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Thursday, March 31, 2015: "passwerd" for "password"
The letter sequence OR has two common sounds before the R: the AU-sound, as in "haul" and a short-O, as in "borrow". Neither of those sounds occurs in today's word. Rather, the sound of the vowel is that of what is most frequently written ER ("better", "ermine", and "service"), but also UR ("urn", "absurd", and "insurgency") and AR ("beggar", "library", and "afterward/s". ER being the most frequent spelling of this sound, let's use that: "passwerd".
____________________My thanks to "FireW..." for this suggestion.
Wensday, March 30, 2015: "protaggonist" for "protagonist"
A single-G leaves unclear the sound of the preceding-A. Is it long? Is it short? It's short. To show that clearly, we need merely double the G: "protaggonist".
Tuesday, March 29, 2015: "primerry" for "primary"
ARY is wrong for the sound here, which is a short-E before the R-sound, as in words like "berry", "cherry", and "merry". Let's spell this word in the same fashion as in those words: "primerry".
Munday, March 28, 2015: "premeum" for "premium"
We have again the wrong letter in the second syllable. The sound is long-E, but it is spelled with an I. Let's just write E: "premeum".
Sunday, March 27, 2015: "pascul" for "paschal"
For this Easter, let's fix the adjective that means "relating to Easter" (or Passover). CH should be reserved to the CH-sound, as in "church", but here, it represents an ordinary K-sound, which before A, O, and U can be spelled C. So let's do that.If we merely remove the H, we get "pascal", a unit of pressure, pronounced very differently. But if we also change the second-A tu U, we get a clear spelling, and save ourselves a letter, which is always to the good: "pascul".
Saturday, March 26, 2015: "povverty" for "poverty"
The single-V of this word leaves the reader thinking the O before it is long ("over", "rove", "drove"). It's actually short. To show that, we should use the quick and common convention of doubling the following consonant, here, the V: "povverty".
Friday, March 25, 2015: "pottij" for "pottage"
It's Food Friday again. Let's fix a term for a thick vegetable, or meat and vegetable, soup. AGE is a word to itself, pronounced with a long-A, as also in words like "page", "stage", and "outrage". That's not the sound here, which is a schwa so close to a short-I that we might best write an I. After the I, we have a GE that is an inefficient and unreasonable way to spell a simple J-sound. We have a letter for that sound, the J. Let's use it here: "pottij".
Thursday, March 24, 2015: "polemmic/al" for "polemic/al"
The E in today's related words is short, but the reader cannot know that, because a single-M after it does not plainly show that. To make clear that the E is short, we should double the M: "polemmic" and "polemmical".
Wensday, March 23, 2015: "polarrity" for "polarity"
AR is commonly pronounced with a "broad"-A, or short-O (the same sound), as in "jar", "carton", and "starlet". When the sequence is short-A plus an R-sound, the R is often doubled ("arrow", "barrel", "arrogant"). Let's do that here: "polarrity".
Tuesday, March 22, 2015: "poiz" for "poise"
We have here another of those multitudinous words in which an S stands for a Z-sound. If the sound is Z, let's write Z. There is also a needless -E at the end of the word, which serves no purpose so can be dropped: "poiz".
Munday, March 21, 2015: "platoe" and (plural) "platoes" for "plateau" and (plural) "plateaus" or "plateaux"
EAU is a ridiculous way, in English, to write the long-O sound. EAUX is an even more ridiculous way to write a long-O plus Z sound. Mind you, the S that marks a plural but often takes a Z-sound is a stupid way to write that Z-sound, but since it is a grammatical marker, we are pretty much stuck with it.O-alone at the end of the singular of today's word might suffice ("plato") except for two things. First, "Plato" is a very famous person, and the spelling of his name, with a very different pronunciation, precludes our using that spelling for "plateau"; and second, OE is a better way to write a long-O sound and also indicate stress on that syllable.
For the plural, we need to abolish the very-French, and thus very un-English, use of an X, and replace it with the standard marker of the plural in English, S: "platoe" and (plural) "platoes".
____________________My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.
Sunday, March 20, 2015: "paitreork" for "patriarch"
The two-letter consonant cluster TR should be read as marking the prior vowel short, but the A before it is long, so we have to show that within the spelling of the vowel itself. There are two customary ways to write a long-A, AI and AY. Midword, AI is more common, so let's write that.A second problem is an IA for the sound sequence long-E plus "broad"-A, or short-O, the same sound. If the sound is long-E, why would we write an I. Moreover, why would we use an A for a short-O sound? Let's switch to EO.
The last problem in today's word is a CH that represents not the usual CH-sound, as in "chaffinch", but the sound of K. We have a K. If the sound is K, let's write K.
Putting this all together, we get: "paitreork".
Saturday, March 19, 2015: "peanno" for "piano"
Why would we write IA for the sound sequence long-E plus short-A? If the sound is long-E, we should write an E. We can leave the following-A, but to show that it is short, we need to double the N: "peanno".
____________________My thanks to "Boath..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.
Friday, March 18, 2015: "pettyfor" for "petit four"
This Food Friday, let's fix the spelling of a French term for very small cakes (the literal translation is "little oven", not "little cake"). The French spelling is fine in French, but pronounced differently (poo.tée fuer). In English, however, the spelling is very wrong. The actual sound is just like the words "petty" and "for" pushed together in one word. So let's write this term that way. The French phrase pluralizes both the first and second words ("petits fours"), but an anglicized version pluralizes only the second ("petit fours"). If we turn the phrase into a single word, we eliminate the question of whether to pluralize the first part. So today's phrase resolves to: "pettyfor" (singular) and "pettyfors" (plural).
____________________My thanks to "braeden..." for this suggestion.
Thursday, March 17, 2015: "plurisy", "plura", and "plurittic" for "pleurisy", "pleura", and "pleuritic"
There is no reason for an E to be in any of today's related words, so let's just drop it, OK? In the adjective, a single-T is ambiguous, and could indicate a long-I before it, whereas the sound is short-I, which we can show clearly by doubling the T. So today's triple-play is: "plurisy", "plura", and "plurittic".
Wensday, March 16, 2015: "plaijeoclase" for "plagioclase"
In the present spelling, many readers may see the first-A as short, whereas it is actually long. To show that, we need to write the vowel sound clearly within itself, not by what follows it. AI or AY would accomplish that, but AI is more common midword, so let's use that.In a second issue, the G represents not G's own sound ("hard"-G) but the sound of J. We have a letter J, so should just use that.
A third issue is that IO is employed to represent the sound sequence long-E plus schwa. Why would we write I if the sound is long-E?
There is even a fourth issue in this four-syllable word, the sound of the S. The preferred pronunciation reads that as S's own sound, but an alternative pronunciation assigns a Z-sound to the S. If we wanted to banish the pronunciation with a Z-sound, we could replace the -ASE with -AISS, but there's probably little harm in letting people who say a Z-sound continue to do that, so let's leave the -ASE: "plaijeoclase".
Tuesday, March 15, 2015: "plumij" for "plumage"
Today's word includes the letter sequence AGE, which is a word to itself, pronounced with a long-A. That is not the vowel sound here, which is, instead, a schwa so close to short-I that we might better write an I. Following that vowel is the sound of the consonant J. But there's no J in the spelling. Why not? Why would we use two letters, GE, for what one letter, J, does perfectly well? Moreover, GE is ambiguous, because G has its own sound, carried by no other letter, as in "get", "gecko", and "gearbox". That is not the sound here, so why would we write it as tho it could be?We should thus make two little changes to render this word both clear and efficient, and in the process save ourselves a letter, which is all to the good: "plumij".
Munday, March 14, 2015: "percepchual" for "perceptual"
T does not spell the CH-sound as in "chaffinch". CH does: "percepchual".
Sunday, March 13, 2015: "saultur" for "Psalter" and "psalter"
Today's word has a ridiculous and indefensible silent-P. That has got to go.A second issue is the ER, which suggests that this word refers to an active agent, such as a "buyer", "worker", or "driver". That is not the case. To show the sound without that implication, we can change the vowel before the R, from E to, say, O, U, or A. O, however, is sometimes used to show agency ("bettor", "actor"), so that is not a good alternative. Of the remaining choices, AR is also occasionally used to indicate agency ("beggar", "burglar"). U thus seems least likely to suggest to the reader that the word refers to someone who does something, so let's use that.
The last issue is minor, as to whether to capitalize the word in all occurrences or lowercase it unless it falls at the start of a word. I see no compelling reason to treat this word specially, so advocate that it be treated like any other word as regards capitalization, which is to say, generally, that it should NOT be capitalized: "saultur".
Saturday, March 12, 2015: "parrapraxis" for "parapraxis"
This term for a psychologically significant slip of the tongue is for the most part not a bad spelling, but it does employ a single-R after an A, when everyone who grows up in an English-speaking country knows that AR is usually pronounced with a "broad"-A or short-O (the same sound), as in "bar", "afar", and "startle". The sound here, however, is a regular short-A, which, before an R-sound, is regularly shown by a double-R following the A: "narrow", "barrel", "arrogant"). Let's use that convention: "parrapraxis".
____________________* I offer here a reminder of why I ordinarily underscore the letters A and I when they stand alone. Both are words to themselves, but if I do not mean to conjure the meanings of those words, I underscore the individual letters to draw attention to the fact that I am treating them only as letters, not as meaningful words.
Friday, March 11, 2015: "paer" for "pear"
This Food Friday, let's make a minor fix to this short name of a fruit that has a distinctive shape but indistinct spelling, which incorporates the highly variable letter sequence EA. EA can be pronounced as long-E ("pea"); short-E ("bread"); AU ("Sean"); long-A ("yea"); flat-A ("yeah" and today's word); two syllables, neither stressed ("area"); two syllables, one stressed ("rhea") — and maybe other ways as well. If we flip the two letters, we get AE, which before R ("aerobic", "aerobatics", "aerodynamics") is readily seen as representing the sound here: "paer".
____________________My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.
Thursday, March 10, 2015: "orjur" for "ordure"
URE looks as tho it should be pronounced with a long-U (as in "sure", "allure", and "inure"), but it's actually pronounced with a short-U or the vowel in the sound most commonly written ER. To show that sound, we could write "orjer", but that looks like it could be an agent noun (a person who "orjes"; but there is no such verb as "to orjer". Besides, the traditional spelling has UR in it, so let's stay with that: "orjur".
Wensday, March 9, 2015: "wunzy" for "onesie"
Today's word incorporates 'one' of the most bizarrely spelled words in all of English, "one", which should be pronounced to rhyme with "bone", "phone", and "acetone". That is not the sound here, which rhymes with "bun", "fun", and "homespun". So let's write it that way, with UN. That takes care of the first syllable.The current spelling looks as tho it could be three syllables (ón.a.sèe, ón.a.zèe, ón.a.sìe, or ón.a.zìe, because IE is ambiguous and could be said with either a long-E or a long-I, and an S between vowels could be said as either S or Z). We thus have a lot of ambiguity to clarify. Here, the sound of the IE is long-E (or, in "clipped" British accents, short-I), and the sound of the S is Z. So let's write: "wunzy".
Tuesday, March 8, 2015: "negoasheate", "negoasheation", and "negoashable" for "negotiate", "negotiation", and "negotiable"
TI does not spell the SH-sound; SH does. If we replace the TI with SH, many readers will see the OSH as indicating a short-O, whereas it is actually long. To show long-O, we would need to indicate that in the vowel's own spelling. We might use OE, but some people might see that as representing two syllables, as in "coed", "poet", and "coexist". OA (as in "coal", "loan, and "toast") would thus be better.Another odd spelling is an IA for a long-E followed by long-A. If the sound is long-E, why would we write an I? Let's use an E.
In the noun, we have another TI, but it is part of the very frequent suffix -TION, which we are pretty much stuck with because it is so extremely common: "negoasheate", "negoasheation", and "negoashable".
Munday, March 7, 2015: "mullen" for "mullein" and "mullen"
There are two spellings for this name of a plant. The standard spelling has EI in it, which is ambiguous. The alternate spelling has only an E, which is much better. So let's adopt the alternate spelling and save ourselves a letter: "mullen".
Sunday, March 6, 2015: "muskeeto" for "mosquito"
The O in this location should be pronounced as a full short-O, as in "mosque". That is not the sound here, which is a schwa that approaches a full short-U, not O. So let's write U.A second issue presents itself in the middle syllable, a long-E sound written with an I. If the sound is long-E, why would we write I?: "muskeeto".
____________________My thanks to "Red..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.
Saturday, March 5, 2015: "monch" for "manche", "maunche", and "maunch"
Many speakers of English know that "La Manche", pronounced loq monsh (where Q is a silent consonantal marker used to close the preceding-O to show that it is short), is the French name for the English Channel, and is said with the English-SH sound for the CH. That is not the sound here, which is the regular English-CH (as in "church"), and indeed that is the way it is written in all three variant spellings of this term. But the standard spelling looks French, so many readers of English will be inclined to say an SH-sound instead of the correct CH-sound. If, however, we change the preceding vowel from A or AU to O, most readers will see it as having the proper, English-CH sound, as in "munch" and "crunch", tho with a short-O rather than short-U: "monch".
____________________* This unusual word is from heraldry (Dictionary.com: "a conventional representation of a sleeve with a flaring end, used as a charge").
Friday, March 4, 2015: "mannicottee" for "manicotti"
This Food Friday, let's fix a very Italian spelling for one clearer to readers of English, with the short-A in the first syllable shown by a double-N after it; the short-O sound in the third syllable shown, as in the current spelling, by an O followed by double-T; and the long-E at the end shown by EE rather than I (which should be pronounced as long-I, as in "alkali" and "alibi"): "mannicottee".
Thursday, March 3, 2015: "muftee" for "mufti"
A final-I should be said as long-I, as in "alibi", "fungi", and "hippopotami". The actual sound is long-E, which is most clearly written as EE: "muftee".
Wensday, March 2, 2015: "magnifiar" for "magnifier"
IE is ambiguous, and could be seen as a single sound, long-E as in "fierce" or "bier", or two adjoining vowels, long-E followed by short-E or schwa as part of the ER sound ("barrier", "flashier"), as well as the long-I followed by the ER sound, as intended here ("trier", "outlier"). For a long-I + ER sound, a better model is as in "briar" and "liar". So let's use that: "magnifiar".
Tuesday, March 1, 2015: "Marz" for "Mars"
The present spelling for this name of the fourth planet from the Sun looks like the plural of a (nonexistent) noun "mar" or the third-person singular of the familiar verb "mar". It is neither, but does have the Z-sound it would have in both those uses. To show that sound but make plain that the word is not a plural and not a verb form, all we need do is change the S to Z: "Marz".
____________________My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.
Munday, February 29, 2015: "linneeyij" for "lineage"
There are multiple problems with today's fairly short word. First, LINE is a word to itself, pronounced with a long-I. That's not the sound here, which is short-I. The present spelling also equates with an alternate spelling for the two-syllable printing term "linage" (pronounced líen.aj), in which the schwa in the second syllable is so close in sound to short-I that we would be wise to show it not by an A but by I. We should be glad to be able to distinguish the two very different words permanently via reform of the less-reasonable spelling of the printing term, "lineage".Toward the end of today's word, we have the letter sequence AGE, which is also a word to itself, pronounced with a long-A. So this one word may appear to readers — esp. new readers, be they children in English-speaking countries, or the hundreds of millions of people outside the English-speaking world who want to learn English for its infinite utility — to be a compound word, for "line" and "age". But what would such a compound mean?
If we replace LINE with LINN, we make plain that this word is NOT a combination of "line" and "age", but an altogether different word, bearing no relation to either of the apparently separate words pushed together.
One letter in from the very end of the word, we have a G that represents not G's own, unique sound (as in "get", "geese", and "gestalt"), which is expressed by no other letter, but the sound best shown by the letter J. We have a J for that sound. Why would we not use it?
Making the changes thus far suggested would yield "linneij", which is intended to be said in three syllables, the first of which contains a short-I. To show that, we need to double the following-N, which makes plain not just the sound of the preceding-I but also of the following-E, which is not silent but pronounced as long-E.
Unfortunately, EI is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced in one syllable, as either long-E or long-I, and sometimes being said in two syllables. Indeed, EI is sometimes said in one syllable as long-A ("deign") or schwa ("foreign"). We thus need to show, in plain spelling, that here, it is said in two syllables, the first containing the vowel sound long-E, and the second, a schwa or short-I. To show that, we need to write a double-E, then a Y-glide to visually separate yet sonically join the two vowels, and then short-I.
Putting this all together, we get the longer but clearer spelling: "linneeyij".
Sunday, February 28, 2015: "kvel" for "kvell"
This word from American slang* comes from Yiddish, and before that, German, but is now naturalized in the United States. We don't need a double-L to show that the preceding-E is short, so why write a letter we don't need?: "kvel".
____________________* Dictionary.com: "to be extraordinarily pleased; especially, to be bursting with pride, as over one's family".
Saturday, February 27, 2015: "Judayic" and "Judayica" for "Judaic" and "Judaica"
AI is highly ambiguous ("plain", "said", "plaid", "haiku", and "archaic" are pronounced, respectively, as plaen, sed, plaad, hie.kúe, and or.káe.yik). To show that, in today's closely related words, the sound is as in "prosaic", we need to indicate that there are two syllables within the AI, the first long-A and the second short-I. We can do that by inserting a Y where the syllables break: "Judayic" and "Judayica".
Friday, February 26, 2015: "ideollojy" for "ideology"
There are three problem areas in today's word. The first, the sound of the I, cannot be clarified, because some people pronounce it as long-I but others as short-I. We have to leave it ambiguous.The second problem is a bit hard to clarify, because altho it is a short-O, there is no absolutely clear way to show a short-O before an L sound. That is, "politics" has a short-O written with a single-L following, but "polio" has a long-O written with a single-L; and "holler" has a short-O followed by double-L, but "poll" has a long-O followed by a double-L. Still, LL adheres to the general rule that to show a short vowel, we double the following consonant, so let's write that.
The third problem is a G that represents not a G-sound, sometimes called "hard-G", but J's sound, sometimes conceived of as "soft-G". J is much clearer, so let's write that: "ideollojy".
Thursday, February 25, 2015: "heroewic" for "heroic"
OI should be pronounced as in "join", "hoist", and "steroid". Here, however, it represents two different vowels, long-O and short-I, one after the other. To show that, we need to write each vowel sound clearly in itself, and separate them with a written W-glide: "heroewic".
Wensday, February 24, 2015: "jesso" for "gesso"
This term from fine arts has a preposterous spelling that few people would read right, in which the G represents a J-sound. If the sound is J, let's just write J: "jesso".
Tuesday, February 23, 2015: "gareal" for "gharial"
Why on Earth is there an H in this word? An H is sometimes written after G before an E or I, to show that it does NOT represent the J-sound. Here, the G would never be thought to represent a J-sound, because it precedes an A, and G before A, O, and U would naturally take G's own unique sound, not a J-sound. Let's just drop the H, OK? The other problem is the IA, which should be said with a long-I, as in "trial", "reliance", and "diagram". The sound here is long-E, so let's write E: "gareal".
Munday, February 22, 2015: "gabberdeen" for "gabardine"
AR is commonly pronounced with a "broad"-A, or short-O, the same sound. Here, it represents the sound most commonly written ER, so let's write it that way. The A in the first syllable is short, which would be clearer if the B were doubled. A third problem is the -INE at the end of the word, which should be read as having a long-I, as in "fine", "dine", and "recline". The actual pronunciation is long-E. Putting this all together, we get: "gabberdeen".
Sunday, February 21, 2015: "facillitate" for "facilitate"
As with yesterday's word, a single-L leaves unclear whether the preceding-I is long or short. It's short, which we can make clear by doubling the L: "facillitate".
Saturday, February 20, 2015: "facillity" for "facility"
A single-L leaves unclear whether the preceding-I is long or short. It's short, which we can make clear by doubling the L: "facillity".
Friday, February 19, 2015: "eethoss" for "ethos"
The traditional spelling of today's word lends itself to speculation as to how it should be pronounced. The O in particular is seen by many readers as taking its long sound. It's actually to be said as short-O. To show that, we need to double the S. That also would make plain that the S is not the marker for a plural, pronounced as tho Z. At the beginning of the word, we have a different issue, an E followed by the two consonants TH, which would ordinarily be read as marking the E as short. In actuality, it is given its long sound, which is much better written EE: "eethoss".
Thursday, February 18, 2015: "ontont" for "entente"
Here, we have two E's that are pronounced not as either long-E or short-E, but as short-O. Let's change the first and second E's to O's. There is a third E, at the end, which is silent but might be seen as representing a third syllable, pronounced as long-E. It's actually silent, so shouldn't be in the spelling: "ontont".
Wensday, February 17, 2015: "onrute" for "en route"
We have today a phrase that should be a single word. The educated pronunciation assigns a short-O to the first-E. There is an alternative, spelling-pronunciation in which the EN is pronounced with a short-E. Let's clear up the confusion and write ON. In the middle of the second element of the phrase, now syllable of a single word, there is an OU, but no OU-sound. Instead, the sound is long-U, which can be shown readily by the common pattern U + a consonant + silent-E. So let's write it that way: "onrute".
Tuesday, February 16, 2015: "discushon" for "discussion"
SION is a peculiar way to write the sound sequence SH + schwa + N. That combination is often written -TION, which is so enormously common that readers worldwide know how to say it. But SION is uncommon, and in fact is an alternate spelling for "Zion", said the same except that the first sound, not just letter, is S, not Z. To show the actual sound here, -TION would not do ("discution"), because the U would be seen as long, with an initial Y-glide. So we need a drastic change, use of SH for the SH-sound, followed by the present -ON at the end: "discushon".
Munday, February 15, 2015: "dicorum" for "decorum"
Today's word appears to be related to the term "decor", also spelled "décor", which is pronounced with a long-A in the first syllable. That is not the sound here, which is a short-I. Let's write it that way: "dicorum".
Sunday, February 14, 2015: "delivverance" for "deliverance"
A single-V can confuse readers, esp. new readers outside the traditional English-speaking countries, into seeing the preceding-I as long, whereas it is actually short. To show that, we need merely double the V: "delivverance".
Saturday, February 13, 2016: "dictionerry" for "dictionary"
AR has more than one sound, and the reader cannot know which s/he should say: the AR as in "wary", or as in "car", or as in "caraway") . Here, none of those sounds applies. Rather, the sound is that which is most commonly represented by ER, so let's use that spelling, with the R doubled to make absolutely clear that the vowel sound before the R is short: "dictionerry".
____________________My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.
Friday, February 12, 2016: "diazzepam" for "diazepam"
Many, if not even most, readers will see the -AZE- in this term for a tranquilizer as representing a long-A, whereas it is actually intended to represent a short-A. To show that, we need merely double the following consonant, which here is a Z: "diazzepam".
Thursday, February 11, 2016: "coalt" for "colt"
Two consonants following a vowel should be read as marking that vowel short, but in today's word, the O is long. We thus need to show the O long on its own, rather than by what follows it. There are three conventional ways to do that, OE ("hoe", "aloe", "sloe [gin]"), OH ("ohm" "kohl", "kohlrabi"), and OA ("coal", "loan", "roast"). Midword, OE can represent two vowel sounds ("poet", "coed", "coeval"). OA thus seems the best choice to show a long-O in itself, before ANYthing: "coalt".
Wensday, February 10, 2016: "camizzerate" for "commiserate"
The traditional spelling of today's word is absurd and misleading. To begin with, at the beginning (a good place to start), a double-M powerfully suggests to the reader first that the O is short and second that this four-syllable word's primary stress falls on the first syllable, which is absolutely wrong. The stress falls on the second syllable. Further, the S represents not S's own sound, but the sound of Z. We have a letter Z for that sound. Why would we ever use an S to represent a Z-sound? We should not.So let's drop the second-M, replace the S with Z, and double the Z to show that the I before the Z-sound is short, and that the word's primary stress falls on the second syllable.
That still leaves a small problem in the first syllable, which does not have a long-O, as the reader might expect of a word that starts in CO- (e.g., "cohere", "cobalt", "cosign"). Altho the CO- is indeed a prefix, meaning "with", it's not pronounced with a long-O, nor, as an alternative, with a short-O, indicated by a double consonant after it. To show that the vowel sound in the first syllable is actually a schwa, we should use an A, which is probably the most common spelling for schwa: "camizzerate".
Tuesday, February 9, 2016: "clishmaclayver" for "clishmaclaver"
This term from Scots English for gossip, is arguably phonetic as it is, except that the -AV- could be read as representing a short-A (as in "average", "cavern", and "palaver"), whereas the A is actually long. To show that, we need to show the A as long in itself, not by what follows it. We can do that, midword, by writing either AI or AY. AY has the additional virtue of drawing attention to its syllable, third of the four in the word. So AY seems the better spelling. This long word for gossip seems very expressive, in expending a lot of time on nonsense: "clishmaclayver".
Munday, February 8, 2016: "ceroomen" for "cerumen"
This technical term for earwax takes stress on the second syllable, which is not clear from the traditional spelling but should be clear from a reformed spelling: "ceroomen".
Sunday, February 7, 2016: "caliggrafy" and "caligraffic" for "calligraphy" and "calligraphic"
ALL should be pronounced with the AU-sound of "haul" (e.g., "all", "ball", "call"). Here, however, it does not. Rather, the A represents a schwa, which might be the LAST thing a reader would expect.As regards the second syllable, you might think that the two-letter consonant sequence GR would make plain that the preceding-I is short, and that may very well be. But this is a four-syllable word, and if we can cue the reader as to which syllable to stress, that would be good, wouldn't it? So le's double the G to indicate that the preceding syllable bears the stress. That is a good use of one little extra letter: "caliggrafy" and "caligraffic".
Saturday, February 6, 2016: "collony" and "coloneal" for "colony" and "colonial"
OL or OLL is a problematic spelling in traditional English, because both could be seen as having a long-O sound ("politician", "poll" tax). But the customary rule that a double consonant after a vowel marks that vowel as short retains some strength ("hollow", "pollen"), so we can usefully mark the O in today's first word , a noun, as short by following it with two L's. Given that the word's stress falls on the first syllable, marking that with a double-L serves a second useful purpose.As for the adjective, a single-L will do, in that the syllabic stress shifts to the second syllable. A different issue, however, presents itself in the adjective, an IA for the sound sequence long-E + schwa. If the sound is long-E, why on Earth would we write an I? We should most definitely write E.
Thus do we arrive at rational spellings for these two related words, which are not, alas, of historical interest only, given that there are still many non-self-governing colonies around the world, controlled by various countries. The United States. which went to war against its colonial overlord, itself has colonies! They are small, insular areas in the Caribbean and Pacific, but they are indisputably colonies. How disgusting. We may not be able to change hundreds of years of politics with a single webpost, but we can obliterate a disgusting political embarrassment today, by offering new, and reputable, respellings:: "collony" and "coloneal".
Friday, February 5, 2016: "collakwy" for "colloquy"
Today's word is not so much wrong as indecipherable. OLL is, you might think, clear, a short-O followed by an L-sound. But OLL is sometimes, inexcusably, pronounced with a long-O, as in "boll", "poll", and "bankroll" — which shows why reading English is so very, very hard to learn, esp. outside English-speaking countries. Further, QUY puzzles the typical reader even within English-speaking countries, and is pretty much unpronounceable for people trying to learn English outside English-speaking countries. It should be seen as representing the sound sequence KWEE, or the spelling, at the end of a word, KWY. Let's write it as we should say it: "collokwee".
Thursday, February 4, 2016: "collyer" for "collier"
IER should not be seen as representing a Y-sound. If the sound is Y, let's just write Y: "collyer".
Wensday, February 3, 2016: "calapse" for "collapse"
Both OL and OLL might be seen by current readers of English as having a long-O sound, but the sound here is actually schwa, which is most commonly represented by the letter A, alone. So let's write this schwa sound with A: "calapse".
Tuesday, February 2, 2016: "collajen" for "collagen"
There are some written sounds in English that are pretty much impossible to know how to say. O before L, or even LL, is one such sound. The ordinary rule of vowels before consonants is that two consonants after a vowel indicate that the vowel is short, but that doesn't work with O and L or LL: "cold", with one following-L, has a long-O, but so does "boll", with two. "Hollow", with two following-L's, has a short-O, but "poll", also with two, has a long-O. There plainly is no way to spell, unambiguously, a long- or short-O before an L or LL. Still, we are better advised by a double consonant than a single consonant, that the vowel preceding is short . So let's write a double-L here.The second issue in today's word is the G, which represents not G's unique sound, which no other letter ever represents, but the sound of J. We have a letter J to convey that sound, so why would we EVER use G for it?: "collajen".
Munday, February 1, 2016: "coddify" for "codify"
The obvious origin of this word is "code", but "code" has a long-O, whereas this word has a short-O. To show that, we need to double the following-D: "coddify".
____________________My thanks to "Music..." for this suggestion.
Sunday, January 31, 2016: "cokny" for "cockney"
The EY in the conventional spelling introduces an element of doubt. Is it pronounced long-E, as in "key", or long-A as in "they"? It's long-E, and we can indicate that clearly by dropping the E. There is one other letter we can drop, the second-C, not because it introduces any question as to pronunciation but just because it's superfluous. Now we have a clearer spelling that is also two letters shorter, which is surely to be desired: "cokny".
____________________My thanks to "yaora..." for this suggestion.
Saturday, January 30, 2016: "cocane" for "cocaine"
We don't need three letters, AI_E, to show a long-A sound. Two will do: "cocane".
____________________My thanks to "Tom..." for this suggestion; "yaora..." also suggested reform of this word, to "cocain", but I thought "cocane" was a tad clearer.
Friday, January 29, 2016: "cloachur" for "cloture"
T does not spell the CH-sound of "church". CH does. So let's replace the T with CH. That will then present the reader with a two-letter consonant sequence after the O, which would incline many people to see the O as short, whereas it's actually long. To show that, we can simply add an A, as in "boat", "roast", and "loan". There is also a small problem in the second syllable, in that the U is not long, but a silent-E after the R tells the reader it is, as in "allure", "endure", and "premature". Let's stop misleading people, and drop the final-E. Putting this all together, we get: "cloachur".
Thursday, January 28, 2016: "clarrinett" for "clarinet"
AR is commonly pronounced with a "broad"-A, or short-O, the same sound ("start", "par", "afar"). That's not the sound here, which is a regular short-A, which before an R-sound is often shown by double-R ("barrel", "sparrow", "arrogant"). That's the first change we should make. The second is to double the T at the end, to show that the last syllable bears the primary stress, as most people say the word. But in that some people stress the first syllable, we should abstain from adding an E after the double-T, because that would mandate stress on the second syllable. It is enuf to indicate it, not compel it: "clarrinett".
Wensday, January 27, 2016: "cercadean" for "circadian"
The present spelling has produced several pronunciations, one common and the others rare. To show the proper pronunciation, we need to make all the sounds clear, starting with the IR, which in some words takes the sound of long-E followed by R ("irritate") but here should be pronounced as in hosts of words that are spelled with ER, so should be written ER; then proceeding to the long-A sound in the second syllable, which could be (and in one of the rare pronunciations, is) pronounced short. To show that it is long, we could add an I or Y to the A before the D (as in "staid" or "payday"), or a "silent-E" after the D. Given that the present IA after the D should be seen as being pronounced with a long-I (as in "reliant"), but should instead be pronounced with a long-E, replacing the I with E solves the problem of how to pronounce the vowels both immediately before and immediately after the D. So let's do that: "cercadean".
Tuesday, January 26, 2016: "Chineze" for "Chinese"
Why is the Z-sound in this word spelled with an S? If the sound is Z, let's write Z: "Chineze".
____________________My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.
Munday, January 25, 2016: "cellebrate" for "celebrate"
In English, the sequence vowel-consonant-E is often pronounced with a long vowel before the consonant because of the effect of the "silent-E", sometimes called "magic-E", as in "chameleon", "allele", "benzene", "sere", etc. Here, however, the E before the LE is short. To show that, we should double the L: "cellebrate".
Sunday, January 24, 2015: "cattapult" for "catapult"
The first-A in today's word takes its short sound, as in "at", but that is not self-evident because there is only one T after it. To show the sound of that A clearly, we should double the T: "cattapult".
Saturday, January 23, 2015: "cackinate" for "cachinnate"
This unusual word* bizarrely employs CH to represent a simple K-sound. CH should be reserved to the sound at the beginning and end of "church" and "chaffinch". So let's replace the CH with K. As for the double-N in the traditional spelling, it's not really necessary, because the CK clearly suggests that the stress pattern of the word, with primary stress on the first syllable, makes it highly unlikely that the I before the N-sound would be long. The present double-N suggests to the reader that the word's primary stress falls on the second syllable, ending on the N-sound, whereas the N-sound actually starts the third syllable. So let's take the second-N out: "cackinate".
____________________* Dictionary.com: "to laugh loudly or immoderately".
Friday, January 22, 2016: "bulgur" for "bulgar", "bulghur", and "bulgur"
This Food Friday, let's reduce three alternate spellings for a type of wheat to a single standard spelling. The first spelling to go is obviously the one with the pointless H, which in some words spelled with a G is placed there to prevent the reader from seeing the G as representing the J-sound ("ghetto", "gherkin"). But that would be unnecessary in places where G precedes A, O, and U, as it does here, because the G would not be seen as representing a J-sound except in the odd, British spelling "gaol" for "jail".After rejecting the spelling "bulghur", two alternate spellings remain, "bulgar" and "bulgur". AR is ambiguous, and could be seen as pronounced as in "bar", "car", and "star". That's not the right sound. By contrast, "bulgur" is exactly parallel, in spelling and sound, to the word "vulgur", and UR will be seen as representing the correct sound, as in "urgent", "curds", and "purge". So that's the spelling to adopt: "bulgur".
Thursday, January 21, 2016: "behaivyer" for "behavior" and "behaviour"
There are two spellings for today's word, one American, the other British. As is usually the case, the American spelling is shorter and more reasonable, but not reasonable enuf. The I toward the end represents neither of I's sounds, long as in the word "I" itself, "hi", and "alkali", and short, as in "it", "in", and "din". Rather, it represents no vowel sound at all, but a consonantal-Y. If that is the sound, we should write Y.Beyond the Y, the British spelling employs an OU letter sequence, but it does not represent the OU-sound. We need to eliminate the U. We would then have OR at the end of the word, which many readers would see as having an AU sound, as in "or", "nor", and "for". That's not the right sound. Rather, the sound is the one most commonly written ER. So let's write that.
One other spelling is inadequate, an A before the V, which could be long as in "rave" or short as in "have". To show plainly that it is long, we should add either an I or Y after it. Midword, AI is more customary, so let's use that.
With all these little changes, we finally get to a clear spelling: "behaivyer".
Wensday, January 20, 2016: "beuteus" for "beauteous"
BEAU is an odd and inefficient way to spell anything, and represents two different sounds, bo as the word "beau" to itself, and byue, as in "beauty", "beautiful", and today's word. We don't need three vowels to represent the latter sound. EU will do nicely, as in "euphemism" and "eulogy".At the end of the word, we have another cluster of three vowel letters we don't need. There are only two vowel sounds, and they are well shown by EU again. The OU in the traditional spelling does not represent the OU-sound, so dropping the O is doubly advisable: "beuteus".
Tuesday, January 19, 2016: "barritone" for "baritone"
BAR is a word to itself, pronounced with a "broad"-A or short-O, the same sound. To show the actual sound, short-A, we need to double the R, as in "barren", "barrel", and "barracks": "barritone".
Munday, January 18, 2016: "arachnofobea", "arachnofobe", and "arachnofobic" for "arachnophobia", "arachnophobe", and "arachnophobic"
The first of these insanely bizarre spellings came to widespread notice when the Hollywood movie Arachnophobia came out in 1990. The related forms offered today need the same kinds of reform, to wit, to change the CH, which does not represent the standard CH-sound as in "church", to C, which is a perfectly adequate spelling for the K-sound in that location, and to change the ridiculous PH to F. In the base noun, we also have an IA that represents not a long-I sound (as in "vial", "reliance", and "diabolical"). The sound is actually long-E. Since that is so, we should write EA.Putting this all together, we get: "aracnofobea", "aracnofobe", and "aracnofobic".
Sunday, January 17, 2016: "anteediluvean" for "antediluvian"
There are two small problems with today's long word. First, the sound of the E is unclear. Is it short, long, or a schwa? It's long, and the best way to show that clearly is by doubling the E.The second problem is the IA toward the end. That letter sequence should be pronounced with a long-I (as in "hiatus", "compliant", and "triathlon"). Here, however, the sound is long-E. So let's write E: "anteediluvean".
Saturday, January 16, 2016: "ammeotrofic" for "amyotrophic"*
AMY is ambiguous. In itself, it spells a female given name, pronounced with long-A and long-E sounds. Here, the sound of the A is short, tho the Y still represents a long-E. To show the A to be short, we should double the following-M. As for the Y, midword, Y is commonly pronounced as long-I ("mycosis", "dynamic", "pyromaniac"), so we should substitute E for the Y.The other problem is the ridiculous, and ambiguous, PH — compare "uphold" and "upheaval", in which the PH represents the P and H sounds, just as they are — written for a simple F-sound. If the sound is F, let's write F.
Putting this all together, we get: "ammeotrofic".
____________________* Microsoft's Encarta World Dictionary: "with degenerated muscles: characterized by degeneration of the muscles[;] amyotrophy".
Friday, January 15, 2016: "aparrel" for "apparel"
In this word, the wrong consonant is doubled. After the initial-A, a double-P should be seen as marking the preceding-A as short, as in "apple" and "dapper". But the sound here is actually a schwa. The letter group in the middle of the word, ARE, is misleading, and could be read like the ordinary word "are" or as in "stare" and "aware". To show that the sound is actually a full short-A, we should double the following-R, as in "barren", "farrow", and "arrogant".Not only are the sounds of the vowels unclear, but the syllabic stress is also unclear. APP at the beinning of the world should be read as marking the first syllable as where the primary stress falls, but it's actually on the second syllable. That will be clearer once we double the R. After we've made these two little changes, the actual pronunciation of the word becomes clear: "aparrel".
Thursday, January 14, 2016: "anthollojy" for "anthology"
There are two little problems with today's word. First, the O, before a single consonant, could be seen as having its long pronunciation, as in "so". Here, however, the pronunciation is short, as in "upon". It is hard to make that plain before an L-sound, however, because the usual cue, a double consonant, doesn't work reliably. "Poll" has a long-O; "pollen", short-O. Tho a double-L may not be seen as marking the preceding-O short, there are enuf cases in which a double-L does mark an O as short ("follow", "dollar", "collagen") that it's worth trying to clarify the matter by doubling the L.The second issue is that, as all too often occurs, a G is assigned to represent a J-sound. But in that we have a J to show that sound, why would we not use it?: "anthollojy".
Wensday, January 13, 2016: "antereor" for "anterior"
Today's word contains the two-letter sequence IO, which should be pronounced with a long-I sound (as in "Iowa", "Orion, and "iodine"), but here, the first vowel sound is long-E, which makes no sense. If the sound is E, let's just write E: "antereor".
Tuesday, January 12, 2016: "airhed" for "airhead"
Today's word* is a compound of "air", which is a perfect spelling, in today's conventions, and "head", which contains the ambiguous two-letter sequence AE, which is most commonly pronounced long-E but has various other pronunciations, as in "Sean", "creation", "area", "bread", "break", etc. Here, the sound is short-E, which is much more sensibly written as E-alone before a consonant. So let's drop the needless and misleading A, and save ourselves a letter: "airhed".
____________________My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.
* Today's word has two very different meanings. Dictionary.com: "Slang. a scatterbrained, stupid, or simple-minded person; dolt." And "an area in enemy territory or in threatened friendly territory, seized by airborne troops for bringing in supplies and additional troops by airdrop or landing."
Munday, January 11, 2016: "afection/it" for "affection/ate"
AFF should be pronounced with a short-F, but here the sound of the A is schwa. To show that, all we have to do is drop one of the F's. That's all we need do with the noun.As for the adjective, ATE should be read as having a long-A sound, as in the word "ate" itself. Instead, the sound is a schwa so close to short-I that we might better write IT: "afection" and "afectionit".
Sunday, January 10, 2016: "anunceation" for "annunciation"
We have today one of those words in which an A at the beginning of a word is pronounced as a schwa even tho it is followed by a double consonant. Some readers might mistake the double-N as marking the preceding vowel as a full short-A, but if we take away one of the N's, its proper sound will be understood by almost everyone.The other problem in the traditional spelling occurs in the third syllable, where an I stands in for a long-E. If the sound is long-E, let's write an E: "anunceation".
____________________My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.
Saturday, January 9, 2016: "aileuss" for "alias"
The traditional spelling is misleading (1) in having an ambiguous A at the beginning, which many new readers would be inclined to see as representing the sound of schwa; (2) IA should be read as having a long-I sound, as in the very similar spelling of a male given name, "Elias"; and (3) the S at the end is likely to be seen as marking the word as a plural, with the S pronounced as Z. Easy fixes present themselves for all three problems: (1) add an I between the initial-A and the L, which will tell the reader to say a flat-A, as in "airmail"; (2) change the IA to EU; and (3) change the S to SS: "aileuss".
Friday, January 8, 2016: "analojy" for "analogy"
This is easy. We have here another of the multitudinous words in which G is misused to represent the sound of the letter J. We have a J. Let's use it: "analojy".
____________________"Analog/ue" and "analogous", reformed to "annalog" and "analogus", were discussed here on May 29, 2012.
Thursday, January 7, 2016: "annabollic" and "anabbolizm" for "anabolic" and "anabolism"
A at the beginning of a word is often pronounced as a schwa ("amazing", "arise", "atone"). That is true even before a double consonant in some words ("apparent", "aggressive", "attune"). Still, the reader is more likely to see an A followed by two consonants as representing a full short-A rather than schwa, so it's worth trying to cue that pronunciation by doubling the N in today's adjective.Later in the adjective, we have an O followed by a single-L. It's not possible to make absolutely clear that the sound is short, because OL and OLL are two forms of a special case, in which some words are still pronounced with a long-O even if followed by two L's ("boll", "poll", "troll"). But, as the word "follow" itself, and others such as "holler" and "pollen" show, an O before a double-L is more likely to be read as short, so let's try it here.
In the less commonly encountered noun, there are three problems. First, the A at the beginning of the word really does represent a schwa, so we should not double the N after it. Second, the second-A, which in the adjective is pronounced as schwa, is pronounced as a full short-A in the noun. We need to show that, by doubling the following-B. And third, the S stands in for a Z-sound, which is absurd. If the sound is Z, let's write Z.
Putting this all together, we get: "annabollic" and "anabbolizm".
Wensday, January 6, 2016: "amannyuwensis" and "amannyuwensees" for "amanuensis" and "amanuenses"
The traditional spelling of this pair of words, singular and plural, may appear to be efficient for being shorter than they would have to be to be clear to all readers, but it's not efficient to leave the reader in doubt as to pronunciation. We have three areas of uncertainty in the conventional spellings.First, A by itself before a single consonant (as in the second syllable of today's words) is often pronounced as a schwa ("empathy", "comparable", "fraternal"). That's not the sound here, which is a full short-A. To show that, we need to double the following-N.
Second, UE should be seen as being pronounced as a long-U, with or without an initial Y-glide, as for instance in "due" (which some people, esp. in Britain, say with a Y-glide, and "rue", which no one says with a Y-glide). Here, however, the UE represents two adjacent vowels, the first long-U with a Y-glide, the second, short-E. To show that, we need a longer spelling. We could write YUEW, but YUW should suffice.
The third issue arises in the spelling of the plural form's -ES, which the reader is entitled to see as representing a short-E followed by the Z-sound of S as used to mark a plural (tho we should ultimately change every such S to Z). Here, the sound is long-E. How is anyone to know that? To show that sound unambiguously, we need to add a second-E: "amannyuwensis" and "amannyuwensees".
Tuesday, January 5, 2016: "aylexithymea" for "alexithymia"
This unusual scientific word is unclear as to pronunciation, but need not be.The first problem is that the A before a single consonant at the start of the word will be seen by many readers as representing a schwa, as in "around", "about", and "apostrophe". That's not the sound here, however, which is a long-A. We could write that as AI, as in "staid", or AY, as in "plaything". Before an L, as here, however, AI would be seen as having the flat-A sound in "fail", "rail", and "airmail", so AY is the better choice.
The X is probably not a problem, even tho X can represent five different sounds (KS as in "nexus", GZ as in "exist", KSH as in "luxury", GZH as in "luxurious", and Z as in "xylem").* The default that most people will see for an X in a location like this is KS, which is correct, so we can leave it as-is.
TH could also be pronounced in more than one way, voiced, as in "this", and unvoiced (or voiceless), as in "thing". A rare reader might see the word "thy" within today's word, and think the proper sound is voiced. But again, the default that most people will see, voiceless, is correct, so we don't need even to try to clarify that sound, which is good, given that there is no way to do that in traditional spelling!
The last issue is the IA at the end of this long word. IA can be pronounced in more than one way too, within a word as long-I plus long-A ("hiatus"), or long-I plus short-A ("diameter"), or long-I plus schwa ("defiance"). At the end of a word, IA can be pronounced as long-E plus schwa ("nutria"), or the consonant Y plus schwa ("California") and even as long-I plus schwa (as in the old-fashioned pronunciation of the female name "Maria" and the term "Black Maria" for a paddy wagon. That spelling for that sound at the end of a word has been changed to IAH (except in "Black Maria"), as in the given name Mariah and the ordinary noun "pariah". (Now, do you see the need for spelling reform?)
Here, the sound is long-E plus schwa, which is more clearly written EA.
Putting this all together, we get: "aylexithymea".
____________________* Dictionary.com: "Psychiatry. difficulty in experiencing, expressing, and describing emotional responses."
* A pharmaceutical company has recently created a SIXTH pronunciation for X, in the marketing name of a new drug, "Farxiga", which is supposed to be pronounced with an S-sound! That is atrocious, but English does not have any authoritative body to ban such disgraceful misspellings.
Munday, January 4, 2016: "aijizm" and "aijist" for "ageism" and "ageist"
We have in today's related words three problems. First, an A at the beginning of a word and before a single consonant can easily be seen as a schwa ("again", "atomic", "avuncular"). That is not the pronunciation here, which is long-A. That would more clearly be written as AI or AY. At the beginning of a word, AI is more common ("aimless", "aigret" or "aigrette"), so let's use that.The second problem is that, as is so stupidly often done, a G is used for a J-sound. We should replace the G with J.
The third problem occurs only in the noun, an S that stands in for a Z-sound. We have a letter for that sound, Z. Let's use it: "aijizm" and "aijist".
____________________My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.
Sunday, January 3, 2016: "acumpany" for "accompany"
The A at the beginning of this word is said as schwa, so should not be followed by a double consonant, which tells the reader that the vowel in advance of that double consonant should be given its full short sound. Second, the O is entirely wrong for the sound here, which is not short-O but short-U: "acumpany".
Saturday, January 2, 2016: "zeppolee" for "zeppoli" and "zeppole"*
Neither of the spellings of this plural term works in English. I at the end of a word is commonly pronounced as long-I ("alkali", "stimuli", "hippopotami"), whereas the sound here is long-E. E at the end of a word is usually silent, and is pronounced as long-E in only about 100 ordinary words (such as "adobe", "coyote", and "facsimile") plus a few dozen proper nouns ("Nike", "Phoebe", and "Comanche"). There are two common ways to show a long-E at the end of a word clearly, -Y and -EE. -Y would be more appropriate to an adjective than a noun. So let's use -EE: "zeppolee".
____________________* These two spellings are alternate plurals of the Italian food word "zeppola". Wikipedia: "an Italian pastry consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size but typically about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. This doughnut or fritter is usually topped with powdered sugar, and may be filled with custard, jelly, cannoli-style pastry cream, or a butter-and-honey mixture."
Friday, January 1, 2016: "yockeesoba" for "yakisoba"*
This Food Friday, let's fix this term from Japanese. A is an odd and ambiguous way to spell the sound in the first syllable, which is short-O, sometimes thought of as "broad"-A. But A is more commonly seen as short-A (as in "at"), long-A (as in "atrium"), or schwa ("ability", "boa", "usual", and "anemia"). Indeed, the British pronunciation of today's word takes short-A (as does the first-A in "pasta", in Britain). So let's use O instead, and to show it as short, put a C before the K.A second problem is that the I in the second syllable is more like a long-E than short-I, so let's replace the I with EE.
Now we have a spelling that steers the reader to the correct pronunciation for speakers of English: "yockeesoba".
____________________* Oxford Dictionaries: "A Japanese dish of fried noodles, vegetables, and meat, served with a thick, sweetish sauce".
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