Theocratic Aid To Kingdom Publishers

Lesson 29

SPELLING

Jehovah God has purposed that a great educational campaign be carried on among the people, a campaign of education in the most vital field of all, namely, the worship of Almighty God. The Bible is the basic textbook, but to assist the people in gaining an understanding of its contents Bible helps have keen provided, foremost among these being the Watchtower magazine. That magazine has expressed the possibility that the Theocratic educators may have to teach some people to read and write, especially in clergy-dominated lands where priestcraft has kept the masses in ignorance. To write, one must know how to spell.

Modern English spelling is rather complex and oftentimes inconsistent, due to many causes. The Anglo-Saxon Literary tradition was destroyed by the Norman Conquest, with the result that a written language was created that was fundamentally English but was spelled by French scribes. Many foreign words have been introduced, which retain the spelling and pronunciation of the language of origin. Writers and printers have been indifferent toward consistency in always spelling the same sound the same way. Pronunciation of words changes, and sometimes this produces a change in spelling, and sometimes not. Words are not always spelled as they sound. A fundamental difficulty is that no alphabet has been adopted that provides one character, and only one, for each of the separate sounds of the English language. There are forty or more sounds in English, but there are only 26 characters in the alphabet to represent them.

Are there any aids or guides for us as we try to overcome these difficulties? Some, yes. Most persons who habitually misspell never see words clearly in the first place. They do not note the letters in the word, but allow their eye to slide rapidly through the line, seeing only words and phrases. Hence they have no mental image of how the

correct arrangement of letters within the word should look. Others have this mental picture but it is vague. When they write the word, incorrectly spelled, they sense something is wrong; it doesn't "look right". But they aren't sure as to how to correct it. So note the spelling of words. Be "spelling-conscious".

Pronunciation can be a help, or a snare, depending upon whether the pronunciation is right or wrong. To illustrate: If one says pro-nun-ci-a-tion he will probably spell the second syllable correctly, n-u-n. On the other hand, if he incorrectly says pro-noun-ci-a-tion, he will likely err in spelling the second syllable, n-o-u-n. This is a common error. Some omit letters of a word when they speak, saying, for example, in-ter-pets, and as a result leave out the r in the last syllable. If, however, one correctly says in-ter-prets, he will not omit the r. Some omit entire syllables in pronouncing, with resultant errors in spelling.

There are a great number of rules that serve as guides to correct spelling; and some of them will be mentioned, not with the expectation that one will remember them, but that one may be aware of their existence and usefulness, and learn them as, and if, one has the opportunity. Rules are dry and uninteresting, and some have disconcerting exceptions; but they are of value nonetheless.

Webster's New International Dictionary, in the introductory matter, has two and a half pages on orthography, which is the art of spelling and writing words correctly. There are 36 rules listed, and the most noteworthy exceptions are given.

Here are some of the better-known rules:

The consonants f, l and s, at the end of one-syllable words, and standing immediately after a single vowel, are generally doubled, as in staff, bell, grass, cliff.

Here is an important rule that will enable one to avoid a common dilemma; namely, do words like offered, preferred, inferred, etc., have one or two r's before the ed?

Here is the rule as to monosyllables or to words accented on the last syllable: When these words end in a single consonant (except h and x) and are preceded by a single vowel, that consonant is doubled when an ending beginning with a vowel is added. Examples are: planned, planning, abetted, beginner, beginning, inferred, inferring, preferred, preferring, occurred, occurring, occurrence. If the accent shifts its position, due to the change in the word, then the consonant is not doubled. For example, prefer and infer acquire a double r when they become preferred and inferred, or preferring and inferring. The accent stays on the same syllable. But when prefer and infer become preference and inference, with the accent moved to the first syllable, only the single r is used. Incidentally, here again one notes the importance of knowing how to pronounce correctly; for if one does not know where the accent belongs, he cannot apply this very helpful rule.

Recall that the rule states that the ending added to a word must begin with a vowel, for the rule to apply. If a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to one of these words, the final consonant of the original word is not doubled. Accordingly, while fit when it becomes fitted acquires two t's, fitness has only one.

Another perplexing situation that confronts the average person when he has to spell words is this: When adding the suffix able to words that end with a silent e, does one retain or drop the letter e? It depends on the consonant just before the silent e. If it is c or g, one retains the e, writing peaceable, changeable, etc. But if any other consonant than c or g precedes the final, silent e, the e is dropped. Thus we have usable, unmistakable, likable, etc. This same rule is expanded to cover the disposition of these silent final e's in all cases where a syllable or syllables are added; not only for the ending able but also ous, age, ful, ness, ment, etc. Generally, the silent e is dropped when the termination added begins with a vowel, and it is retained when the termination begins with a consonant.

One last rule: The use of ie or ei. When these two letters have the sound of e, i is placed before e, except after c: believe, receive. When it is not sounded as e, the order is usually ei: reign, neighbor, weight. This, remember, like most of the other rules, has exceptions. But these rules are of tremendous assistance in avoiding errors in spelling.

If you improve your spelling, it will require time and study and a conscious effort to spell correctly, an awareness of spelling. Any who wish to follow up the subject will, as previously stated, find much helpful information in the introductory matter of Webster's New International Dictionary; and there are many other books, on grammar and composition, that offer many valuable suggestions and rules to aid one in coping with this problem of spelling.