Part 26 (2/2)

unlike _handygripe_ and _handystroke_; _babyshi+p_ and _babyhood_, unlike _stateliness_ and _likelihood_; the distinction between derivatives and compounds, we see, is too nice a point to have been always accurately observed 2 Before _ing_ or _ish_, the _y_ is retained to prevent the doubling of _i_: as, _pity, pitying_; _baby, babyish_ 3 Words ending in _ie_, dropping the _e_ by Rule 9th, change the _i_ into _y_, for the sa_

RULE XII--FINAL Y

The final _y_ of a pried into _i_ before any additional teruys_; _valley, valleys_; _coy, coyly_; _cloy, cloys, cloyed_; _boy, boyish, boyhood_; _annoy, annoyer, annoyance_; _joy, joyless, joyful_

EXCEPTIONS--1 From _lay, pay, say_, and _stay_, are forular words, _layed, payed, stayed_, are sometimes used 2 _Raiment_, contracted from _arrayment_, is never written with the _y_ 3 _Daily_ is ayety_, and _gayness_, are justly superseding _gaily_ and _gaiety_

RULE XIII--IZE AND ISE

Words ending in _ize_ or _ise_ sounded alike, as in _wise_ and _size_, generally take the _z_ in all such as are essentially formed by means of the termination; and the _s_ in monosyllables, and all such as are essentially forize, brutalize, canonize, pilgrimize, philosophize, cauterize, anatheanize_, with _z_;[117] _rise, arise, disguise, advise, devise, supervise, circumcise, despise, surmise, surprise, comprise, compromise, enterprise, presurmise_, with _s_

EXCEPTIONS--1 _Advertise, catechise, chastise, criticise_,[118]

_exercise, exorcise_, and _merchandise_, are most commonly written with _s_ and _size, assize, capsize, analyze, overprize, detonize_, and _recognize_, with _z_ How many of them are real exceptions to the rule, it is difficult to say 2 _Prise_, a thing taken, and _prize_, to esteem; _apprise_, to inform, and _apprize_, to _value_, or _appraise_, are often written either ithout this distinction of , which so rule has also ht, unquestionably, to conforeneral principle

RULE XIV--COMPOUNDS

Coraphy of the simple words which compose them: as, _wherein, horse-trough, innkeeper, skylight, plumtree, mandrill_

EXCEPTIONS--1 In permanent compounds, or in any derivatives of which, they are not the _roots_, the words _full_ and _all_ drop one _l_; as, _handful, careful, fulfil, always, although, withal_; in temporary compounds, they retain both; as, _full-eyed, chock-full_,[119] _all-wise, save-all_ 2 So the prefix _ to drop them both, as in Johnson's ”_mispell_” and ”_mispend_,” for _misspell_ and _misspend_ 3 In the names of days, the word _mass_ also drops one _s_; as, _Christmas, Candlemas, Lammas_ 4 The possessive case often drops the apostrophe; as in _herdsman, kitesfoot_ 5

One letter is dropped, if three of the saether: as, _Rosshi+re, chaffinch_; or else a hyphen is used: as, _Ross-shi+re, ill-looking, still-life_ 6 _Chilblain, welcome_, and _welfare_, drop one _l_ 7 _Pastime_ drops an _s_ 8 _Shepherd, wherever_, and _whosever_, drop an _e_; and _wherefore_ and _therefore_ assu of which we have no rule but usage, is written wrong if not spelled according to the usage which is rinds his malt before he _brues_ his beer”--_Red Book_, p 38

OBSERVATIONS

OBS 1--The foregoing rules airaphy; but, if carefully applied, they will donorance of so is now, and always has been, exceedingly irregular and unsettled Uniformity and consistency can be attained in no other way, than by the steady application of rules and principles; and these eneral as the case will admit, that the memory of the learner may not be overmatched by their nuy of sie of careful writers, uides; because common practice is often found to be capricious, contradictory, and uncertain That errors and inconsistencies abound, even in the books which are proposed to the world as _standards_ of English orthography, is a position which scarcely needs proof It is true, to a greater or less extent, of all the spelling-books and dictionaries that I have seen, and probably of all that have ever been published And as all authors are liable to eneral rules should have ht spelling of a word rees the best with its pronunciation, its etyy of the particular class of words to which it belongs”--_Philological Museureat respect is due to the authority of our lexicographers, or that great ie when Dr Johnson put his hand to the work But sometimes one man's authority may offset an other's; and he that is inconsistent with himself, destroys his own: for, surely, his example cannot be paramount to his principles Much has been idly said, both for and against the adoption of Johnson's Dictionary, or Webster's, as _the criterion_ of what is right or wrong in spelling; but it would see is sufficiently extensive, or his memory sufficiently accurate, to be solely relied on to furnish _a standard_ by which we ht; but, like other

He erred sometimes in his _principles_, or in their application; as when he adopted the _k_ in such words as _rhetorick_, and _deovernour, warriour, superiour_ Neither of theselike the nuh so to i He also erred soht_; as when he spelled thus: ”_recall_ and _miscal, inthrall_ and _bethral, windfall_ and _downfal, laystall_ and _thuhil, windmill_ and _twibil, uphill_ and _downhil_” This occasional excision of the letter _l_ is reprehensible, because it is contrary to general analogy, and because both letters are necessary to preserve the sound, and show the derivation of the coularity,” and lays the blame of it on the ”_printers_,” and yet does not venture to correct it!

See Johnson's Dictionary, first A Dictionary, under the word _Dunghil_; and his Rhy Dictionary, Introd, p xv

OBS 3--”Dr Johnson's Dictionary” has been represented by soe” But Murray, who quotes this froraphy of a great nust writers of distinction”--_Gra this work of Johnson's, as A STANDARD, from which, ”it is earnestly to be hoped, that no author will henceforth, on light grounds, be tempted to innovate,” he adds, ”This Dictionary, however, contains soht to be rectified: such as, _immovable, moveable; chastely, chastness; fertileness, fertily; sliness, slyly; fearlessly, fearlesness; needlessness, needlesly_”--_Ib_ In respect to the final _ck_ and _our_, he also _intentionally departs fro, in that, the authority of _Walker's Rhy Dictionary_, froainst the use of _k_ at the end of words froainst the _u_ in many words in which Johnson used it, we have the authority, not only of general usage now, but of rammarians ere conteraphers, ancient orwhom is Walker hiht, and his co

OBS 4--Of words ending in _or_ or _our_, we have about three hundred and twenty; of which not more than forty can noith any propriety be written with the latter tere of the present day, I insert the _u_ in so many of these words as now seem most familiar to the eye when so written; but I have no partiality for any letters that can well be spared; and if this book should ever, by any good fortune, happen to be reprinted, after _honour, labour, favour, behaviour_, and _endeavour_, shall have become as unfashi+onable as _authour, errour, terrour_, and _emperour_, are now, let the proof-reader strike out the useless letter not only from these words, but from all others which shall bear an equally antiquated appearance

OBS 5--I have suggested the above-raphy,otherwise; and not with any view to give a preference to that of _Dr Webster_, who is now contending for the honour of having furnished a ht in so, is, on the whole, still more erroneous and inconsistent In his various atteraphy, he has spelled many hundreds of words in such a variety of ways, that he knows not at last which of the But in respect to _definitions_, he has done good service to our literature; nor have his critics been sufficiently just respecting what they call his ”innovations”

See Cobb's Critical Review of the Orthography of Webster To omit the _k_ from such words as _publick_, or the _u_ from such as _superiour_, is certainly _no innovation_; it is but ignorance that censures the general practice, under that name The advocates for Johnson and opponents of Webster, who are now so zealously stickling for the _k_ and the _u_ in these cases, ought to know that they are contending for as obsolete, or obsolescent, when Dr Johnson was a boy

OBS 6--I have before observed that sorammarians ere conte the _k_ or the _u_, in _publick, critick, errour, superiour_, &c And indeed I am not sure there were any who did Dr Johnson was born in 1709, and he died in 1784 But Brightland's Gran of Queen Anne, who died in 1714, in treating of the letter C, says, ”If in any Word the harder Sound precedes (_e_), (_i_), or (_y_), (_k_) is either added or put in its Place; as, _Skill, Skin, Publick_: And tho' the additional (_k_) in the foregoing Word be an _old Way_ of Spelling, yet it is now very justly left off, as being a superfluous Letter; for (_c_) at the End is always hard”--Seventh Edition, Lond, 1746, p 37

OBS 7--The three grammars of Ash, Priestley, and Lowth, all appeared, in their first editions, about one time; all, if I mistake not, in the year 1763; and none of these learned doctors, it would see now in question In Ash, of 1799, we have such orthography as this: ”Italics, public, domestic, our traffic, music, quick; error, superior, warrior, authors, honour, humour, favour, behaviour” In Priestley, of 1772: ”Iambics, dactyls, dactylic, anapaestic, monosyllabic, electric, public, critic; author, eour, endeavour; re, hillock, bailiwick, bishoprick, control, travelling” In Lowth, of 1799: ”Comic, critic, characteristic, do_, foretells” Now all these are words in the spelling of which Johnson and Webster contradict each other; and if they are not all right, surely they would not, on the whole, beconformed to either of these authorities exclusively For THE BEST USAGE is the ultirammar

OBS 8--The old British Grammar, written before the American Revolution, and even before ”_the learned Mr Sah it thus respectfully quotes that great scholar, does not follow hi On the contrary, it abounds with exa in _ic_ and _or_, and not in _ick_ and _our_, as he wrote them; and I araphy has continued to be _more common than his_ Walker, the orthoepist, who died in 1807, yielded the point respecting the _k_, and ended about four hundred and fifty words with _c_ in his Rhyht it more of an innovation than it really was In his pronouncing Dictionary, he says, ”It has been a custom, _within these twenty years_, to omit the _k_ at the end of words, when preceded by _c_

This has introduced a _novelty_ into the language, which is that of ending a ith an unusual letter,” &c ”This oeneral to be counteracted, even by the authority of Johnson; but it is to be hoped it will be confined to words froes”-- _Walker's Principles of pronunciation_, No 400 The tenth edition of Burn's Grammar, dated 1810, says, ”It has become customary to omit _k_ after _c_ at the end of dissyllables and trisyllables, &c as _ic_; but the _k_ is retained in monosyllables; as, _back, deck, rick_, &c”--P 25 Jalish Syntax there had been five American editions in 1792, added no _k_ to such words as _didactic, critic, classic_, of which he h he wrote _honour, labour_, and the like, with _u_, as they are perhaps enerally written now, he inserted no _u_ in _error, author_, or any of those words in which that letter would now be inconsistent with good taste

OBS 9--Bicknell's Gra of the letter _k_, says, ”And for the same reason we have _dropt_ it at the end of words after _c_, which is there always hard; as in _publick, logick_, &c which are ain: ”It has heretofore joined with _c_ at the end of words; as _publick, logick_; but, as before observed, being there quite superfluous, it is now left out”--_Ib_, p 16 Horne Tooke's orthography was also agreeable to the rule which I have given on this subject So is the usage of David Booth: ”Formerly a _k_ was added, as, _rustick, politick, Arithmetick_, &c but this is now in disuse”--_Booth's Introd to Dict_, Lond, 1814, p 80