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American English Spelling

Detailed Table of Contents

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ANALYSIS

Chapter 1. Spelling as System

Chapter 2. The Explication of Written Words

TACTICS

Chapter 3. Sequences and Distributions

Chapter 4. String Patterns and Rules

Chapter 5. Suffix Rules

Chapter 6. VCV in Disyllables

Chapter 7. The Third Syllable Rule

PROCEDURES

Chapter 8. Silent Final e and Its Deletion Rule

Chapter 9. The Twinning Rule

Chapter 10. Assimilated Prefixes

CORRESPONDENCES

Chapter 11. The Sounds and Letters of English

Chapter 12. Short a, /a/

Chapter 13. Short e, /e/

Chapter 14. Short i, /i/

Chapter 15. The Short o's, /ä/ and //

Chapter 16. High Short u, //

Chapter 17. Low Short u, /u/

Chapter 18. Long a, /a/

Chapter 19. Long e, /e/

Chapter 20. Long i, /i/

Chapter 21. Long o, /o/

Chapter 22. The Simple Long u, /u/

Chapter 23. The Complex Long u, /yu/

Chapter 24. The Diphthongs, /i/ and /a/

Chapter 25. Vowels before /r/

Chapter 26. The Front Stops: /b/, /p/, /d/, and /t/

Chapter 27. The Velar Stops, /g/ and /k/

Chapter 28. The Simple Fricatives /v/, /f/, /th/, /th/, and /h/

Chapter 29. The Simple Fricatives /z/ and /s/

Chapter 30. The Palatal Sibilants: /sh/, /ch/, /j/, and /zh/

Chapter 31. The Nasals: /m/, /n/, and //

Chapter 32. The Liquids, /l/ and /r/

Chapter 33. The Semivowels, /w/ and /y/

Chapter 34. Conclusion

Preface xxv

Notes on Usage xxxi

ANALYSIS 1

Chapter 1. Spelling as System 1

1.1 Introduction 3

1.2 The Systematicity of American Spelling 4

1.2.1 Performance and Code 4

1.2.2 Self-regulation and Self-reorganization 5

1.3 Spelling Rules 9

1.4 Unity, Variety, and Analogy 10

1.5 Demands and Contentions 12

1.5.1 The Phonetic Demand 13

1.5.2 The Semantic Demand 14

1.5.3 The Etymological Demand 17

1.5.4 Standardization and the Growing Visual Bias 21

1.5.4.1 Spelling Pronunciations 22

1.5.4.2 The Public Uses of Writing 24

1.6 The Principle of Preferred Regularity 25

1.7 Well-formed and Ill-formed Spellings 26

1.8 Accepted, Unaccepted, and Unrecorded Spellings 27

1.9 Goals of This Description 29

1.9.1 Minimum and Maximum Simplicities 29

1.9.2 System-centered versus Use-centered Descriptions 30

Chapter 2. The Explication of Written Words 12

2.1 The Theory of Explication 32

2.2 The Explication of Elements 33

2.2.1 Elements and Morphemes 33

2.2.2 Prefixes, Bases, and Suffixes 33

2.2.3 Meaning and Content 35

2.2.4 Stems 35

2.2.5 Free and Bound Elements 36

2.2.6 Primes 36

2.2.7 Terminative and Nonterminative Elements 37

2.3 The Explication of Sets 39

2.3.1 The Set [+sume, sumpt+] 39

2.3.2 The Set [tend, tense, tent] 41

2.3.3 The Set [verse, vert] 42

2.3.4 Immediate and Mediate Explicata 44

2.3.5 Sets and Connate Groups 45

2.3.6 Nonterminative Suffixes 46

2.4 The Explication of Particles 47

2.4.1 The Linking Particles 47

2.4.2 The Initial Particle 48

2.5 Explication versus Other Lexical Analyses 49

2.5.1 Explication versus Etymological Analysis 50

2.5.2 Explication versus Generative Analysis 51

2.6 On Orthographic Concepts 52

2.6.1 Silent Letters 54

2.7 Problems and Questions 55

2.7.1 The Explication of Form and Content 55

2.7.2 Element and Particle Boundaries 56

2.7:3 The Rule of Syllabicity 59

2.7.3.1 Lexical Simplification 61

2.7.4 Merging 61

2.7.4.1 Subelemental Patterning 62

2.7.5 Two Examples of Explication 63

2.7.5.1 The Set [gym, gymn+, gymnasi+] 63

2.7.5.2 The Set [ly+, lyse, +lyte] 64

2.8 Summary 66

TACTICS 67

Chapter 3. Sequences and Distributions 69

3.1 Tactics and Tactical Patterns 69

3.2 Consonant Sequence Rules 71

3.2.1 Digraphs, Clusters, and Concatenations 71

3.2.1.1 Digraphs 71

3.2.1.2 Clusters 72

3.2.1.3 Concatenations 73

3.2.2 The Mixed Voicing Rule 73

3.2.2.1 Voicing in Clusters 74

3.2.2.2 Voicing in Concatenations 75

3.2.3 The Initial Doublet Rule 76

3.2.4 Final Doublet Constraints 76

3.2.5 The Triplet Rule 77

3.2.6 Doublets within Larger Clusters and Concatenations 77

3.2.6.1 Holdouts 79

3.3 Vowel Sequence Rules 81

3.3.1 The Vowel Doublet Rule 81

3.4 Distribution Rules 82

3.4.1 The Final s Rule 82

3.4.1.1 Holdouts 82

3.4.2 The Final z Rule 83

3.4.3 The Tactics of y and i 84

3.4.3.1 The y-to-i Rule 86

3.4.3.2 Holdouts 86

3.5 The Short Word Rule 87

3.5.1 Holdouts 89

3.6 Summary 89

Chapter 4. String Patterns and Rules 90

4.1 On the Term String 90

4.2 The Minor Strings 91

4.2.1 The V.V Rule 91

4.2.2 The VC# Rule 93

4.2.3 The Ve# Rule 94

4.3 The Major Strings 96

4.3.1 The VCC/VCV Contrast 96

4.3.2 A Short History of the VCC/VCV Contrast 97

4.3.2.1 The Development of Silent Final e 99

4.3.2.2 Latin "Position" and VCV/VCC 99

4.3.3 The VCC Pattern 100

4.3.3.1 Holdouts 101

4.3.4 The VCV Pattern 107

4.3.4.1 The VCV Pattern in Monosyllables 107

4.3.4.2 Consonant Digraphs in VCV Strings 108

Chapter 5. Suffix Rules 112

5.1 Introduction to the Shortening Rules 112

5.2 The Suffix -ity Rule 112

5.2.1 Introduction to the Rule 112

5.2.2 Holdouts 114

5.2.2.1 Long u114

5.2.2.2 V.V 115

5.2.3 The Final Rule 115

5.3 The Suffix -ic Rule 115

5.3.1 Introduction to the Rule 115

5.3.2 Holdouts 116

5.3.3 The Final Rule 118

5.4 The Suffix -ion Rule 118

5.4.1 Introduction to the Rule 118

5.4.2 Holdouts 119

5.4.3 The Final Rule 119

5.5 The Suffix -it Rule 120

5.6 The Suffix -id Rule 120

5.6.1 Holdouts 120

5.6.2 A Second -id 121

5.6.3 The Final Rule 121

5.7 The Suffix -ish² Rule 121

5.7.1 Holdout 122

5.7.2 The Final Rule 122

5.8 The Suffix -ule Rule 122

Chapter 6. VCV in Disyllables 123

6.1 Introduction 123

6.2 Iambs and Trochees 123

6.3 Regular VCV Trochees 124

6.3.1 Summary 126

6.4 The Nonregular VCV Trochees 127

6.4.1 The Stress Frontshift Rule 127

6.4.2 The Consonant v in VCV Strings 128

6.4.3 Further VCV Holdouts 129

6.4.3.1 Holdouts to the Stress Frontshift Rule 129

6.5 Summary 130

Chapter 7. The Third Syllable Rule 131

7.1 Instances of the Rule 131

7.1.1 The Old English Third Syllable Rule 133

7.2 Preemptors of the Third Syllable Rule 134

7.2.1 Long u 134

7.2.2 V.V 135

7.2.3 The Strong VCVV String 135

7.3 A Special Instance of the Third Syllable Rule 138

7.4 The Third Syllable Rule and Conservative Analogy 139

7.5 Some Tentative Conclusions 141

PROCEDURES 143

Chapter 8. Silent Final e and Its Deletion Rule 145

8.1 The Functions of Silent Final e 145

8.1.1 Marking Long Vowels 145

8.1.2 Marking Soft c and Soft g 146

8.1.3 Marking Voiced th 147

8.1.4 Insulating Nonterminative Letters 147

8.1.5 Silent Final e and the Short Word Rule 148

8.1.6 Fossil e's 148

8.1.6.1 French Fossil e's 148

8.1.6.2 Native Fossil e's 149

8.1.7 Some Special Cases 149

8.1.7.1 The Ending le 149

8.1.7.2 The Suffix -ate and De-stressing 151

8.1.7.3 The Suffix -ile 152

8.1.7.4 The Suffix -ine 152

8.1.7.5 The Suffix -ure 153

8.1.7.6 The Suffix -ite 154

8.2 Silent Final eDeletion 154

8.2.1 Holdouts 156

8.3 Silent Final e Deletion in Ve# Strings 157

8.4 Suffixes Starting with Consonants 158

8.5 The Logic of Silent Final e Deletion 159

Chapter 9. The Twinning Rule 161

9.1 Introduction to Twinning 161

9.2 Instances of the Rule 162

9.3 An Extended Example: +fer Words 168

9.4 Apparent Nonregular Twinnings 170

9.4.1 Nonterminative Bound Bases 170

9.4.2 Suffix Rules 172

9.4.3 Stress-waver 173

9.5 Holdouts to the Twinning Rule 174

9.5.1 Nonregular Twinnings 174

9.5.2 Nonregular Nontwinnings 174

9.6 The Final Form of the Twinning Rule 175

Chapter 10. Assimilated Prefixes 177

10.1 Introduction to Assimilation 177

10.2 The Prefix com- 178

10.2.1 The Assimilations 178

10.2.2, The Productive Prefix co- 179

10.2.3 Holdouts 180

10.3 The Prefix ex- 181

10.3.1 The Assimilations 181

10.3.2 Holdouts 182

10.3.3 Some "Converted" ex-'s 182

10.4 The Prefix sub- 183

10.4.1 The Assimilations 183

10.4.2 Simple Addition in Recent sub- Words 185

10.4.3 Two Unusual sub-'s 186

10.5 The Prefixes in-¹ and in-² 186

10.5.1 The Coform en- 187

10.6 The Prefix ad- 188

10.6.1 The Influence of the FulI Assimilation of ad- 191

10.6.2 Some Only Apparent ad-'s 192

10.6.3 Lost ad-'s 193

10.6.4 Summary 193

10.7 The Prefix dis- 193

10.7.1 Lost and Apparent dis-'s 194

10.8 The Prefix ob- 195

10.9 The Prefix ab- 196

10.10 The Prefix syn- 197

CORRESPONDENCES 199

Chapter 11. The Sounds and Letters of English 101

11.1 The Sounds 201

11.1.1 Phones, Phonemes, Morphophones 201

11.1.2 English Morphophones 203

11.2 The Letters 207

11.2.1 The English Alphabet 207

11.2.1.1 The Roman Influence 207

11.2.1.2 The Runic Influence 209

11.2.2 Consonant Digraphs 209

11.3 Vowels and Consonants 210

Chapter 12. Short a, /a/ 113

12.1 Historical Sources 213

12.2 The Major Spelling of /a/ 214

12.2.1 /a/ = a 214

12.3 Holdouts to the /a/ = a Correspondence 215

Chapter 13. Short e, /e/ 117

13.1 Introduction 217

13.2 Historical Sources 217

13.3 The Major Spellings of /e/ 217

13.3.1 /e/ = e 217

13.3.2 /e/ = ea 219

13.4 The Minor Spellings of /e/ 220

13.4.1 /e/ = ai, ay 220

13.4.2 /e/ = ie, ei 220

13.4.3 /e/ = u 221

13.4.4 /e/ = eo 221

13.4.5 /e/ = ae 221

Chapter 14. Short i, /i/ 122

14.1 Historical Sources 222

14.2 Stressed and Unstressed /i/ 222

14.3 The Major Spellings of /i/ 223

14.3.1 /i/ = i 223

14.3.2 /i/ = y 226

14.4 The Minor Spellings of /i/ 228

14.4.1 /i/ = e 228

14.4.2 /i/ = o 228

14.4.3 /i/ = u 228

14.4.4 /i/ = ee, ea 229

14.4.5 /i/ = ei, ie 229

14.4.6 /i/ = ui 229

Chapter 15. The Short o's, /ä/ and // 231

15.1 Introduction 231

15.2 The Spellings of /ä/ 231

15.2.1 The Major Spellings of /ä/ 232

15.2.1.1 /ä/ = a 232

15.2.1.2 /ä/ = o 233

15.2.2 The Minor Spellings of /ä/ 235

15.2.2.1 /ä/ = ow 235

15.2.2.2 /ä/ = ah 235

15.2.2.3 /ä/ = e 235

15.3 The Spellings of // 236

15.3.1 The Major Spellings of // 236

15.3.1.1 // = aw 236

15.3.1.2 // = au 237

15.3.2 The Minor Spellings of // 238

15.3.2.1 // = o 238

15.3.2.2 // = a 239

15.3.2.3 // = ou 239

15.3.2.4 // = oa 240

Chapter 16. High Short u, // 141

16.1 Introduction 241

16.2 Historical Sources 241

16.3 The Major Spellings of // 242

16.3.1 // = oo 242

16.3.2 // = u 242

16.4 The Minor Spellings of // 243

16.4.1 // = ou 243

16.4.2 // = o 243

16.5 The Spellings of // Summarized 243

Chapter 17. Low Short u, /u/ 144

17.1 The Major Spellings of /u/ 244

17.1.1 /u/ = u 244

17.1.2 /u/ = o 245

17.2 The Minor Spellings of /u/ 247

17.2.1 /u/ = oo 247

17.2.2 /u/ = ou 247

Chapter 18. Long a, /a/ 149

18.1 Historical Sources 249

18.1.1 Middle English Long a 249

18.1.2 Two Middle English Diphthongs 250

18.1.3 From Middle to American English 250

18.2 The Major Spellings of /a/ 251

18.2.1 /a/ = a 251

18.2.2 /a/ = ai, ay 252

18.2.3 Summary 254

18.3 The Minor Spellings of /a/ 254

18.3.1 /a/ = ei, ey 254

18.3.2 /a/ = eigh, aigh 255

18.3.3 /a/ = ea 256

18.3.4 /a/ = et 256

18.3.5 /a/ = e, ee 256

18.3.6 /a/ = ae, ao, au 257

Chapter 19. Long e, /e/ 158

19.1 Historical Sources 258

19:2 The Major Spellings of /e/ 260

19.2.1 /e/ = e 260

19.2.2 /e/ = y 262

19.2.3 /e/ = i 262

19.2.4 /e/ = ea, ee 264

19.3 The Minor Spellings of /e/ 267

19.3.1 /e/ = ie, ei 267

19.3.2 /e/ = ey 268

19.3.3 /e/ = ae, oe 268

19.3.4 /e/ = eo 270

19.3.5 /e/ = agh, ah 270

19.3.6 /e/ = ay 270

Chapter 20. Long i, /i/ 171

20.1 Historical Sources 271

20.2 The Major Spellings of /i/ 272

20.2.1 /i/ = i 272

20.2.2 /i/ = y 276

20.3 The Minor Spellings of /i/ 278

20.3.1 /i/ = ie 278

20.3.2 /i/ = ei 278

20.3.3 /i/ = eigh 278

20.3.4 /i/ = ai 279

20.3.5 /i/ = ay 279

20.3.6 /i/ = ey 279

20.3.7 /i/ = uy 279

20.3.8 /i/ = oy 279

Chapter 21. Long o, /o/ 180

21.1 Historical Sources 280

21.2 The Major Spellings of /o/ 281

21.2.1 /o/ = o 281

21.2.2 /o/ = oa 284

21.2.3 /o/ = ow 284

21.3 The Minor Spellings of /o/ 285

21.3.1 /o/ = ou, ough 285

21.3.2 /o/ = eau, au 286

21.3.3 /o/ = oo, oh, ew, eo 286

21.4 The Spellings of /o/ Summarized 287

Chapter 22. The Simple Long u, /u/ 188

22.1 Introduction 288

22.2 Historical Sources 288

22.3 The Major Spellings of /u/ 289

22.3.1 /u/ = oo 289

22.3.2 /u/ = u 290

22.3.2.1 The Correspondence /u/ = u and the Third Syllable Rule 291

22.3.3 The Major Spellings of /u/ Summarized 291

22.4 The Minor Spellings of /u/ 291

22.4.1 /u/ = o 291

22.4.2 /u/ = oe 293

22.4.3 /u/ = ou 293

22.4.4 /u/ = ew 295

22.4.5 /u/ = eu 295

22.4.6 /u/ = ui 296

22.4.7 /u/ = uo, uh, w 296

Chapter 23. The Complex Long u, /yu/ 197

23.1 The Distribution of /yu/ and /u/ 297

23.1.1 Initial /yu/ 297

23.1.2 /yu/ after Labials and Velars 297

23.1.3 /yu/ after Liquids 298

23.1.4 /yu/ after Fricatives 298

23.1.5 /yu/ and /u/ after Dentals 299

23.2 The Spellings of /yu/ 299

23.2.1 /yu/ = u 299

23.2.2 /yu/ = ew 299

23.2.3 /yu/ = eu 300

23.2.4 Other Spellings of /yu/ 300

Chapter 24. The Diphthongs, /i/ and /a/ 301

24.1 On Diphthongs 301

24.2 The Spellings of /i/ 301

24.2.1 The Major Spellings of /i/ 302

24.2.1.1 /i/ = oy in Final Position 302

24.2.1.2 Initial and Medial /i/ = oi 302

24.2.1.3 Holdouts, Apparent and Real 302

24.2.2 The Minor Spellings of /i/ 303

24.3 The Spellings of /a/ 303

24.3.1 The Major Spellings of /a/ 303

24.3.1.1 /a/ = ow in Final Position 304

24.3.1.2 /a/ = ow before Vowels 304

24.3.1.3 /a/ = ow before l and Final n 305

24.3.1.4 /a/ before /d/ and /z/ 305

24.3.1.5 /a/ = ou 305

24.3.2 The Minor Spellings of /a/ 306

Chapter 25. Vowels before /r/ 107

25.1 /r/ Coloring 307

25.2 The /âr/ Field 308

25.2.1 The Major Spellings of /âr/ 308

25.2.1.1 /âr/ = arV#, arVV 308

25.2.1.2 /âr/ = arVC, arr 309

25.2.1.3 /âr/ = err; erVC 310

25.2.1.4 The Major Spellings of /âr/ Summarized 310

25.2.2 The Minor Spellings of /âr/ 310

25.3 The /ôr/ Field 311

25.3.1 The Major Spellings of /ôr/ 311

25.3.1.1 /ôr/ = orr; orVC 311

25.3.1.2 /ôr/ = or#, orC 312

25.3.1.3 /ôr/ = warC, war# 313

25.3.1.4 /ôr/ = orVV, orV# 313

25.3.1.5 /ôr/ = arC, ar# 314

25.3.1.6 The Major Spellings of /ôr/ Summarized 314

25.3.2 The Minor Spellings of /ôr/ 114

25.4 The /êr/ Field 315

25.4.1 The Major Spellings of /êr/ 316

25.4.1.1 /êr/ = erVV, erV# 316

25.4.1.2 /êr/ = irr; irVC, irVV .316

25.4.2 The Minor Spellings of /êr/ 317

25.4.2.1 /êr/ = eer 317

25.4.2.2 /êr/ = ear 317

25.4.2.3 /êr/ = ier 318

25.4.2.4 Other Minor Spellings of /êr/ 318

25.5 The Spellings of /ir/ 318

25.5.1 The Major Spellings of /ir/ 319

25.5.1.1 /ir/ = irV#, irV 319

25.5.2 The Minor Spellings of /ir/ 319

25.6 The Spellings of /r/ and /yr/ 320

25.6.1 The Major Spellings of /r/ and /yr/ 320

25.6.1.1 /r/ = urV 320

25.6.1.2 /yr/ = urV 320

25.6.2 The Minor Spellings /r/ and /yr/ 321

25.7 The /ur/ Convergence 321

25.7.1 Historical Sources 321

25.7.2 The Major Spellings /ur/ 323

25.7.2.1 /wur/ = wor 323

25.7.2.2 /ur/ = erC, er# 323

25.7.2.3 /ur/= irC, ir# 324

25.7.2.4 /ur/ = urC, ur# 324

25.7.2.5 The Major Spellings of /ur/ Summarized 325

25.7.3 The Minor Spellings of /ur/ 325

Chapter 26. The Front Stops: /b/, /p/, /d/, and /t/ 127

26.1 Introduction 327

26.2 The Spellings of /b/ 328

26.2.1 Overview 328

26.2.2 The Minor Spelling of /b/ 328

26.2.3 The Major Spellings of /b/ 328

26.2.3.1 The Major Spellings of /b/ Summarized 328

26.2.3.2 /b/ = b at Simple Boundaries 330

26.2.3.3 /b/ = b in Shortened VCV Strings 330

26.2.3.4 /b/ = b in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 331

26.2.3.5 /b/ = b after Vowel Digraphs 331

26.2.3.6 /b/ = b after Long Vowels 331

26.2.3.7 /b/ = bb at Complex Boundaries 332

26.2.3.8 /b/ = bb after Short Vowels 332

26.2.3.9 /b/ = bb between Short Vowels and le 333

26.2.3.10 /b/ = b after Reduced Vowels 333

26.3 The Spellings of /p/ 333

26.3.1 Overview 333

26.3.2 The Minor Spellings of /p/ 334

26.3.3 The Major Spellings of /p/ 335

26.3.3.1 /p/ = p at Simple Boundaries 335

26.3.3.2 /p/ = p in Shortened VCV Strings 335

26.3.3.3 /p/ = p in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 336

26.3.3.4 /p/ = p after Vowel Digraphs 336

26.3.3.5 /p/ = p after Long Vowels 336

26.3.3.6 /p/ = pp at Complex Boundaries 336

26.3.3.7 /p/ = pp after Short Vowels 337

26.3.3.8 /p/ = pp between Short Vowels and le 331

26.3.3.9 /p/ = p after Reduced Vowels 337

26.4 The Spellings of /d/ 337

26.4.1 Overview 337

26.4.1.1 The Flapped d 338

26.4.2 The Minor Spellings of /d/ 338

26.4.3 The Major Spellings of /d/ 339

26.4.3.1 /d/ = d at Simple Boundaries 339

26.4.3.2 /d/ = d in Shortened VCV Strings 340

26.4.3.3 /d/ = d in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 340

26.4.3.4 /d/ = d after Vowel Digraphs 340

26.4.3.5 /d/ = d after Long Vowels 341

26.4.3.6 /d/ = dd at Complex Boundaries 341

26.4.3.7 /d/ = dd after Short Vowels 341

26.4.3.8 /d/ = dd between Short Vowels and le 342

26.4.3.9 /d/ = d after Reduced Vowels 342

26.5 The Spellings of /t/ 342

26.5.1 Overview 342

26.5.2 The Minor Spellings of /t/ 343

26.5.3 The Major Spellings of /t/ 346

26.5.3.1 /t/ = t at Simple Boundaries 346

26.5.3.2 /t/ = t in Shortened VCV Strings 347

26.5.3.3 /t/ = t in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 348

26.5.3.4 /t/ = t after Vowel Digraphs 348

26.5.3.5 /t/ = t after Long Vowels 348

26.5.3.6 /t/ = tt at Complex Boundaries 349

26.5.3.7 /t/ = tt after Short Vowels 349

26.5.3.8 /t/ = tt between Short Vowels and le 349

26.5.3.9 /t/ = t after Reduced Vowels 349

Chapter 27. The Velar Stops, /g/ and /k/ 150

27.1 Introduction 350

27.2 The Spellings of /g/ 350

27.2.1 Overview 350

27.2.2 Hard and Soft g, gu, and gg 350

27.23 The Minor Spellings of /g/ 351

27.2.4 The Major Spellings of /g/ 352

27.2.4.1 /g/ = g at Simple Boundaries 352

27.2.4.2 /g/ = g in Shortened VCV Strings 353

27.2.4.3 /g/ = g in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 353

27.2.4.4 /g/ = g after Vowel Digraphs 354

27.2.4.5 /g/ = g after Long Vowels 354

27.2.4.6 /g/ = gg at Complex Boundaries 354

27.2.4.7 /g/ = gg after Short Vowels 354

27.2.4.8 /g/ = gg between Short Vowels and le 355

27.2.4.9 /g/ = g after Reduced Vowels 355

27.3 The Spellings of /k/ 355

27.3.1 Historical Sources 355

27.3.2 The Minor Spellings of /k/ 356

27.3.2.1 /k/ = cc 356

27.3.2.2 /k/ = kk 356

27.3.2.3 /k/ = ch, cch 356

27.3.2.4 /k/ = q, qu 358

27.3.2.5 /k/ = cq, cqu 360

27.3.2.6 /k/ = x 360

27.3.2.7 /k/ = lk 360

27.3.2.8 /k/ = kh 361

27.3.2.9 /k/ = sc 361

27.3.2.10 /k/ = gh, kg 361

27.3.3 The Major Spellings of /k/ 361

27.3.3.1 The Major Spellings of /k/ Summarized 361

27.3.3.2 /k/ = k before e, i, and y, but c before a, o, and u 362

27.3.3.3 The Regular Settings for /k/ = k 362

27.3.3.4 The Regular Settings for /k/ = c 364

27.3.3.5 /k/ = c in Shortened VCV Strings 365

27.3.3.6 /k/ = c after Reduced Vowels 366

27.3.3.7 /k/ = c in the Cluster /kt/ 366

27.3.3.8 The Spellings c and k in Other Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 366

27.3.3.9 The Spelling ck Summarized 368

27.3.3.10 /k/ = ck after Short Vowels 368

27.3.3.11 Word-final /k/ = ck after a Stressed Short Vowel 369

27.3.3.12 Sometimes Word-final /k/ = ck after Reduced Vowels 369

27.3.3.13 /k/ = ck and the k-Insertion Rule 370

27.3.3.14 The Cluster /ks/ 370

Chapter 28. The Simple Fricatives /v/, /f/, /th/, /th/, and /h/ 173

28.1 The Spellings of /v/ 373

28.1.1 Historical Sources 373

28.1.2 The Minor Spellings of /v/ 375

28.1.2.1 /v/ = vv 375

28.1.2.2 /v/ = lv 376

28.1.2.3 /v/ = f 376

28.1.3 The Major Spelling of /v/ 376

28.1.4 The Spellings of /v/ Summarized 377

28.2 The Spellings of /f/ 377

28.2.1 Historical Sources 377

28.2.2 The Minor Spellings of /f/ 378

28.2.2.1 /f/ = ph 378

28.2.2.2 /f/ = pph 378

28.2.2.3 /f/ = gh 379

28.2.2.4 /f/ = lf 380

28.2.2.5 /f/ =ft 380

28.2.3 The Major Spellings of /f/ 380

28.2.3.1 The Major Spellings of /f/ Summarized 380

28.2.3.2 /f/ = ff in Word-final Position 381

28.2.3.3 /f/ = f at Simple Boundaries 381

28.2.3.4 /f/ = f in Shortened VCV Strings 382

28.2.3.5 /f/ = f in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 382

28.2.3.6 /f/ = f after Vowel Digraphs 382

28.2.3.7 /f/ = f after Long Vowels 382

28.2.3.8 /f/ = ff at Complex Boundaries 383

28.2.3.9 /f/ = ff after Short Vowels 383

28.2.3.10 /f/ = ff between Short Vowels and le 384

28.2.3.11 /f/ = f after Reduced Vowels 384

28.3 Spelling /th/ and /th/ 384

28.3.1 Historical Sources 384

28.3.2 The Minor Spellings 385

28.3.3 The Major Spelling 385

28.3.3.1 /th/ = th 385

28.3.3.2 /th/ = th 385

28.4 The Spellings of /h/ 386

28.4.1 /h/ = h 386

28.4.2 /h/ = wh 387

28.4.3 /hw/ = wh 388

28.4.4 The Spellings of /h/ Summarized 389

28.4.5 Silent h 389

Chapter 29. The Simple Fricatives /z/ and /s/ 191

29.1 The Spellings of /z/ 391

29.1.1 Historical Sources 391

29.1.2 The Minor Spellings of /z/ 391

29.1.3 The Major Spellings of /z/ 391

29.1.3.1 z versus zz 392

29.1.3.2 s versus ss 394

29.1.3.3 zz versus ss 396

29.1.3.4 z versus s 396

29.2 The Spellings of /s/ 397

29.2.1 Historical Sources 397

29.2.2 The Minor Spellings of /s/ 397

29.2.2.1 /s/ = sc 397

29.2.2.2 /s/ = ps 399

29.2.2.3 Other Minor Spellings of /s/ 399

29.2.3 The Major Spellings of /s/ 400

29.2.3.1 /s/ = ss in Word-final Position after Short Vowels 401

29.2.3.2 /s/ = s at Other Simple Boundaries 401

29.2.3.3 /s/ = s in Shortened VCV Strings 402

29.2.3.4 /s/ = s in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 402

29.2.3.5 /s/ = s after Vowel Digraphs 402

29.2.3.6 /s/ = s after Long Vowels 403

29.2.3.7 /s/ = ss at Complex Boundaries 403

29.2.3.8 /s/ = ss in VCC Strings 404

29.2.3.9 /s/ = ss between Short Vowels and le 404

29.2.3.10 /s/ = s after Reduced Vowels 404

29.2.4 /s/ = c 405

29.2.4.1 /s/ = c in Element-initial Position 405

29.2.4.2 /s/ = c.in Element-medial Position 405

29.2.4.3 /s/ = c in Element-final Position 406

29.2.4.4 /s/ = c in Consonant Clusters 406

Chapter 30. The Palatal Sibilants: /sh/, /ch/, /j/, and /zh/ 107

30.1 Introduction 407

30.2 The Spellings of /sh/ 407

30.2.1 The Minor Simple Spellings of /sh/: ch and sch 407

30.2.2 The Major Simple Spelling of /sh/: sh 408

30.2.3 The Palatalized Spellings of /sh/ 409

30.2.3.1 /sh/ = t 410

30.2.3.2 /sh/ = s 410

30.2.3.3 /sh/ = ss 411

30.2.3.4 /sh/ = sc 411

30.2.3.5 /sh/ = c 412

30.3 The Spellings of /ch/ 412

30.3.1 The Minor Simple Spellings of /ch/ 412

30.3.2 The Major Simple Spellings of /ch/: ch and tch 412

30.3.2.1 /ch/ = tch Regularly in Word-final Position 413

30.3.2.2 /ch/ = ch at Other Simple Boundaries 414

30.3.2.3 /ch/ = ch in Shortened VCV Strings 414

30.3.2.4 /ch/ = ch in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 414

30.3.2.5 /ch/ = ch after Vowel Digraphs 415

30.3.2.6 /ch/ = tch in VCC Strings 415

30.3.2.7 /ch/ = ch after Reduced Vowels 415

30.3.3 The Palatalized Spelling of /ch/: t 415

30.4 The Spellings of /j/ 417

30.4.1 Historical Sources 417

30.4.2 The Minor Simple Spellings of /j/: dj and gg 418

30.4.3 The Major Simple Spellings of /j/ 418

30.4.3.1 /j/ = dg in Word-final Position 418

30.4.3.2 /j/ = g at Other Simple Boundaries 419

30.4.3.3 /j/ = g in Shortened VCV Strings 419

30.4.3.4 /j/ = g in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 419

30.4.3.5 /j/ = g after Vowel Digraphs 420

30.4.3.6 /j/ = g after Long Vowels 420

30.4.3.7 /j/ = dg in VCC Strings 420

30.4.3.8 /j/ = g after Reduced Vowels 420

30.4.3.9 The Correspondence /j/ = j 420

30.4.4 The Palatalized Correspondence /j/ = d 421

30.5 The Spellings of /zh/ 421

30.5.1 Historical Sources 421

30.5.2 The Simple Spellings of /zh/ 422

30.5.2.1 /zh/ = g 422

30.5.2.2 /zh/ = j 422

30.5.3 The Palatalized Spellings of /zh/: s, z, and t 422

Chapter 31. The Nasals: /m/, /n/, and // 123

31.1 Introduction 423

31.2 The Spellings of /m/ 423

31.2.1 The Minor Spellings of /m/ 423

31.2.1.1 /m/ = mb 423

31.2.1.2 /m/ = lm 424

31.2.1.3 /m/ = mn 425

31.2.1.4 /m/ = gm 425

31.2.1.5 Other Minor Spellings of /m/ 426

31.2.2 The Major Spellings of /m/ 426

31.2.2.1 /m/ = m at Simple Boundaries 426

31.2.2.2 /m/ = m in Shortened VCV Strings 427

31.2.2.3 /m/ = m in Consonant Clusters and Concatenations 427

31.2.2.4 /m/ = m after Vowel Digraphs and Long Vowels 428

31.2.2.5 /m/ = mm at Complex Boundaries 428

31.2.2.6 /m/ = mm in VCC Strings 429

31.2.2.7 /m/ = m after Reduced Vowels 429

31.3 The Spellings of /n/ 429

31.3.1 The Minor Spellings of /n/ 430

31.3.1.1 /n/ = kn 430

31.3.1.2 /n/ = gn 430

31.3.1.3 /n/ = pn 431

31.3.1.4 Other Minor Spellings of /n/ 431

31.3.2 The Major Spellings of /n/ 432

31.3.2.1 /n/ = n at Simple Boundaries 432

31.3.2.2 /n/ = n in Shortened VCV Strings 432

31.3.2.3 /n/ = n in Consonant Clusters 433

31.3.2.4 /n/ = n after Long Vowels and Vowel Digraphs 433

31.3.2.5 /n/ = nn at Complex Boundaries 433

31.3.2.6 /n/ = nn in VCC Strings 434

31.3.2.7 /n/ = n after Reduced Vowels 434

31.4 The Spellings of //, "eng" 435

31.4.1 Historical Sources 435

31.4.2 // = n 436

31.4.2.1 // = n before /k/ = k 436

31.4.2.2 // = n before /k/ = c 436

31.4.2.3 // = n before /g/ = g 436

31.4.2.4 // = n before /k/ = ch 436

31.4.2.5 // = n before x 436

31.4.2.6 // = n before qu 437

31.4.3 // = ng 437

31.4.4 Two Complications to the // Rule 438

Chapter 32. The Liquids, /l/ and /r/ 139

32.1 Introduction 439

32.2. The Spellings of /l/ 439

32.2.1 The Minor Spellings of /l/ 439

32.2.1.1 /l/ = sl 439

32.2.1.2 /l/ = ln 440

32.2.2 The Major Spellings of /l/ 440

32.2.2.1 American Variants and the Emerging Pattern 440

32.2.2.2 The Spellings l versus ll Summarized 441

32.2.2.3 /l/ = l in Initial Position; 442

32.2.2.4 /l/ = ll in Word-final Position 442

32.2.2.5 /l/ = l in Word-final Position 444

32.2.2.6 /l/ = l in Shortened VCV Strings 444

32.2.2.7 /l/ = l in Consonant Clusters 445

32.2.2.8 /l/ = l after long Vowels and Vowel Digraphs 445

32.2.2.9 /l/ = ll at Complex Boundaries 446

32.2.2.10 /l/ = ll in VCC Strings 447

32.2.2.11 /l/ = l after Reduced Vowels 447

32.3 The Spellings of /r/ 447

32.3.1 The Minor Spellings of /r/ 448

32.3.1.1 /r/ = wr 448

32.3.1.2 /r/ = rh, rrh 448

32.3.1.3 Other Minor Spellings of /r/ 449

32.3.2 The Major Spellings of /r/ 450

32.3.2.1 Variant Spellings with r and rr 450

32.3.2.2 The Spellings r versus rr Summarized 450

32.3.2.3 /r/ = r in Initial Position 451

32.3.2.4 /r/ = r in Word-final Position 451

32.3.2.5 /r/ = r in Shortened VCV Strings 451

32.3.2.6 /r/ = r in Consonant Clusters 452

32.3.2.7 /r/ = r after Long Vowels and Vowel Digraphs 453

32.3.2.8 /r/ = rr at Complex Boundaries 453

32.3.2.9 /r/ = rr in VCC Strings 454

32.3.2.10 /r/ = r after Reduced Vowels 454

Chapter 33. The Semivowels, /w/ and /y/ 156

33.1 Introduction 456

33.2 The Spellings of /w/ 456

33.2.1 The Minor Spellings of /w/ 456

33.2.2 The Major Spellings of /w/ 457

33.2.2.1 /w/ = u 457

33.2.2.2 /w/ = w 458

33.3 The Spellings of /y/ 459

33.3.1 The Consonantal /y/ 459

33.3.2 The Glide /y/ 459

Chapter 34. Conclusion 461

Bibliography 465

Index of Words 475

General Index 539

Cummings, D. W. American English Spelling: An Informal Description, pp. xxv-xxix, vii-xxiv, 539-555. © 1988 [Copyright Holder]. Reproduced with permission of The Johns Hopkins University Press (http://www.jhupbooks.com).

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