The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-10-16
chs dlailg y ,llstin.
SATURDAY. OCT. 16. 1856.
ENGLISH SPELLING,

ENGLtSn StttLENG,
To THE EDITOR OF TIE LONDON
TimeS-SrR: During the last ten
years l have been collecting mis-
takes frequently made, from dicta-
tons, essays, letters, ETC., and after
having collected some seven hun-
dred, and printed them with a few
special rules, l still find difficulty
in laying down an absolute law for
q certain number of words for want
of some fixed authority in England,
such rs the Academy in France.
"Rateable," for instance, is, | find,
the popular spelling, but all the
dictionaries l have consulted give
"ratable," though both forms have
existed side by side for more than
two centuries. "Debatable" and
"debateable" also both exist. l
find "debatable" in the Tines of
Monday, June 14th, bearing out the
rule / had given that "Words end
ing in before able drop the when
not required to soioen the pronun-
citation of the last ccnsonant of the
word," as blamable, loyable, etc.,
but 'geable, peaceabe, etc.
A., the spelling license pre-
dominates in several hundred col
lected quotations both as substan-
tive and verb, though the popul.
spelling is ''license" for the verb
and "iicence'' for the substantive.
the chronological in the first case
having strangely become S. This
may be by analogy with "adyse
and advice" "practise and prac-
tice," ''prophesy and prophecy"
in all of which the verb takes the s.
Then modern spelling gives ''judg-
ment," "abridgment," 'acknow-
ledgment," but we retain the in
management" enlargement"
engagement" etc.
Among double forms of spelling
we have ecstasy and eXtasy,"
connection and connection" Gin
hexion and Infection" "despatch
and dispatch, " "villainous and vii
lanous,'' negotiable and negoci-
able" in all of which one can bat.
bracket the words and say the
former spelling is preferable. ere
Gexion" is generally found used in
q physical and "rehec on" in a
mental sense.
Again, the important rule that
"Verbs ending in a single conso-
nant preceded by a single vowel
double this consonant when adding
ed or ing only if accented on the
last SYLLABLE" though apparently
respected by American writer's and
photographers, is violated by Eng
lish writer's in more than twenty
verbs ending in !, as cancel, equal,
level, label, marvel, quarrel, rival,
travel, etc., and also in the verb
"worship," and the t in benefit,
ballot, carpet, ETC., is sometimes
doubled, though l notice the Times
always adheres TO one t.. Modern
spelling apparently prefers sin
quire'' to the elder ''enquire," and
there are other double spellings in
en- and in.
If these anomalies exist, l cannot
see what authority is followed by
examiners in the various COMPETE
tive examinations where few So
called mistakes might make the
difference to passing or failing on
the part of candidate. l noticed
"develope" in letter recently writ
ten TO the Tim by a late Cabinet
Minister, but l presume this was an
oversight on the part of the writer
and reader.
l hope when the English diction-
ary, at present being prepared I'M
der the supervision of DR.. Murray
is completed, some of the above
difficulties in English spelling may
be cleared up. end that fed
standard may exist. Yours fifth
fully,
TB" EDITOR OF THE PUBL.c SCI COL
'ELLING CAcD.