH. So let's write SH instead.
Putting this all together, we get: "soo-shef".
Thursday, March 5, 2015: "scavvenj/er" for "scavenge/r"
AVE should be pronounced with a long-A ("save", "cave", "raven"), but the sound here is short. To show that, we need merely double the following-V. The second issue is that there is a G that represents not G's own, unique sound (as in "geek", "geese", and "geezer"), but the J-sound. If the sound is J, we should write J: "scavvenj/er".
Wensday, March 4, 2015: "siga" for "saiga"
AI should represent either the long-A in "paid" and "stain" or the AI-sound in "fair" and "stairs". Here, however, it is intended to be read as long-I. We've got to reduce the number of different sounds that attach to various spellings. Here, we can show the proper long-I simply by dropping the needless and confusing A: "siga".
Tuesday, March 3, 2015: "rumatoid" for "rheumatoid"
There are two superfluous letters in today's word, the H and the E, both of which are silent. If they are silent, why are they there? There is no way to justify the presence of either letter. The H has definitely got to go. The E also makes no sense, in that EU is a spelling for long-U with an initial Y-glide ("euphemism", "euphoria", "eucalyptus"), but there is never a long-U with initial Y-glide after R in the same syllable. Never. So let's drop both the H and the E, save ourselves two letters, and make clearer the actual sounds of the word: "rumatoid".
Munday, March 2, 2015: "pristeen" for "pristine"
INE is a highly ambiguous spelling, most commonly pronounced with either a long-I ("refine") or short-I sound ("adrenaline"). Here, however, the sound is long-E! To show that, let us replace the INE with EEN: "pristeen".
Sunday, March 1, 2015: "peeruwett" for "pirouette"
In French, the language from which today's word derives, this spelling is perfect. But English is not French, and in English there are some problems. First is that the I represents neither of I's sounds in English, long as in "I" and "pie"; short as in "it" and "pit". No, the sound here is long-E, which is most clearly shown by EE. Let's use that.The second problem is the three-letter vowel cluster OUE. The first two appear to represent the English OU-sound, but instead represent a long-U without an initial Y-glide. After an R, U by itself would show that easily, since there is never a Y-glide in a U-sound after R.
It is, of course, possible to see, in a vowel grouping OUE, the O standing on its own and the UE combining. That would seem a very odd sound sequence for people raised in English, but literally billions of people today who would like to use English were not raised in it, so will not know that.
If, however, we treat the OU as one vowel sound and the E after it as starting a second vowel sound, we should show that the two sounds divide at that point. The way to show that is with a W, to indicate the W-glide between the two adjoining vowel sounds.
That leads to the very end of the word, where ETTE is a diminutive that is written to indicate that the word's stress falls on the last syllable. We could leave that, or we could save a letter by dropping the -E, which would leave ETT, which readers should easily see as taking the word's stress. Let's save a letter: "peeruwett".
Saturday, Febuary 28, 2015: "feenobarbitall" for "phenobarbital"
There are two problems at the beginning and one at the end of today's word. The first problem is at the very start of the word, where the absurd spelling PH is used to represent a simple F-sound. PH is pronounced as it should be, a sequence of the P-sound and the H-sound, in words like "uphill" and "upheaval", and it is absurd to use PH other than in that way. So the PH has got to go, to be replaced by F.The second problem is that the ENO could well be seen as having a short-E sound ("tenor", "genocide", "cenotaph"), but here, the sound is long-E. To show that unambiguously, we need merely double the E.
The last problem is at the very end of the word, where AL could be read with a short-A, as in the nickname "Al", "alimony", and "albacore". Here, however, the vowel is the AU-sound of "all", "ball", and "call". To show that clearly, we need merely add a second-L: "feenobarbitall".
Friday, Febuary 27, 2015: "porrij" for "porridge"
This Food Friday word has the preposterous and hugely inefficient spelling DGE to convey a sound that is easily represented by the unambiguous single letter J. Let's drop the D, G, and E, and simply write J instead: "porrij".
____________________My thanks to "Caste..." for this suggestion.
Thursday, Febuary 26, 2015: "poze" for "pose"
Even short, frequently encountered words sometimes need reform. Today's four-letter word has one letter wrong. The S stands in for a Z. We have a Z for that sound. Why would we not use it?: "poze".
Wensday, Febuary 25, 2015: "pervasiv" for "pervasive"
This is easy. IVE should be pronounced with a long-I sound, as in "strive", "dive",and "alive". Here, it is pronounced with a short-I. To show that, we need merely delete the final-E, which will also, happily, save us a letter: "pervasiv".
Tuesday, Febuary 24, 2015: "patajeum" and (plural) "patajea" for "patagium" and "patagia"
We all know what the thing is that this unusual word refers to, the fold of loose skin that, when stretched out, allows flying squirrels to glide between trees. But the word itself is not well known, and its spelling is absurd. For one thing, it contains a G that does not represent G's own unique sound, represented by no other letter, as in "grist", "government", and "gift". No, here the sound is that of an entirely different letter, J. If that's the sound, that's the letter we should use.A second problem presents itself immediately after the inappropriate G. The I in the IU represents not a long-I sound, which a reader should be able to rely upon ("triumph"), but a long-E. Why? If the sound is long-E, let's write E: "patajeum" and, plural, "patajea".
Munday, Febuary 23, 2015: "aclude" for "occlude"
OCC should indicate a short-O, but here, the vowel sound is schwa. Schwa is most clearly indicated by A ("astounding", "America", "appalling"), so let's use that: "aclude".
Sunday, Febuary 22, 2015: "naybob" for "nabob"
The current spelling suggests that the A is pronounced as a schwa, in a word that bears stress in the second syllable. In actuality, the A is pronounced as long-A, even as the word's stress does fall on the second syllable. To indicate that, we need to show the long-A in itself, not by what follows it. There are two spellings that would make that plain, AI and AY. Ordinarily, AI would be the better spelling within a word. But here, AY seems more appropriate, because it at once indicates a long-A sound and stress on the first syllable: "naybob".
Saturday, Febuary 21, 2015: "micaceous" for "micaishus"
CEOUS is a preposterous spelling for something that sounds like "shus" (where the U represents the schwa sound). Let us replace it with what it sounds like, "shus". A second issue is the sound of the A. It's long. If we replace the -CEOUS with -SHUS, we would have "micashus", which would likely be seen by many readers as being pronounced mík.a.shas, or, if the reader sees the -SH following the A as signaling a short vowel, in that a two-letter consonant cluster would ordinarily signal that the vowel before it (the A) is short, mi.káa.shas. We therefore need to show the long-A sound within the spelling of the vowel itself, not by what follows it. To show a long-A midword, English most commonly employs AI, so let's write that: "micaishus".
Friday, Febuary 20, 2015: "moosocka" for "moussaka"
This Food Friday, we have an OU but no OU-sound. Why? The actual sound is long-U without an initial Y-glide (that is, not the long-U in "pure", which does have an initial Y-glide). That sound is also conceived of as long-OO, as in "food". OU for that sound is not English, but French. Why would this word have a French spelling? It's the name of a GREEK casserole. The Microsoft Works Dictionary says of the word's etymology, "[Mid-20th century. Via Turkish musakka < Arabic musakka]". So why on Earth does today's word have a partially-French spelling if its antecedents are Turkish and Arabic? I imagine a fully French spelling would be more like "mousaca" or "moussacca". The current English spelling is thus truly bizarre. Let's fix it.The first fix is to substitute OO for the OU (which would give us "moossaka"). The second is to eliminate the needless second-S ("moosaka"). The third is to replace the A with O, because the A* represents neither of A's own sounds, long as in "bay" and short as in "bat", but rather a short-O, reconceived as "broad"-A. If the sound is short-O, let's write O ("moosoka"). The fourth change would be to replace the single-K with either a double-K or CK to show that the O is short ("moosokka" or "moosocka"). KK is so unusual as to seem to most people "un-English", so let's use CK to show that the O is short. Now, after four little changes, we have a spelling that clearly represents, to native speakers of English, the sounds** of the name of this Greek casserole: "moosocka".
____________________
* Altho I have mentioned this before, I offer now a reminder that in this project, I ordinarily underscore the capital letters "A" and "I" when I use them by themselves, to distinguish them from the ordinary words "a" and "I".** There is a secondary pronunciation of this word, mùe.sa.kóq (hwair the Q is silent, written only to close the O at the end to show it is short. This puristic European pronunciation will seem to most people to be affected, so we need not feel any need to accommodate it with a different sspelling. "Moosocka" could of course also represent that European pronunciation, so should suffice for both, even tho it is clearly more appropriate to the usual English pronunciation, mue.sók.a.
Thursday, Febuary 19, 2015: "meticculus" for "meticulous"
There are two small problems with the traditional spelling of today's word. First in importance, tho in the last part of the word, is that there is an OU but no OU-sound. That is very easily fixed by dropping the misleading O. That would leave -US, which will be read right, as having a schwa sound.The less important of the problems is that the MET- at the beginning of the word is ambiguous. Some readers will see the familiar word "me" there, with a long-E; others will see a different frequently encountered word, "met". The problem arises largely because the word is four syllables long, and where the stress lies determines the sounds in other syllables. If we make evident that the stress falls on the second syllable, a schwa sound in the first syllable becomes more likely, which means we don't have to double the T to show that the E is short — and in fact it is neither short nor long, but a schwa. To shift attention from the first-syllable question to later in the word, we need merely double the C. Now, most readers will pronounce the word right: "meticculus".
Wensday, Febuary 18, 2015: "moalt" for "molt"
A vowel followed by two consonants should be given its short sound, but here, the O is pronounced long. To show that, we need a spelling for the vowel that clearly indicates long-O. OA, as in "roast", "coal", and "toad", would seem to fill the bill quite nicely.
Tuesday, Febuary 17, 2015: "meteorollojy" and "meteorollojist" for "meteorology" and "meteorologist"
These paired words share two problems. First, a single-L is unclear as to whether the O before it is long or short. It's short, which would be clearer if we double the L. Second, there is a G in each word, but no G-sound, as in "gift". Rather, the sound is that of J, so let's write J, in both places: "meteorollojy" and "meteorollojist".
Munday, Febuary 16, 2015: "mackeavellean" for "Machiavellian"
The CH here does not have the English CH-sound, as in "church". Rather, it represents the English K-sound. After a short-A, as here, we would have to double the K or use CK. CK seems the better choice. As for the sound of the first-A, it is not, as one might expect of an Italian surname (today's word comes from Niccolò Machiavelli, a political philosopher of the early 16th Century), pronounced in the Italian fashion, with a "broad"-A (the same sound as English short-O), but with an English short-A.There are two occurrences of the vowel sequence IA, but in neither is there a long-I sound, as in "hiatus" and "diameter". Rather, the I's are said as long-E's. If that is the sound, that should as well be the spelling: EA, twice. The rest of the word is OK, except that we don't need a capital-M, because it is now an ordinary word, not a surname.
Putting this all together, we arrive at: "mackeavellean".
Sunday, Febuary 15, 2015: "litijjus" for "litigious"
There are a number of problems with the traditional spelling of today's word. First, there is a G that does not represent G's unique sound, represented by no other letter, as in "give", giddy", and "gibbon", but the J-sound, which is much better and more clearly represented by J. In fact, there are two problems with this G, because it needs either an I or E after it to be seen as expressing a J-sound, and that introduces an otherwise useless or even misleading I into the spelling. If we substitute J, we can drop the I.The J-sound follows a short-I. To show that, we need to double the J.
Finally, there is an OU where there is no OU-sound. If we drop the O, the remaining U will be seen correctly, as representing a schwa: "litijjus".
Saturday, Febuary 14, 2015: "krahl" for "kraal", "craal", and "craul"
Some native peoples in rural Africa, esp. South Africa, live in villages surrounded by a stockade, and/or corral their cattle inside a fence, sometimes made from thornbush, for protection from large predators. The usual spelling in South Africa for the stockade or corral is "kraal", but there are two variants, "craal", and the especially misleading "craul". Let's get rid of all those spellings and substitute something clear, which shows that the vowel is short-O, also conceived of as "broad"-A. OL would be problematic ("krol"), in that OL is often seen as having a long-O ("cold"), or the AU-sound ("alcohol"). AH, by contrast, is pretty unambiguous: "krahl".
Friday, Febuary 13, 2015: "jumbaliya" for "jambalaya"
Two problems present themselves in today's Food Friday word. First, the A after the J does not represent any A sound, not long as in "ate", not short as in "at", not "broad", as in "father". Rather, the sound is short-U, as in "up". So we need to substitute a correct U for the incorrect A.Second, the A before the Y does not represent any of A's sounds either, but long-I. So let's replace it with I: "jumbaliya".
Thursday, Febuary 12, 2015: "im/perveus" for "im/pervious"
There are two things wrong with this pair of words. First, the I toward the end represents a long-E sound. Why? If the sound is E, let's write E. Second, there is an OU but no OU-sound. If we drop the O, the U remaining will be read correctly, as a schwa. So let's drop the O, as will at once make the sounds completely clear and save ourselves a letter: "imperveus" and the much less common "perveus".
Wensday, Febuary 11, 2015: "gruj" and "beegruj" for "grudge" and "begrudge"
DGE is one of the stupidest and most cumbersome and inefficient ways to write a sound, which the letter J, without more, expresses clearly. So let's dump the DGE and substitute J. In the related word "begrudge", we need a second change, to add a second-E to the one already present, because any vowel followed by two consonants (here, GR) should be understood as being short, whereas the sound here is actually long: "gruj" and "beegruj".
Tuesday, Febuary 10, 2015: "felissity" for "felicity"
CITY is a frequently encountered word, which takes stress on its first syllable. The C-I-T-Y in today's word has nothing to do with the word "city", so "felicity" is not the city of "feli". And the stress pattern falls not on the third syllable, but the second. To show that, while retaining the S-sound of the current C, we need to change the C to S and double it: "felissity".
Munday, Febuary 9, 2015: "emminent" for "eminent"
The first-E here is short, but a single-M following is insufficient to show that. We need a double-M, as in the similar word "imminent": "emminent".
Sunday, Febuary 8, 2015: "doalt" for "dolt"
This insult is fairly unusual nowadays but is still very much part of the language, so should be made phonetically clear. A vowel followed by a two-letter consonant cluster will ordinarily be seen as short. But here, the sound is long-O, which we need to show within the spelling of the vowel itself, not by what follows it. OE might be read right, but sometimes OE represents two syllables ("poet") and other times, it represents a long-E sound ("amoeba"). One other spelling presents itself: OA, as in "toad" and "roast". Altho OA can also sound in two syllables ("coadjutant"), most readers would more ordinarily see that sound combination at the end of a word ("boa", "protozoa"). There is rarely an absolutely unambiguous spelling in English (e.g., the word "a", one letter, has two pronunciations, one as long-A, the other as schwa), but here, OA should do nicely: "doalt".
Saturday, Febuary 7, 2015: "dennigrate" for "denigrate"
DE is a frequent prefix, commonly pronounced with a long-E, as in "denial", which also happens to start with the same first four letters. Here, however, the sound is short-E. To show that, we need merely double the following-N: "dennigrate".
Friday, Febuary 6, 2015: "chutnee" for "chutney"
This Food Friday, let's fix an ambiguous EY, which could be read as representing a long-A sound, as in "hey", "they", and "survey". Here, the sound is long-E, which would be much clearer if written either -Y or -EE. -Y tends to be used in adjectives and adverbs, whereas this word is a noun. So EE would be better: "chutnee".
Thursday, Febuary 5, 2015: "centrippetal" for "centripetal"
Many readers will be tempted to pronounce the traditional spelling something like "séntry-pètal", with primary stress on the first syllable and secondary stress on the third. The actual pattern is a single stressed syllable, the second. To show that, we need merely double the P: "centrippetal".
Wensday, Febuary 4, 2015: "cavvity" for "cavity"
A reader, especially a new reader, might be inclined to see CAV- as in the familiar word "cave", with a long-A. The vowel sound here is actually short-A, which we can show clearly by doubling the V: "cavvity".
Tuesday, Febuary 3, 2015: "cadmeum" for "cadmium"
IU should be pronounced with a long-I sound, as in "triumph", "triumvirate", and "diurnal". But here, the I represents a long-E. If the sound is E, let's write E: "cadmeum".
Munday, Febuary 2, 2015: "bloveate" for "bloviate"
IA should be pronounced with a long-I, not long-E. If the sound sequence is long-E + an A-sound, we should write E: "bloveate".
Sunday, Febuary 1, 2015: "alpacca" for "alpaca"
As in many other words, a single consonant between vowels leaves the sound of the preceding vowel unclear. Is that A long or short? It's short, and the way to show that plainly is to double the C: "alpacca".
Saturday, January 31, 2015: "ajure" for "adjure"
The D in this word is worse than superfluous. It actually misleads the reader to think that the preceding-A takes its short sound, whereas the sound is actually schwa. So let's just drop it, OK?: "ajure".
Friday, January 30, 2015: "abomminable" and "abommination" for "abominable" and "abomination"
A single-M leaves unclear whether the preceding-O is long or short. It's short. To show that clearly, we should double the M. That has the added advantage of cuing the reader to the fact that the primary stress in "abominable" falls on the second syllable. In "abomination", the reader is unlikely to be misled as to the word's syllabic stress, in that -ATION is an element frequently encountered, which takes primary stress. The double-M then falls into place as indicating the secondary stress. Thus, we can still show that the O is short by doubling the M, without misleading the reader as to the overall word's stress pattern: "abomminable" and "abommination".
Thursday, January 29, 2015: "verritay" for "vérité" and "verite"
English does not use written accents, so the two (acute) accents have to go. As regards representing the sounds of the word, the first-E is fine, but the second represents a long-A sound, which should, at the end of a word, be written -AY, One issue remains, whether the R should be single or doubled. In that the E before it is short, or the first element in the ER-sound, doubling the R would seem advisable: "verritay".
Wensday, January 28, 2015: "eureethra" for "urethra"
A two-letter consonant cluster (here, TH) often, even usually, signals that the vowel before it is short. In this word's traditional spelling, there is actually a three-letter consonant cluster, THR, which would surely signal a short vowel before it. But the sound here is long. To indicate that, we need to show the long-E within the spelling of the vowel itself, not by what follows it. The simplest and clearest spelling for long-E is EE, so let's use that.As for the start of the word, the sound of the U is unclear. Even if we can see it as long, because there is an E after the R, the question remains as to whether there is a Y-glide before the U sound. There is. We could show that two ways, first by writing Y, second by writing E. E will probably be more easily accepted, so let's write that: "eureethra".
Tuesday, January 27, 2015: "truj" for "trudge"
DGE is a preposterous and hugely inefficient way to spell the J-sound. We have a single letter that represents that sound clearly, the J: "truj".
Munday, January 26, 2015: "sindrome" for "syndrome"
Why is there a Y in this word? Midword, Y should be reserved for the long-I sound ("dynamo", "hybrid", "cytoplasm"). The sound here is short-I, which is much better written with I: "sindrome".
____________________My thanks to "Jacke..." for this suggestion.
Sunday, January 25, 2015: "solillokwee" for "soliloquy"
There are three things wrong with today's word. First, the I before a single-L could be seen as long, whereas it is actually short. If we double the L, the preceding-I will be seen properly, as short. Second, a double-L would cue the reader to stress the second of this word's four syllables, which is all to the good. Third, QUY is a peculiar letter sequence, likely to cause confusion in many readers, for being susceptible to differing interpretations as to sound. For one thing, QU sometimes does not have a KW-sound, but only a K-sound ("quinoa", "quetzal", "queue"). For another, -Y is sometimes pronounced as long-I ("qualify", "my", "nearby"), but here it has a long-E, which would be clearer if written EE, especially given that -Y is used more for adjectives than nouns: "solillokwee".
Saturday, January 24, 2015: "snivvel" for "snivel"
IVE should be pronounced with a long-I, as in "jive", "strive", and "dive". The sound here is short-I. To show that, we need to double the V: "snivvel".
Friday, January 23, 2015: "shrivvel" for "shrivel"
There is a word "shrive", which is pronounced with a long-I. That is not the sound here, which is short-I. To show that, we need to double the V: "shrivvel".
Thursday, January 22, 2015: "salukee" for "Saluki"
This name for a slender hunting dog originally from Egypt, has a final-I, which could well be read as having a long-I sound (as in "hi", "cacti", and "hippopotami") but actually has a long-E sound. The clearest spelling of that sound is EE, so let's use that.One other issue exists in this word, a capital-S at the start. It's just a breed of dog, not a person's name. If we don't capitalize "poodle" or "dachshund", we shouldn't capitalize this breed's name either: "salukee".
Wensday, January 21, 2015: "reffuje" for "refuge"
RE is a common prefix, commonly pronounced with a long-E. Here, however, the E is short, and one customary way to show a short vowel is by doubling the consonant thereafter, here, the F.The second issue with today's word is the consonant sound at the end of the word, which is J. Bizarrely, as so often occurs in traditional English spelling, G stands in for that J. It shouldn't. G has its own sound, as in "gear", "get", and "gecko", and should stick to it. J, on the other hand, should be used for all J-sounds.
Here, the E after the G serves two purposes, first to mark the G as "soft" (the J-sound), and second, to show that the U before the G is long. Once we change the G to J, we don't need an E to show the consonant's sound, but we still need it to show the sound of the U to be long: "reffuje".
Tuesday, January 20, 2015: "kintarr" for "qintar" and "qindar"
This obscure word of two spellings (for 1/100th of the Albanian currency, the lek) uses a Q without a U, which is un-English. That Q merely represents the English K-sound. We have a K. Why would we use a Q?The spelling with a D appears to be the variant, whereas that with a T, the standard. So let's use T.
The last issue is that the word's stress falls on the last syllable. To indicate that, we could write "kintarre", but perhaps the final-E isn't necessary: "kintarr".
Munday, January 19, 2015: "plazma" and "plazm" for "plasma" and "plasm"
We have here another two of the innumerable words in which an S stands in for Z, but shouldn't: "plazma" and "plazm".
____________________My thanks to "Firewall..." for "plazma"
Sunday, January 18, 2015: "plasser" for "placer"
"Place" and "placer" differ by only one letter, but are pronounced very differently. To show the proper pronunciation of "placer", we should replace the C with double-S: "plasser".
Saturday, January 17, 2015: "pizazz" for "pizzazz", "pizazz", and "pizzaz"
The familiar food term "pizza" is the largest part of two versions of today's word, but sounds nothing like this word. Rather, the Z's are all pronounced as Z. To eliminate confusion with "pizza", let's eliminate the double-Z in the middle of the word. We can retain the double-Z at the end of the word, however, to cue the reader to the unusual stress, on the last syllable: "pizazz".
____________________My thanks to "Robert..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.
Friday, January 16, 2015: "ordeel" for "ordeal"
EA, especially before L, is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced in two syllables, as in the more formal pronunciation of "real". Here, the sound is a simple long-E, which is best shown by EE: "ordeel".
Thursday, January 15, 2015: "nomdagair/s" for "nom de guerre" and "noms de guerre"
English is not French, but this word is treated as tho it is French, even tho there is no usage label in English dictionaries to indicate it is foreign. The DE is pronounced with a schwa, and the ERRE is pronounced as tho written AIR. So let's write them, respectively, as A and AIR.The plural, "noms de guerre", is distinctly un-English, and some dictionaries do, but others do not, pronounce the S, albeit as a Z-sound. Let's eliminate all ambiguities and treat this term as a single English word, pluralized in the standard English way, by addition of an S, tho pronounced as if Z: "nomdagair" and, plural, "nomdagairs".
Wensday, January 14, 2015: "mellameen" for "melamine"
There are two problems with today's word. First, the single-L permits the reader to see the E before it as long, but it's short. To show that clearly, let's double the L.Second, INE is unpredictable, sometimes being pronounced with a long-I ("divine", "incline", "aniline"), other times with a short-I ("adrenaline", "heroine", "engine"), and still other times, as here, with a long-E ("brilliantine", "quarantine", "ravine"). If the sound is long-E, and it is here, let's write EEN: "mellameen".
Tuesday, January 13, 2015: "meersham" for "meerschaum"
There are two problems in today's word. First, SCH is ambiguous, and could well represent a two-element S-K sound sequence, whereas it actually represents the single SH-sound. Second, the inclusion of a U in the second syllable is confusing. Altho some people do use an AU-sound here, most do not. And an AU sound can be read from a plain A ("already", "ward"). People who use the pronounciation with an AU-sound in the second syllable can retain the entire traditional spelling, with both a C and an AU; or accept a hybrid spelling, which drops the C but retains the U. For everyone else, the simplest spelling is: "meersham".
Munday, January 12, 2015: "macaddam" for "macadam"
If this word had kept its original spelling, McAdam, for the Scottish civil engineer (John Loudon M~) who developed this paving technique, the pronunciation would be clear. But when it was changed to include an A before the C, the sound became unclear. To restore clarity as to where the syllabic stress lies, we need to double the D: "macaddam".
Sunday, January 11, 2015: "loonee" for "loony" and "loonie"
This informal term for the Canadian dollar coin is easily confused with the term for bizarre or insane, which is spelled three different ways, "loony", "looney", and "luny". Here, we have a fourth spelling, "loonie"! I already offered "looney" for the adjective.* Let's reform the noun today.This task is complicated by the fact that OO has two pronunciations, long as in "food" and short as in "good". In some words, different people will use different sounds, as in "roof" and "root". It would help the reader to see the OO as long if there is a silent-E after a consonant immediately following the OO. In the adjective, then, I chose "looney". In the noun, neither of the present spellings has an E after the N. But we can use EE for the long-E sound at the end of the word, which gives us the silent-E we need to signal that the OO is long. EE is also more indicative of a noun than is either -Y or -IE: "loonee".
____________________* See December 10, 2014.
Saturday, January 10, 2015: "grandeose" for "grandiose"
Why is there an IO in this word? There is no I-sound here. Rather, the sound is long-E, so we should write the word with an E: "grandeose".
Friday, January 9, 2015: "forthrite" for "forthright"
Silent-GH is one of the most astonishingly stupid conventions in traditional English spelling, and should be abolished everywhere. To fix the problem here, we need merely drop the GH entirely and add a silent-E after the T: "forthrite".
Thursday, January 8, 2015: "emporeum" for "emporium"
Why is there an IU near the end of this word? There is no I-sound, as in "triumphant". Rather, the I stands in for a long-E. We have an E. Let's use it: "emporeum".
Wensday, January 7, 2015: "dismorfea", "dismorfizm", and "dismorfic" for "dysmorphia", "dysmorphism", and "dysmorphic"
The first two of these three related words from biology*/anatomy have two problems in common. First, a Y stands in for a short-I sound, whereas I would do fine in those places. Second, the absurd, inefficient, and misleading ("uphold", "upheaval", "hophead") two-letter consonant cluster PH stands in for a simple F-sound. We have an F. Let's use it.A third problem appears in "dysmorphia", an IA representing a long-E sound followed by schwa. If the sound is long-E, why would we write an I?
A fourth problem appears in the form "dysmorphism", an S standing in for a Z-sound. We have a letter for that sound, Z. Let's use it: "dismorfea", "dismorfizm", and "dismorfic".
____________________* Dysmorphia: "malformation; an abnormality in the shape or size of a body part." — Dictionary.com.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015: "dynamommeter" and "dynamomettric/al" for "dynamometer" and "dynamometric/al"
"Dynamometer" could be read as being pronounced díe.na.moe.mèe.ter, whereas it is actually pronounced dìe.na.móm.a.têr. To show that clearly, we need merely double the second-M. In the even longer word "dynamometric" or "dynamometrical", a different syllable is stressed, which we should and can easily show, by doubling the T: "dynamommeter", "dynamomettric/al".
Munday, January 5, 2015: "druze" and "druzy" for "druse" and "drusy"
These related words from geology* have S standing in for a Z-sound. We have a Z for that sound. Why would we not use it?: "druze" and "druzy".
____________________* Druse: "A rock cavity lined with a crust of projecting crystals." — Oxford Dictionaries.
Sunday, January 4, 2015: "curtin" for "curtain"
AI is an odd, inefficient, and misleading way to spell a schwa sound, given that there are many words in which AI represents long-A ("rain", "waist", and, parallel to today's word, "maintain"). Altho AN at the end of a word is often pronounced with schwa ("American", "organ", "caiman"), in many other words, it takes a full short-A ("caftan", "deadpan", "handyman"). So let's not use AN. IN would be closer to the right sound, even if one were to pronounce it with a full short-I rather than schwa: "curtin".
Saturday, January 3, 2015: "cubberd" for "cupboard"
There is no P-sound in today's word, so the P has got to go. That would leave a single-B, which would in turn render unclear whether the U before it is long or short. It's short, so we need to double the B.The second syllable has an OA, which many readers would be justified in seeing as having a long-O ("roast", "afloat", "moan"). That is not the sound here, which is the sound most commonly written ER. So let's replace the OA with E: "cubberd".
Friday, January 2, 2015: "conceet" for "conceit"
EI is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced as long-E ("weird", "seize", and the more common pronunciation of "either" and "neither"); other times being pronounced as long-I ("sleight", "heist", and the less-common pronunciation of "n/either"); still other times being pronounced in two syllables ("albeit", "atheism", "caducei"), long-A ("weight", "beige", "reins"), and even short-E (as some people pronounce "leisure"). The sound here is long-E, which is most clearly written EE: "conceet".
Thursday, January 1, 2015: "compoazhur" for "composure"
The last part of the traditional spelling of today's word is SURE, which as a word to itself is pronounced shuer, with an SH-sound. Here, however, it takes a ZH-sound. URE should be pronounced as a long-U ("brochure", as the great majority of native speakers pronounce it), "allure", "endure"). But in today's word the URE is pronounced as the ER-sound, which could also be spelled UR (as in "urge", "urban", and "urn").The quick fix for the S/ZH problem is simply to change the S to ZH. But that throws into question how to pronounce the preceding-O, which can easily be seen as long when followed by a single consonant (the S in the traditional spelling), but would more likely be seen as short when followed by two or more consonants (the ZH that should replace the S). So we have to show the quality of the O in the spelling of the vowel, not the consonant/s that might follow it.
OH and OA are reasonably clear in showing a long-O, but OH midword is unusual ("ohm", "kohl", "kohlrabi", and very little else) . So let's use OA.
For the end of the word, we could write ER, but since there's a U in the traditional spelling, and UR would be a clear spelling for that sound, let's use UR: "compoazhur".
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.