PRINCIPLES OF SPELLING.

GENERAL RULES.

RULE I.-When a syllable beginning with a vowel is added to a word that ends in e, the e is left out; as in gaze, gazing.

Note.-y is a vowel when it forms a separate syllable.

a.-The e is not left out before ing in the following words:-being, agreeing, seeing, shoeing, dyeing (cloth), eyeing, hoeing, hieing, rueing, singeing, swingeing, tingeing, toeing, vieing. It is also retained in acreage, mileage, gluey, saleable, and

vengeance.

b.-e is usually retained before an augment beginning with a consonant, but it is left out in truly, duly, duty, wholly, awful, argument, judgment, ninth, woful, abridgment, lodgment, acknowledgment, wisdom, width.

c.-When e is preceded by c or g (soft), it is retained before able and ous; as in peaceable, changeable, courageous.

d.-ce is changed into ci before ous; as in grace, gracious; vice, vicious; malice malicious.

e.-e is changed into i before fy; as pure, purify; type, typify; ample, amplify. EXCEPTION-rare, rarefy.

RULE II.-When a word ending in ll is joined to another word, one is left out.

Note.-This may happen either at the beginning or at the end of a word; as in welcome, until, skilful.

a.-One l is usually dropped before ness, ly, and ful.

b.-The l is not dropped in allspice, bef ill, befell, downfall, downhill, farewell, illness, millrace, millstone, shrillness, smallness, stillness, tallness, waterfall, and a few other words.

in

RULE III. When an addition is made to a word which ends

y, the is changed into i; as in lady, ladies.

a.―y is not changed into i before ing; as in cry'-ing.

b.-y is not changed when there is a vowel before it; as in joyful.

EXCEPTIONS-pay, paid; lay, laid; say, said; day, daily; çay, gaily, gaiety; lay, lain; slay, slain; stry, strid (or stayed).

c.-Before ous the y is sometimes changed into c; as in beauteous, duteous, piteous, plenteous, bounteous, miscellaneous.

dy is not usually changed into i in dryness, dryly; shyness, shyly; slyness, slyly.

RULE IV.-When ing is added to a word that ends in ie, the ie is changed into y.

die, dy-ing

lie, ly-ing

tie, ty-ing

EXCEPTIONS-hie, hieing; vie, vieing.

RULE V. The last letter of a word is double, if the word

is of one syllable,

and ends in a single consonant

which has before it a single vowel,

when a syllable which begins with a vowel is added to the end of the word; as in sitting, putting, wagging.

a.-Words accented on the last syllable follow the same general rule as words of one syllable; as in pre-fer', pre-fer'-ring.

b.-Words not accented on the last syllable do not double the final letter; as in prof'-fer, prof'fer-ing.

EXCEPTIONS.-In words that end in the is doubled, although the accent does not fall upon the last syllable; as in quarrelled, travelled, jeweller, but the l is not usually doubled in the derivatives of apparel and parallel. Note.-American authorities do not make exceptions of words ending in l. c.-Although there are two vowels before the final consonant in wool, the lis doubled in woollen. Equip also doubles the final consonant in equipped and equipping.

d.-The final consonant is doubled in the following words, although the accent does not fall upon the last syllable, viz.-worshipper, worshipped, worshipping, biassed, unbiassed, humbugged, humbugging, kidnapped, kidnapping.

RULE VI.-When eive or ieve is used, ei follows c, and ie is used after any other letter; as in deceive, believe.

RULE VII.-Words ending in s, sh, ch (soft), x, or o, add es rather than s; as in mosses, dishes, churches, foxes, heroes.

a.-When ch is hard it is followed by s; as in monarchs.

RULE VIII.—In many nouns ƒ is changed into v in the plural, as in knife, knives; wife, wives.

RULE IX. The letter u is dropped from our before ous (but before no other affix); as vigour, vigorous; rigour, rigorous; clamour, clamorous; but honour, honourable.

RULE X.-CEED AND CEDE WITH PREFIXES.

The form with double e should go
In union with suc, ex, and pro;
But do not write procedure so.

And spell the form c-e-d-e
Alone, or after re and pre,

Ac, inter, ante, con, and se.

Hence we have succeed, exceed, proceed, procedure; cede, recede,

precede, accede, intercede, concede, secede, antecedent.