BARRIERS TO PROPPER SPELLING #1
PLURALIZATION
Let's be perfectly frank, if you are someone who has never had difficulty with spelling (in general) in English, one who has never found the spelling of a certain word particularly difficult or has never stumbled on spelling at some important time, then you're probably not human, because, let's face it, it doesn't matter how naturally spelling come to you, spelling English words is tough. You think I've never stumbled? I learned early in my teaching career that, when I get nervous with a group of people, spelling is the first thing to go south.
I'll never forget my first Friday as an English teacher at North Dakota State University in the fall of 1992. I had been teaching for all of three days, (with some experience teaching in a planetarium, but then the lights were all off, and no one knew who I was) and I could still feel myself quiver. I wanted to write the word "experiment" on the chalk board, and I wrote,
"E-X-P-A-R-A-M-E-N-T."
When I turned around to face the class again, they were all looking at each other sideways with expressions of grave concern. I don't blame them.
My point is that, while I'm not a bad speller, I GET STUCK SOMETIMES. We're all growing human beings, so all we can do is learn and keep growing from the mistakes that keep us growing until we make new mistakes that grow us into more new mistakes, on and on and on.
I make no promises, but I'm thinking that, if we examine some of the things that make spelling in English such a challenge, we may end up finding some solutions. My list of challenges is by no means exhaustive, but I'll add more as the need arises.
I'll never forget my first Friday as an English teacher at North Dakota State University in the fall of 1992. I had been teaching for all of three days, (with some experience teaching in a planetarium, but then the lights were all off, and no one knew who I was) and I could still feel myself quiver. I wanted to write the word "experiment" on the chalk board, and I wrote,
"E-X-P-A-R-A-M-E-N-T."
When I turned around to face the class again, they were all looking at each other sideways with expressions of grave concern. I don't blame them.
My point is that, while I'm not a bad speller, I GET STUCK SOMETIMES. We're all growing human beings, so all we can do is learn and keep growing from the mistakes that keep us growing until we make new mistakes that grow us into more new mistakes, on and on and on.
I make no promises, but I'm thinking that, if we examine some of the things that make spelling in English such a challenge, we may end up finding some solutions. My list of challenges is by no means exhaustive, but I'll add more as the need arises.
I suppose it's true in any language, but in English at least, a word can have many forms depending on how it is to be used in a given sentence. A noun can be made into a verb, for instance. In fact, one of my English professors used to say, "There's no noun in English that cannot be verbed." And he was right. "Verb" is a noun (even though it is the name of a group of words that show action and so on and so forth), but I can add an "ed" to it, put it in a new spot in the sentence, and voila, "verb" becomes a verb.
We have to make such alterations to nouns whenever we want to make a single noun a plural noun. But how is that done? Well, I'll count the myriads of methods as I go; then we'll both know. The lists of words that serve as examples are by no means exhaustive.
#1 Add an 'S'
The most common and basic method for making a plural noun in English is to simply add an 's' at the end of the word. So
"pipe" becomes "pipes"
"tyke" becomes "tykes"
"rat" becomes "rats"
But let's not forget pronunciation. Sometimes the 's' is pronounced as an 's' and sometimes it's pronounced as a 'z.' So
While "hat" becomes "hats," ('s' sound) "can" becomes "cans" ('z' sound).
While "death" and "clock" become "deaths" and "clocks" ('s' sound), "boy" and "girl" become "boys" and "girls" ('z' sound) respectively.
We must also consider the pronunciation changes in words ending with 'TH'
"bath" becomes "baths"
"mouth" becomes "mouths"
There is one very simple but deeply profound reason that we have the two pronunciations for adding an 's:' BECAUSE.
#2 Add 'E-S'
Some people think of this as a #1B, a variant of the previous rule because if a word already ends with an 'e', you just add an 's'. However, with this rule, the pluralisation also adds a syllable to the pronunciation, so I keep them distinct.
"base" becomes "bases"
"church" becomes "churches"
"dish" becomes "dishes"
"partridge" becomes "partridges"
#3 Add 'E-S' or 'S' to words ending with 'O'
Again, #3 could be considered to be both #1C and #2B, but let's keep it simple, shall we?
Some words that end with an 'o' require 'E-S'
"hero" becomes "heroes"
"tomato" becomes "tomatoes"
Other words, especially musical or literary words (Italian in origin), need only an 's'
"canto" becomes "canot0s"
"piano" becomes "pianos"
HOWEVER, some people maintain that, since these words are Italian, that the proper way to pluralize is to change the 'o' to an 'i.' So
"basso" becomes "bassi"
"cello" becomes "celli"
"piano" becomes "piani"
Many of these are even recognized by most spell checks, too.
#4 Change the 'Y' to 'I' and add 'E-S'
This rule is limited too, but I'm not going to list exceptions. Instead, I'll add #5.
"fly" becomes "flies"
"lady" becomes "ladies"
and
"ventriloquy" becomes "ventriloquies"
#5 Keep the 'Y' and add an 'S'
Perhaps this should be a variant of rule #1. I dunno. These seem to be the exceptions to rule #4, too, but since these all have vowels before the 'y', they are dealt with differently. So,
"day" becomes "days"
"key" becomes "keys"
#6 Change the 'F' to 'V' and add 'E-S' or just add an 'S' if the singular word already ends with an 'E'
"half" becomes "halves"
"knife" becomes "knives'
#7 It's perfect as it is.
Some words don't change at all, either in spelling or pronunciation, in their plural forms:
buffalo
deer
fish
moose
sheep
series
species
#8 Add an 'N'
"axe" becomes "axen"
"ox" becomes "oxen"
"eye" becomes "eyen" (archaic)
"hose" becomes "hosen"
#9 Add 'REN' (Mostly archaic)
"child" becomes "children"
"brother" becomes "brethren"
#10 Change the internal vowel
"foot" becomes "feet"
"louse" becomes "lice"
"man" becomes "men"
"woman" becomes "women"
#11 Change the entire freakin' word
"person" becomes "people"
"penny" becomes "pence" (Great Britain)
#12 Add an 'E' after an 'A'
"formula" becomes "formulae"
"nebula" becomes "nebulae"
#13 The 'EX' or 'IX' becomes 'ICES'
"index" becomes "indices"
"vortex" becomes "vortecies"
#14 Change the 'IS' to 'ES' (pronounced "EEZ")
"crisis" becomes "crises"
"axis" becomes "axes"
#15 Change the 'UM' to 'A'
"bacterium" becomes "bacteria"
"datum" becomes "data"
#16 Change the 'US' to 'I'
"alumnus" becomes "alumni"
"radius" becomes "radii" (RAY-dee-I)
#17 Change the 'ON' to 'A'
"oxymoron" becomes "oxymora"
"criterion" becomes "criteria"
#18 Add 'TA' to words ending with 'MA'
"stigma" becomes "stigmata"
"stoma" becomes "stomata"
#19 Add an 'X'
"beau" becomes "beaux"
"fabliau" becomes "fabliaux"
#20 Add 'IM'
"cherub" becomes "cherubim"
"seraph" becomes "seraphim"
#21 Compound words
"passerby" becomes "passersby"
"daughter-in-law" becomes "daughters-in-law"
"ship of the line" becomes "ships of the line"
We have to make such alterations to nouns whenever we want to make a single noun a plural noun. But how is that done? Well, I'll count the myriads of methods as I go; then we'll both know. The lists of words that serve as examples are by no means exhaustive.
#1 Add an 'S'
The most common and basic method for making a plural noun in English is to simply add an 's' at the end of the word. So
"pipe" becomes "pipes"
"tyke" becomes "tykes"
"rat" becomes "rats"
But let's not forget pronunciation. Sometimes the 's' is pronounced as an 's' and sometimes it's pronounced as a 'z.' So
While "hat" becomes "hats," ('s' sound) "can" becomes "cans" ('z' sound).
While "death" and "clock" become "deaths" and "clocks" ('s' sound), "boy" and "girl" become "boys" and "girls" ('z' sound) respectively.
We must also consider the pronunciation changes in words ending with 'TH'
"bath" becomes "baths"
"mouth" becomes "mouths"
There is one very simple but deeply profound reason that we have the two pronunciations for adding an 's:' BECAUSE.
#2 Add 'E-S'
Some people think of this as a #1B, a variant of the previous rule because if a word already ends with an 'e', you just add an 's'. However, with this rule, the pluralisation also adds a syllable to the pronunciation, so I keep them distinct.
"base" becomes "bases"
"church" becomes "churches"
"dish" becomes "dishes"
"partridge" becomes "partridges"
#3 Add 'E-S' or 'S' to words ending with 'O'
Again, #3 could be considered to be both #1C and #2B, but let's keep it simple, shall we?
Some words that end with an 'o' require 'E-S'
"hero" becomes "heroes"
"tomato" becomes "tomatoes"
Other words, especially musical or literary words (Italian in origin), need only an 's'
"canto" becomes "canot0s"
"piano" becomes "pianos"
HOWEVER, some people maintain that, since these words are Italian, that the proper way to pluralize is to change the 'o' to an 'i.' So
"basso" becomes "bassi"
"cello" becomes "celli"
"piano" becomes "piani"
Many of these are even recognized by most spell checks, too.
#4 Change the 'Y' to 'I' and add 'E-S'
This rule is limited too, but I'm not going to list exceptions. Instead, I'll add #5.
"fly" becomes "flies"
"lady" becomes "ladies"
and
"ventriloquy" becomes "ventriloquies"
#5 Keep the 'Y' and add an 'S'
Perhaps this should be a variant of rule #1. I dunno. These seem to be the exceptions to rule #4, too, but since these all have vowels before the 'y', they are dealt with differently. So,
"day" becomes "days"
"key" becomes "keys"
#6 Change the 'F' to 'V' and add 'E-S' or just add an 'S' if the singular word already ends with an 'E'
"half" becomes "halves"
"knife" becomes "knives'
#7 It's perfect as it is.
Some words don't change at all, either in spelling or pronunciation, in their plural forms:
buffalo
deer
fish
moose
sheep
series
species
#8 Add an 'N'
"axe" becomes "axen"
"ox" becomes "oxen"
"eye" becomes "eyen" (archaic)
"hose" becomes "hosen"
#9 Add 'REN' (Mostly archaic)
"child" becomes "children"
"brother" becomes "brethren"
#10 Change the internal vowel
"foot" becomes "feet"
"louse" becomes "lice"
"man" becomes "men"
"woman" becomes "women"
#11 Change the entire freakin' word
"person" becomes "people"
"penny" becomes "pence" (Great Britain)
#12 Add an 'E' after an 'A'
"formula" becomes "formulae"
"nebula" becomes "nebulae"
#13 The 'EX' or 'IX' becomes 'ICES'
"index" becomes "indices"
"vortex" becomes "vortecies"
#14 Change the 'IS' to 'ES' (pronounced "EEZ")
"crisis" becomes "crises"
"axis" becomes "axes"
#15 Change the 'UM' to 'A'
"bacterium" becomes "bacteria"
"datum" becomes "data"
#16 Change the 'US' to 'I'
"alumnus" becomes "alumni"
"radius" becomes "radii" (RAY-dee-I)
#17 Change the 'ON' to 'A'
"oxymoron" becomes "oxymora"
"criterion" becomes "criteria"
#18 Add 'TA' to words ending with 'MA'
"stigma" becomes "stigmata"
"stoma" becomes "stomata"
#19 Add an 'X'
"beau" becomes "beaux"
"fabliau" becomes "fabliaux"
#20 Add 'IM'
"cherub" becomes "cherubim"
"seraph" becomes "seraphim"
#21 Compound words
"passerby" becomes "passersby"
"daughter-in-law" becomes "daughters-in-law"
"ship of the line" becomes "ships of the line"
