Questions tagged [orthography]
This tag is for questions concerning the written representation of the English language, especially spelling and word breaks (including hyphenation).
1,434
questions
3
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1answer
151 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
0answers
39 views
Is “You rank 12 out of 50 participants” the way you should say and write that? [migrated]
How do I correctly describe somebody’s position within a ranked list for a competition when their position is not yet final because the competition hasn’t finished yet and so I am showing only the ...
0
votes
2answers
34 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
0answers
29 views
Why is 'equation' pronounced with /ʒ/ sound rather than /ʃ/
We often make nouns by adding the suffix -tion to verbs.
Almost all the words that end in -tion are pronounced with /ʃ/ sound.
Examples:
Inform + tion → information /ɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
Relate + ...
1
vote
2answers
146 views
Why is the 'cy' in cycle and cynic pronounced differently
Consider the following example:
Cynic → /ˈsɪn.ɪk/
Cylinder → /ˈsɪl.ɪn.də(r)/
Cycle → /ˈsʌɪk(ə)l/
Cynic and cylinider are stressed on first syllables yet the cy is pronounced /sɪ/ and not /saɪ/ (as ...
2
votes
1answer
58 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?
0
votes
0answers
37 views
How to pronounce various names in Robert Jordan's “The Eye of The World”?
I am currently reading the first book, "The Eye of The World", from the series "The Wheel of Time". In this high fantasy novel, Jordan uses a lot of strange spellings for names that I have a hard time ...
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 ...
1
vote
2answers
117 views
Reduction of diphthongs to short vowels (/waɪz/ -> /'wɪz.əd/)
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 -> /'rəʊɡ/
Argue -> /ˈɑːɡjuː/
They both sound different. What's the reason?
2
votes
3answers
112 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?
32
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 — Letter case
Examples: UPPER CASE, lower case.
We have word lengthening/ word elongation.
Examples: Nooooooooooooooooooooo, hiiiiiiiiiiii, ...
-1
votes
1answer
41 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?
0
votes
3answers
192 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
43 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
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2answers
69 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
13 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
66 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
126 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 ...
1
vote
2answers
130 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
137 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?
0
votes
2answers
40 views
Should I say “One-Click RemovER” or “One-Click RemovAL”?
I'm building a software and am wondering if I should say "remover" or "removal" for its name.
What is the correct way to describe the process? "One Click Color Removal" or "One Click Color Remover"?
0
votes
1answer
49 views
What is the proper way to spell and pronounce the name Yoanna or some certain names?
My name is "Yoanna" but I am not sure of how to pronounce or spell it properly in English. It is derived from "Joanna". Should I write it "Joanna" and pronounce it "Yoanna" or do I stick with "Yoanna" ...
1
vote
0answers
51 views
'MURDER“ or ”MURTHER" ? — Question on when distinct (archaic) spellings for words were used and when not
Salutations, I am currently writing a play that is being regulated to the very distinct notions of authentically replicating the English language and its archaic spellings during its usage in London, ...
9
votes
2answers
680 views
Is it CoViD? Or COVID? Covid? How should the word be spelled?
I have seen it spelled COVID-19, but I have also seen Covid-19. In addition, I believe I have seen CoViD-19, capitalising only the first letter of each word from which it was abbreviated (for it isn't ...
asked Mar 24 at 17:52
Cerberus_Reinstate_Monica
57.6k4 gold badges134 silver badges216 bronze badges
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0answers
12 views
What is the correct spelling of two fold? [duplicate]
Two fold, twofold, or two-fold: which one is the best option?
0
votes
2answers
54 views
Question on spelling “two drink minimum” (two-word adjectives) [duplicate]
Due to an argument, I must ask:
Is it "two-drink minimum" or "two drink minimum"?
Are both valid?
To me, the latter feels wrong because it has neither plural on "drink" nor the dash/hyphen to imply ...
0
votes
0answers
49 views
the plural of the name of the letter e is ees [duplicate]
According to the wikipedia article of letter e
The plural of the name of the letter e is ees (the plural of the
letter itself is rendered E's, Es, e's, es).
Therefore, is ees then a regular ...
4
votes
2answers
146 views
Which version of English is most common in Switzerland?
Since I'm from South Africa (a former British colony) and attended a British school, I mostly write English in a British way. Given that there are also Americans in Switzerland, one also comes across ...
4
votes
1answer
99 views
Why is “phony” spelled with a ph?
Who decided to spell “phony” or “phoney” that way and why? Usually, a “ph” can be traced back to a Greek φ (phi), but not so here. Wiktionary says it may come from “fawney”, with no Greek in sight. ...
1
vote
1answer
40 views
Is my StackExchange-Description written correctly? [closed]
This is my profile-description of the StackExchange-Site:
"Dösbaddel" is a (North-)German word for "Dummkopf" which probably means "fool" in English.
Is it written properly or do I need to insert ...
1
vote
2answers
182 views
How is 'compound noun' defined in CGEL?
This question is specifically about The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by Huddleston and Pullum.
Here's CGEL's definition of word:
In order to avoid possible misunderstanding we will ...
1
vote
1answer
97 views
When did spelling “-ic” words “-ick” start/stop being popular?
I've been reading Gulliver's Travels(1726) and noticed almost all words that we commonly spell ending "-ic" are instead spelt "-ck" such as publick or politick.
Researching online I can't find any ...
1
vote
2answers
144 views
Which spelling would be more correct: “Evictor” or “Evicter”?
Both "Evictor" and "Evicter" show up at Lexico.com. The "Evicter" page is much more substantial, though.
At Dictionary.com, "Evictor" is the only accepted spelling.
Google Trends shows that "Evictor"...
1
vote
0answers
31 views
Determine the difficulty of spelling a word
Is there a formula or a method to determine the spelling difficulty of a word?
For example, Cat would be 1, appendectomy would be would be a 5, etc.?
1
vote
1answer
2k views
“interactible” or “interactable”
I came across this when developing a computer system in an object-oriented way. That is grouping data and functionality which relate to each other into objects and give those objects names.
Now, ...
1
vote
0answers
29 views
Writing letter name pronounciations in a simple way [duplicate]
Short version, I want to fill in this list of letter names suitable for use in dialog: ?, bee, cee, dee, eee?, eff, gee, aitch, eye, jay, kay, ell, em, en, oh, pee, queue/cue?, arr, ess, tee, you/yew?,...
0
votes
0answers
16 views
Lock picking, lockpicking, or lock-picking: Which is correct to use? [duplicate]
I am trying to identify which usage is correct or most common in American English: lock picking, lockpicking, or lock-picking.
I found no results in Merriam-Webster online, and data from Google Ngram ...
5
votes
1answer
144 views
Use of superscript 'x'(?) as an abbreviation for 'yards'
I'm currently working with some handwritten notes that look like they could be quite old, or at least written by somebody who grew up a little bit earlier than I did. I don't really know when they ...
-1
votes
1answer
77 views
Should the first instance of an author-made word in a work use an accent mark? [closed]
If an author makes up proper nouns for their text, for example, Bilgebauth, should the very first instance in the text be typeset with an accent: Bilgebáuth to inform the reader of the proper stress ...
2
votes
1answer
90 views
Is “swap” an accepted alternate spelling for “swab” in Australian English?
A client from Australia sent us some documents that pretty consistently use "alcohol swap" to describe disinfecting wipes.
So no, this is not a "what do I use if I don't have gin" type of situation; ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
Capitalizing the first letter of each word in letter greeting [closed]
I have searched for an answer on the site, but all the questions I have found (e.g. this one) seem to be less general.
Assuming that I'm writing a cover letter to join a team working on a project ...
0
votes
0answers
52 views
Macroregional or Macro-Regional?
I have searched for the correct spelling of "macroregional / macro-regional" on the Internet, but there are used both variants (sometimes even on the same website).
Wiktionary spells it as "...
0
votes
0answers
45 views
Is “anymore” a word? [duplicate]
Quite often when I type the word "anymore" in software featuring built-in spell check, I get the following kind of warning:
(this one is courtesy of TortoiseGit).
i.e., the "anymore" word gets ...
0
votes
2answers
86 views
Which is a more common way, 10+ or 10 then + as superscript?
I don't know which shortened form of "10 or more" is more appropriate, is it 10+ or 10+ (i.e. with the plus sign as superscript). What do you think?
Extra question, when do we use superscript in ...
0
votes
1answer
123 views
Hyphenate wrap-around porch? [duplicate]
I do not know if it is correct to use a hyphen between the words wrap, and around, in describing a porch that wraps around a house.
5
votes
3answers
401 views
Why is ‘Earth’ often spelt with a lowercase e, even when referring to the planet?
The word earth has several meanings; the most central one is ‘soil, dirt’, that thing we walk on when we’re outside. It’s also used as a name for the planet we live on.
The Lexico definition for this ...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
Should a semicolon be used before both a coordinating conjunction and a conjunctive adverb?
Please see: http://academics.smcvt.edu/writingctr/semicolons.htm for reference.
Now I understand that a semicolon could be used before a conjunctive adverb (eg: also, furthermore, therefore, etc..) ...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
Is there a Word to describe Words that have Differing Masculine and Feminine Forms?
Granted that English has few such words, blond/blonde and fiancé/fiancée are the only ones that immediately come to mind. Apart from calling them "words with gender-specific forms", the closest I've ...
