Questions tagged [orthography]
This tag is for questions concerning the written representation of the English language, especially spelling and word breaks (including hyphenation).
1,630 questions
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. . . together with recitals of congratulatory verses and obituary poetry [closed]
From the Oxford University Press printing of Mark Twain’s Life On The Mississippi in the chapter "A Pilot's Needs" I read:
He would be 'so full of laugh' that he could hardly begin; then ...
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Is "shelve" the only verb formed as a back-formation from the plural of its noun form? (shelf -> shelves -> shelve)
When I checked the etymology of the verb shelve, I was surprised to learn that it is a back formation from shelves, plural of shelf. Etymonline adds "probably", though:
1590s, "to ...
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The Middle and South Atlantic states
To refer to a large porch, especially with a suggestion of luxury,
veranda is most common in the Middle and South Atlantic states
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009
I can find:
Middle (Atlantic) States
South ...
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"Paradigmacity", "paradigmicity": spelling, pronunciation, morphology
There is no trace of either of these word forms in Google ngrams nor in Etymonline (1, 2), but Google Books reveals that there are more than 20 cases of use; I presume that it can be safely accepted ...
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What is the reason for the different spelling of the endings of *eager* and *meagre* in English (Commonwealth)?
Both words were borrowed at 14c. and their etymology looks absolutely similar:
acer (L.) -> egre (Old Fr.) -> egre (ME) -> eagER
macer (L.) -> megre (Old Fr.) -> megre (ME) -> meagRE
...
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Before Webster, Johnson, Caudrey, was all spelling simply phonetic? [closed]
Before Webster was all spelling simply phonetic?
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Orthography of an -s plural with contraction of "is"
In Wilson Vance and John Philip Sousa's operetta Katherine (1879), we have these two lines:
Telling my brave [deeds is] my scorn
The day of knightly [deeds is] not gone
In both cases, [deeds is] ...
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Why did English borrow the French word "rendezvous" with its original spelling and silent letters, while many French loanwords are anglicized?
English has borrowed extensively from French, often adapting spelling and pronunciation to fit English norms. For example:
beauté → beauty
envoyé → envoy
(well, there is also the word envoi from ...
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100 millionth subscriber
Which sentence is correct in writing "100 millionth" (with or without the hyphen)?
MrBeast gave his 100 millionth subscriber an island.
or
MrBeast gave his 100-millionth subscriber an ...
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Syllable breaking C-le rule regarding words ending in 'ffle'
I apologise if this has been posted under another category, but I have searched syllables and did not see anything concerning this topic.
My issue is concerning syllable breaking of words ending in '...
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Ok is the color spelled "grey" or "gray"? Like, I mean in the color. Because I spelled it "grey" and my teacher counted it wrong. I just want to know [duplicate]
"Grey is a color that is a mixture of black and white, often described as a neutral or dull color. It's a shade between black and white, lacking chroma. The term "grey" can also refer ...
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Abbreviating words ending with t such as department, compartment
Is it incorrect to write dept., deptt. or compt. in British English? Should these words be written as dept and compt?
In other words, is it incorrect to put a period/full stop at the end of the ...
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Spelling a word out in writing, would you use commas between each letter?
When I write about someone spelling a word out in writing, should I use commas between each letter?
Example:
"The teacher wrote the letters W, O, R, D on the blackboard."
or:
"The ...
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'Johnny': doubling of the final consonant before a suffix starting with a vowel
John doubles its last consonant in Johnny despite the fact of ending in two (graphical) consonants, namely -hn.
Is this a regular pattern for 'silent' letters, such as this -h-?
< Johan (same as ''...
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Where does the "e" in "appear" come from?
"Appear" and "apparent" both come from the Latin apparere, so why does "appear" have an "e" in it?
According to Oxford Languages and Google, the origins of the ...
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