Questions tagged [orthography]
This tag is for questions concerning the written representation of the English language, especially spelling and word breaks (including hyphenation).
1,466
questions
30
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5answers
3k views
What is the difference between a dieresis and an umlaut?
In my personal experience, many native speakers of U.S. English are familiar with the term "umlaut" as referring to the double dots above a letter, though they are not generally aware of its ...
0
votes
0answers
14 views
“Multiple step” syntax [closed]
How shall I write "multiple steps" in the following piece?
a multiple-step process
My first thought is "multiple-step" (singular, with hyphen) like I would write "two-step&...
1
vote
2answers
51 views
Is respect awarded, accorded or afforded?
I was revising a colleague's work, and saw the phrase "awarded the respect it deserves". This struck me as incorrect, but I was struck harder still by an uncertainty as to whether it ...
0
votes
0answers
29 views
Two-weeks' notice
For me it's uncountable, either two weeks' notice or two-week notice.
Yet I've just come across two-weeks' notice.
I cannot think of any similar examples. Is this used of the hyphen grammatical ?
1
vote
2answers
62 views
What rule governs “panic->panicking” and why? Would it apply to all -ic verbs? [duplicate]
It seems odd that the continual tense of "to panic" is "panicking". Or "picnic->picnicking". When did the "k" get added, and why? Surely the natural ...
1
vote
1answer
31 views
If I want to use “bountying” in a sentence, how might I construct a spelling for it? If not possible, what word could be used instead?
I frequently add bounties to Stack Exchange questions. I do a lot of bountying. I find this question fascinating and in need of bountying, but alas, I do not know how to attempt to spell bountying and ...
-1
votes
1answer
65 views
Why do some spell checker mark “copiable” as an error?
Some of my spell checkers (including the one in vim, and the build-in one in gmail) mark the form "copiable" as an error, and insist on "copyable". This doesn't seem to make sense; ...
-1
votes
1answer
45 views
Luscious, Vicious, Delicious, Nutritious? Why not Nutricious? [closed]
Why is nutritious spelled as such, and not as nutricious? What's the rule I'm missing here?
0
votes
0answers
22 views
Question Regarding Punctuation and Quotation Mark
I'm struggling to recall the answers to the questions below. Any assistance would be wonderful!
Thanks!
Does the comma go inside or outside the quotation mark in the sentence below?
I submitted my ...
1
vote
1answer
37 views
Hyphenation usage in US English [duplicate]
I am writing my Ph.D. Thesis in US English and have two questions on hyphenating.
Would it be re-entry or reentry?
Would it be (re)training or (re-)training? Or would it be retraining at all times? ...
0
votes
3answers
88 views
In British English, is “bail” or “bale” more common? [closed]
In American English, let's say we have something like
Dude, I want to leave this party. Let's bail.
This holds up in various American dictionaries (with the exception of to bale out of an airplane, ...
1
vote
0answers
39 views
What's the origin of “-er” vs. “-re” endings?
There's some words that end in "er" or "re" depending on the word, and depending on what country you learned English from.
There's words like reader with the "er" ending, ...
17
votes
4answers
3k views
Why was 'Jesus' spelt 'Jhesus' in Wycliffe's Bible?
I found that in Wycliffe's Bible, Jesus Christ is spelt as "Jhesu Crist". Why was it spelt with 'Jh' instead of 'J'?
0
votes
1answer
47 views
Abbreviating “of course” to course or 'course - is apostrophe needed to indicate missing word?
I'm looking at some dialogue that has been written as "'Course not!". Is the apostrophe here - indicating the missing word "of" - correct, incorrect or optional for clarity? ...
0
votes
0answers
68 views
Whatās going on with "hot -> heatā? [duplicate]
I am looking for a particular linguistic term for this process of turning words like hot into words like heat.
English has a bunch of pairs like these:
Hot -> heat
Whole -> heal
(Folk)lore ->...
0
votes
0answers
29 views
meridional or meridianal?
The wikipedia article on the history of the metric system uses the adjectives meridional and meridianal (as the metre was derived from the length of the meridian passing through Paris). Which is ...
-1
votes
1answer
106 views
Why are 'electric', 'electricity' and 'electrician' pronounced differently?
Why are the words electric, electricity and electrician pronounced differently?
Electric -> /iĖlek.trÉŖk/
Electricity -> /Ėel.ÉŖkĖtrÉŖs.É.ti/
Electrician -> /ĖÉŖl.ekĖtrÉŖŹ.Én/
My main question ...
5
votes
1answer
996 views
Rules for pronouncing the āghā sound [duplicate]
In English, we have many words ending in or containing āghā, but in some cases, the two letters are silent, while in others, it is pronounced as āfā . We have the words tough, rough, and draught, ...
0
votes
1answer
20 views
Adjective: attributive “leftover”, predicative “left over”
Wiktionary's entry for left over reads:
Use left over after a verb, in a predicate phrase. When directly
before a noun, use leftover.
Is this a general productive pattern? Otherwise, any reference ...
2
votes
2answers
179 views
Why is letter E the most common used letter?
It is well known that the letter E is the most common letter. In my corpus, I found 12.478% of letters is letter E. What makes me surprise was 64.219% of words contain the letter E. I also found that ...
0
votes
0answers
41 views
“Bias”: reason(s) for doubling the last consonant before inflectional endings
Forms such as concussed or discusses may lead people to wrongly double the final consonant of focus āat least that's the only reason I have come up with.
Yet, I cannot come up with a potential ...
0
votes
1answer
58 views
<ie ā· y> before the ·ing suffix
Page 1579 of the CambridgeGEL reads
For die the ie is the default spelling, so that the replacement
works in the opposite direction: ie is replaced by y before the
Ā·ing suffix.
Why was a replacement ...
0
votes
2answers
27 views
Can 'postsynaptic' be written as 'post-synaptic'?
Under the heading "Excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials" in this article on Khan Academy, the word 'postsynaptic' is written with and without a hyphen. Does this imply that both ...
1
vote
1answer
176 views
Is “bestfriend” an acceptable spelling now?
I'm a non-native speaker and I'd like to know if it has been grammatically acceptable in the UK or the US to write "best friend" as "bestfriend". I've seen such spelling used a lot ...
1
vote
0answers
63 views
How did English final /Él/ come to usually be spelled “le”?
English has suffixes spelled "-le" and pronounced /Él/ with several meanings. However, they variously come from Old English -el, -ol, -ul, and -lian. Of these, only -lian has a vowel after ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Captialization after a colon
Should I captialize the word after a colon if its a dependent clause? For example
You are banned: violating our Terms and Services.
OR
You are banned: Violating our Terms and Services.
Which one ...
0
votes
0answers
43 views
Spelling “-sed”, like in analysed, for some other words
I'm writing a paper in Brithish English so I write "analysed" instead of "analyzed" but there are some other words that I'm not certain what would be the appropriate spelling, ...
-1
votes
2answers
40 views
these are the people or this is the people?
In the following paragraph, it is correct to write: ...that this is the people who I want to learn from? or instead it should be.... that these are the people who I want to learn from?
The high level ...
0
votes
0answers
36 views
Is a punctuation error also a morphological error at the same time?
Are punctuation errors counted as morphological errors?
For example, is writing Johns car instead of John's car a morphological error?
0
votes
1answer
26 views
Photosynthesizing (American English vs British English) [closed]
For British English, does the word photosynthesizing include a 'z'? Or is this the American English spelling?
0
votes
0answers
10 views
Markup vs mark-up vs. mark up for prices [duplicate]
I am very confused by the use of the above three terms. According to wikipedia "A markup is the difference between the selling price of a good or service and cost". However, I very often see the use ...
3
votes
1answer
169 views
Why does the noun “assumption” lose the “p” when it goes to verb form: “assume?”
Nouns such as "consumption," "assumption," and "presumption" all have the letter "p" but their verb forms, "consume," "assume," and "presume" do not.
Why is that? Is there a simple linguistics reason?...
0
votes
2answers
36 views
Can we use “Person's name, When he verb to …”
Can we say for example "Oussama, when he wants to do something he does it" rather than "When Oussama wants to do something he does it"?
What is the correct sentence grammatically, because someone ...
0
votes
2answers
170 views
Why is the 'cy' in cycle and cynic pronounced differently
Consider the following example:
Cynic ā /ĖsÉŖn.ÉŖk/
Cylinder ā /ĖsÉŖl.ÉŖn.dÉ(r)/
Cycle ā /ĖsŹÉŖk(É)l/
Cynic and cylinider are stressed on first syllables yet the cy is pronounced /sÉŖ/ and not /saÉŖ/ (as ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Why is h silent in honor but not in hone
Hone and honor both start with "hon" but h is silent in honor but not in hone.
I googled it and searched everywhere but didn't find the answer. Can you help me please?
22
votes
2answers
4k views
Why does “signature” have a “g” sound but “sign” doesn't?
The following words don't have /g/ sound: sign, resign, design.
But why is there a "g" sound in the following derived words? Signature, resignation, designate.
I searched their etymologies because I ...
2
votes
3answers
189 views
Reduction of diphthongs to short vowels (/waÉŖz/ -> /'wÉŖz.Éd/)
I've noticed this phenomenon / process in many words where a diphthong (or a long vowel as well?) reduces to a short vowel when it's inflected.
Consider the following examples:
Pronounce /...
8
votes
5answers
3k views
Why do words that end with “gue” sound different? [closed]
Why do some words ending with "gue" sound different from other similar words?
Examples: rogue and argue.
Rogue -> /'rÉŹÉ”/
Argue -> /ĖÉĖÉ”juĖ/
They both sound different. What's the reason?
0
votes
3answers
141 views
Why did 's' in 'wisard' change to 'z'
Wizard:
a man in stories who has magic powers
someone who is very good at something
Origin and usage:
The word wizard comes from the Middle English word 'wys' meaning 'wise'. In this sense, it first ...
0
votes
0answers
15 views
“Tired of” or “tired from”? [duplicate]
Which is correct to say... are you not tired of being in pain because of football or are you not tired from being in pain because of football?
31
votes
7answers
6k views
WhAt iS tHiS kINd oF caPiTaLiSAtIOn cAlLeD? - random capitalisation or intermittent capitalisation
We have upper case and lower case in English ā Letter case
Examples: UPPER CASE, lower case.
We have word lengthening/ word elongation.
Examples: Nooooooooooooooooooooo, hiiiiiiiiiiii, ...
-1
votes
1answer
44 views
Can there be a circonflex on a “w” in Welsh? [closed]
Consider the page Wrexham Glyndŵr University. Why is there a circonflex on the w? Does this exist in Welsh spelling?
1
vote
3answers
291 views
Why don't we double the final consonant in the word cooking
SO here is the rule I find about doubling consonant
if a word ends with a short vowel sound plus a consonant, and the stress is on the last syllable, then the final consonant is doubled if you add ...
0
votes
1answer
90 views
Why is the word “triple” spelt with 1 p although tri is an open syllable?
nipple has a double p.
tripod and triangle are pronounced tr/I/
0
votes
2answers
82 views
Modelling or modeling? [closed]
When I want to talk about creating a structural model of a building or bridge, should I say modelling the structure or modeling the structure?
0
votes
0answers
39 views
Hyper-parameter or hyperparameter - which one is correct?
Question
Which form is correct: hyper-parameter or hyperparameter?
What I found
I searched a few sources and it seems that both spelling are commonly used:
hyper-parameter
big conference paper
(...
-1
votes
1answer
76 views
Is “pronunciable” or “pronounceable” more correct, considering etymology?
The former seems more natural to me, and is personally what I've used, but the latter is easier to pronounce.
4
votes
1answer
129 views
Why did the “-re” spelling persist in the British spelling of some words?
The -re ending in British English spelling derives from French -re. However, most French loanwords originally ending in -re in Old/Middle French or Anglo-Norman had their spelling changed to -er in ...
0
votes
2answers
161 views
-t- and -tt- in present participle and past participle of words
Why present participle and past participle of some verbs have -tt- and others have -t-?
Examples: accept -> accepted, interpret -> interpreted, elicit -> elicited have -t-.
Admit -> admitted, submit ...
2
votes
1answer
146 views
Why some words ending in -ke become -cable (and/or -cative), while others become -kable (or -keable)
Today I learnt that revoke + able would make revocable. What's the reasoning for this? Are there any other examples like this?
