Spelling

**Spelling** is the action of forming a word with the necessary letters and punctuation marks in a standardized manner.

Compared to some other languages, English has a looser connection between the way a word is spelt and the way it is pronounced. There are various historic reasons for these differences and some people have advocated spelling reform in order to regularize the language.

English spelling today reflects Old English (12th century) pronunciation, not modern pronunciation, which is why there are so many inconsintencies. One reason for this was the result of printers' - often immigrants who spoke little English - decisions in the early days of the printing press. Paid by the line, they tended to lengthen words to earn more money and/or to make margins look neater.

For the opposite problem of decoding a written word into sounds see Decoding written words.

## Some common spelling rules

### "I before E except after C"

*Main article:* I before E except after C

Although many native English speakers confuse the combination **ei** and **ie** in words such as *believe* and *ceiling*, the UK government report, *Support for Spelling* (2009), states that "The i before e except after c rule is not worth teaching... There are so few words... that it is easier to learn the specific words: *receive, conceive, deceive*..., *perceive* and *ceiling*". David Crystal, however, points out that there are, in fact, more words than the few suggested by the report.

"ie": *believe*; *chief*; *piece*; etc.;
"ei": *ceiling*; *deceive*; *perceive*; *receive*; etc.;
*ei* followed by **–gh** and pronounced **/eɪ/** as in ‘day’: *eight*; *weigh*; *weight*; etc.;
**Note the following exceptions:**

"ei": *caffeine*, *either*, *foreign*, *height*, *leisure*, *neither*, *seize* and *weird*.
"ie": *flies*, *science*, *tried*, etc.
### Final **e**

*See main article* Silent e

Before suffixes that begin with a vowel (e.g. -**ing**; -**able**; -**y**; -**ous**), we usually drop the final -**e** of a word ending in -**e**:
have - having;
hope – hoping;
sample - sampling;
write – writing;
note – notable;
recycle - recyclable;
shade – shady;
fame – famous;

Before suffixes that begin with a consonant (e.g. -**ment**; -**ness**; -**ly**; etc.), the final -**e** is not dropped:
excite – excitement;
definite – definitely;
late – lately;
complete – completeness;
trouble - troublesome;

Exception: words ending in Cle (where C is a consonant) instead of adding -**ly** replace the **e** by **y**.
possible - possibly;
simple - simply;
variable - variably;

### y and i

When we add an ending to a word that ends in -**y**, we usually change -**y** to -**i**: hurry – hurried; happy – happily; busy – business; easy – easier;

Except for endings beginning with -**i** (e.g. **-ing**; **-ism**; **-ish**): *try* – trying*;* baby *–* babyish

We do not change **-y** to **i** after a vowel: *play* – *played/playing*; *buy* – *buying*; *enjoy* – *enjoyment*

**Exceptions:** *say* – *said*; *pay* – *paid*; *lay* – *laid*;

We change **-ie** to **-y** before **-ing**: *die* – *dying*; *lie* – *lying*

## Variant spellings

Apart from the obvious differences in spelling reflected by British English and American English dictionaries, newspapers' and publishers' style guides may also differ. Thus, in the UK, while *The Times* style guide favors *moveable* and *The Guardian'*s favors *movable*, both recommend *judgement*. Curiously, this is in disagreement with both the Cambridge University Press' and the Oxford University Press' *judgment*.

## American spelling v. British spelling

*See main article:* American spelling vs. British spelling.

Verbs ending in **-ise** and **-ize**
In British English these verbs can be spelt with either **-ise** or **-ize**. American English tends to use -ize: realise/realize (BrE) – realize (AmE);

The general rule is that verbs containing the Greek suffix **-ize** must always be spelt that way in American English but can also be spelt **-ise** in British English.

Some exceptions – these are written **-ise** even in American English:
*surprise* (NOT \*surprize); *exercise*; *supervise*; *advise*; *revise*;
If in doubt, remember **-ise** is usually correct in British English.

-re v. -er
**-re** in BrE (*theatre*, *centre*, *litre*, etc.) but **-er** in AmE (*theater*, *center*, *liter*, etc.);
-our v. or
**-our** in BrE (*colour*, *honour*, *favour*, etc.) but **-or** in AmE (*color*, *honor*, *favor*, etc.);
other words
*sulphur* in BrE (and *sulphuric*, *sulphates*, etc.) but - *sulfur* in AmE (and *sulfuric*, *sulfates* etc.);

**IPA consonants**

## Informal spelling

Informal spelling or "joke spelling" (a phrase invented by Larry Trask) are words spelled the same way they are pronounced. These spellings are often used in advertisements and signs. Not all words have an informal spelling; You can find *nite* in many dictionaries, but *wenzday* is not as usual as to be considered informal spelling.

Examples:

* night /naɪt/ *nite*
* light /laɪt/ *lite*
* through /θruː/ *thru*
* hell of a /ˈhel əv ə, ˈheləvə/ *helluva*

## Non standard spelling of non standard pronunciation

Normally the spelling does not need to reflect the pronunciation. In some cases people choose to spell the way words are pronounced.

* don't know: dunno /dəˈnəʊ/
* give me: gimme /ˈɡɪmiː/
* go to: gonna /gənə/
* got to: gotta /ˈɡɒtə/
* want to: wanna /ˈwɒnə/

## Others

Everyday words that are especially confusing for students of English include the following:

through /θruː/, though /ðəʊ/, thought /θɔːt/
Wednesday /ˈwenzdeɪ, ˈwenzdiː/
## See also

* Homophone
* Pronunciation exercises: "of" vs "off"
* Silent letter
* Unwritten sounds

## References

1. ↑ "A brief history of English spelling", The English Spelling Society. Retrieved 12th October 2012.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 David Crystal, *Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling*, Profile Books, ISBN 978-184668567 5
3. ↑ Larry Trask, *Mind the Gaffe,* (2001), ISBN 0-14-051476-7
4. ↑ China Nite restaurant

## External links

* Some phonetics rules
* Oxford Dictionaries: Spelling rules and tips
* Oxford Dictionaries: "i before e except after c"
* "The Classic Concordance of Cacographic Chaos", available in "The Classic Concordance of Cacographic Chaos", Teaching English Today, A Project by the English Academy of Southern Africa.
* Oxford Dictionaries: Are there any English words containing the same letter three times in a row?
* Twelve Top Spelling Tips, *The Collins English Dictionary*
* The English Spelling Society