Simtel MSDOS - Coast to Coast/simteldosarchivecoasttocoast2.iso/educatin/spelling.zip/SPELL.TXT

Text File | 1986-05-29 | 17KB | 459 lines

# Introduction & first explanation: (i before e)
The ability to spell is in some ways a mysterious one.  Often it is not
correlated with other language skills: more than one well-known writer
has been a poor speller.  Nevertheless, it is not quite true that good
spellers are born, not made.  There are several practical steps you can
take to improve your spelling:

     1) Learn and use the most important rules that govern English
        spelling.
     2) Learn the most common correspondences between letters and sounds
        in English.
     3) Sharpen your skills at remembering the visual forms of words.
     4) Learn to distinguish between homophones (words that have similar
        sounds but different meanings and spellings)
     5) Use a dictionary as you write.

Step 5 is something you'll have to do on your own, and Step 4 for the time
being is not addressed in this program.  Step 3 is the goal of the "Quick-
Spell" program on this diskette.  Steps 1 and 2 are the object of the
current program.  You will be given a brief summary of each rule or
correspondence, followed by a series of exercises to test your knowledge.
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                         {PLEASE NOTE}


Since English has borrowed words from many languages, very few of the
spelling rules are without exceptions.  Some of the most important
exceptions are given along with the rules.  In these and other cases, you
can best deal with the exceptions through memorizing them.









     The author wishes to acknowledge the following sources used
     in formulating the rules in this tutorial:

          Mina P. Shaughnessy, Errors and Expectations
          Constance J. Gefvert, The Confident Writer
          Frederick Crews & Sandra Schor, The Borzoi Handbook for Writers
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 RULE 1.   {ie}  versus  {ei}

This is the one we all learn in school: "i" before "e" except after "c."
However, we're going to modify it a bit:

 IF the vowel rhymes with {be}
  THEN  {i} before {e} except after {c}:

       (not after {c}): th{ie}f   rel{ie}ve   p{ie}ce   f{ie}ld
            EXCEPTIONS: weird  seize  either

       (after {c})    : rec{ei}ve  c{ei}ling   dec{ei}t

 IF the vowel rhymes with {pay}
  THEN {e} before {i}:

       n{ei}ghbor   v{ei}n    inv{ei}gh   w{ei}ght   r{ei}gn
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 In other cases, the vowel will usually be spelled {ei}:

       h{ei}ght   for{ei}gn   forf{ei}t   h{ei}r

       EXCEPTIONS: fr{ie}nd   misch{ie}f   t{ie} (die, lie, pie)



{ NOTE }  The preceding rule does note apply when the spelling results
from adding the past tense ending to a verb:

          rely ~ relied     defy ~ defied

$EXERCISE SET 1
It appeared that a th<ei>f had broken into the dining room.
     thief

It was weird that he had taken two chairs but not tried to steal the silver.
     OK

It was even w<ie>rder that he had taken a lamp that was wired to the ceiling.
     weirder

I'm relieved to see that my n<ei>ce has become so courteous.
     niece

We perceived there was a problem when the basement was eight feet deep in muddy    water.
     OK

The shippers hadn't yet measured the w<ie>ght of the freight.
     weight

I was frightened by the appearance of a f<ei>rce, hungry gerbil!
     fierce

The Customs officers s<ie>zed a shipment of cocaine contained in some baggage.
     seized

Dennis the Menace, a boy full of mischief, is a terror to all his neighbors.
     OK

Dennis's best fr<ei>nd Joey likes to pretend he is an Indian chief.
     friend

A search of the premises y<ei>lded documents that the suspect meant to deliver     to his foreign connections.
     yielded

Business Administration is a profitable f<ei>ld for people with mathematical         talents.
     field

#EXPLANATION #2A -- Suffixes and "silent" e
 RULE 2.   Final {e} and suffixes

A {suffix} is anything you add to a word to change its grammatical form:

     dog + [plural suffix] ~ dog{s}     play + [past tense suffix] ~ play{ed}

One place where suffixes cause problems is when the base word ends with {e}.
.page
 IF the base word ends with a silent (unpronounced) {e} [1]
  AND IF the suffix begins with a vowel ({a e i o u})    [2]
  THEN Drop the final {e}:  spelling = {BASE} - {e} + {suffix}

+[2]: rid{e} + ing ~ riding   guid{e} + ance ~ guidance   repris{e} + al ~ reprisal

-[2]: advanc{e} + ment ~ advanc{e}ment  lov{e} + ly ~ lov{e}ly  sur{e} + ly ~ sur{e}ly

    EXCEPTIONS: dye (=color) ~ dy{ei}ng  mile ~ mil{ea}ge  singe ~ sing{ei}ng

     SPECIAL CASE: IF the base word ends in "soft" -{ce} or -{ge}
                     ({c} pronounced like /s/, {g} pronounced like /j/)

                     THEN the rule is modified:

    Suffix begins with {a} or {o}: keep the final {e}:

        coura{ge} + ous ~ courag{e}ous    noti{ce} + able ~ notic{e}able

    Suffix begins with {i}: drop the final {e} as usual

        ra{ge} + ing ~ raging     for{ce} + ing ~ forcing

$Exercise set #2 -- final "e" before suffix, part 1
Career pla<cm>ent is a difficult field, since graduating seniors are often not      sure about their careers.
     placement

My brother is acquir<ei>ng a set of carefully bound leather encyclopedias.
     acquiring

Air conditioners are usually useful, but they're not us<ea>ble in the tropics.
     usable

She says that hiking is fine, but that rock climbing is "truly outra<gous>."
     outrageous

It's likely that Mary got into debt by charging too many of her purchases.
     OK

The terrorists sought to gain their demands by mena<cei>ng the principal train     stations.
     menacing

While Phyllis was happily singing, I noticed she was singeing her hair with the   blow dryer.
     OK

I'm managing to cope with the loss of my hippopotamus, but he was irrepl<aca>ble,   after all!
     irreplaceable

The recruiter used every possible indu<cm>ent to encourage me to join the Army.
     inducement
#EXPLANATION 2B: exceptions
 EXCEPTIONS TO {E} BEFORE SUFFIX RULE

1) The rule says that you keep the final {e} before a suffix beginning with
   a consonant.  But there are some words that drop final {e} before these
   suffixes:

          argue  ~  argument
          judge  ~  judgment (judg{e}ment is also OK)

          due    ~  duly
          true   ~  truly

   And note the spelling changes in these numbers:

          five   ~  fifth
          nine   ~  ninth
          twelve ~  twelfth

$EXERCISE SET 2B
When the witness in a trial does not want to answer a question, he often pleads   the Fifth Amendment.
     OK

In a fair arg<ue>ment, the person with the most convincing reasons should win.
     argument

If you think the law was d<ue>ly executed, you truly have no basis for complaint.
     duly

When the baseball team's ni<ne>th player was found dead, we began to suspect foul    play.
     ninth

#Rule 3
 RULE 3.  Suffixes after {y};  {y} ~ {i}

  When do you change {y} ~ {i} at the end of a word?

   IF the word ends in consonant + {y}                  [1]
    AND IF the suffix is not {-ing} or possessive {'s}     [2]
    THEN change {y} ~ {i}  and add the suffix
         ELSE keep the {y} and add the suffix

+[1], +[2]: try ~ tr{i}es   happy ~ happ{i}er   army ~ arm{i}es

-[1]:       key ~ ke{y}s   play ~ pla{y}er   enjoy ~ enjo{y}s   say ~ sa{y}s

+[1], -[2]: apply ~ appl{y}ing   cry ~ cr{y}ing   survey ~ surve{y}'s   army ~ arm{y}'s

  (Remember plural rule: if [1] above is true, plural suffix is -{es})

$Exercises for rule 3
French fr<y>s and a milkshake does not make a healthy meal.
     fries

The unhappiest monk<ie>s I ever saw were crying as they ate their bananas.
     monkeys

Marilyn Monroe was beautiful, but I've seen many lovelier women.
     OK

Everyone was stu<di>ng on the fifth floor of the library.
     studying

We were disappointed because our allies betrayed our rel<y>ance in them.
     reliance

John was so childish that at his twent<y>eth birthday he was carrying a Teddy      bear.
     twentieth

Time out was called because there was a twelfth pla<i>er on the field.
     player

She heard so many fairy stories as a girl that she began to see fairies under    every tree.
     OK

My grandmother's skin is still as soft as a bab<ies'>.
     baby's

Which is larger, an ocean liner or an aircraft carr<y>er?
     carrier

#Rule 4
 RULE 4.  Doubling the final consonant

Do you double the final consonant when you're adding a suffix to a word?

 IF the word ends in a single vowel + consonant (-CVC)     [1]
  AND IF the word is accented on the last syllable          [2]
  AND IF the suffix begins with a vowel                     [3]
  THEN double the final consonant.

{+[1],[2],[3]}:  beg ~ be{gg}er   hit ~ hi{tt}ing   stun ~ stu{nn}ing
                 propel ~ prope{ll}ing   prefer ~ prefe{rr}ed  occur ~ occu{rr}ed

-[1]:  r{oo}t ~ roo{t}ed   app{ea}r ~ appea{r}ed   rep{ea}t ~ repea{t}ing

-[2]:  {ang}er ~ ange{r}ed   {won}der ~ wonde{r}ed   {trav}el ~ trave{l}ed
            (In British spelling, final {l} is an exception: trave{ll}ed)

       NOTE: the doubling is blocked if the suffix causes the accent to shift
       to an earlier syllable:  prefer ~ {pref}e{r}ence   refer ~ {ref}e{r}ence

-[3]:  prefer ~ prefer{m}ent   thin ~ thin{l}y

$Exercise set 4
The traveler was carrying a stick that she used for repe<l>ing stray dogs.
     repelling

The tiles on my roof need repairing, but I don't know where to go for roo<ff>ing    material.
     roofing

Quite sudde<nn>ly, seemingly from nowhere, a helicopter appeared above the top      of the trees.
     suddenly

I can't be sure about the spelling of "szyzygy," since I haven't referred to a    dictionary yet.
     OK

Horrors!  I'm beginning to believe that there is no refe<rr>ence to "szyzygy" in    the dictionary!
     reference

It was raining and thunde<rr>ing dreadfully.
     thundering

Does a stationery store carry both writing paper and wra<p>ing paper?
     wrapping

Although the storm is not quite over, the sky is clea<rr>ing rapidly.
     clearing

We were sitting right behind a column because a rude usher had seated us there.
     OK

The politician admi<t>ed that his words had been regrettable, but he would not      retract them.
     admitted


#SOUND-SPELLING CORRESPONDENCES
SOUND-SPELLING CORRESPONDENCES

There's an old joke about how English spelling is so illogical that you could
pronounce the nonsense word "ghoti" as "fish":

          {gh}   as in   enou{gh}
          {o}      "     w{o}men
          {ti}     "     na{ti}on

In fact, a native speaker of English would never imagine pronouncing "ghoti"
as "fish."  Why?  Because that pronunciation would violate two major sound-
spelling rules of English:

          {gh}  = /f/   only in cluster -ough at end of word: r{ough}, t{ough}
          {ti}  = /sh/  only in groups {tio} and {tia} in middle or end of word:
                            na{tio}n  torren{tia}l  ini{tia}l

Correspondences between English spelling and pronunciation are less irregular
than they seem if you exaggerate the importance of odd exceptions like "women."
If you know English well you should be able to pronounce this nonsense sen-
tence with confidence:

         The tractious wibbles nummaged a ghantly occidentacity.
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Pronounce each word in the following lists of nonsense words:

          tr{a}ctious        tr{a}ke
          w{i}bble           w{i}be
          n{u}mmage          n{oo}m
          gh{a}nt            g{ai}nt

Did those in the first column have short vowel sound, and those in the second
column long vowel sounds?  They should have, if you are familiar with basic
principles of sound-spelling correspondence in English.

In the following explanations, a colon (:) will be used to indicate a long
vowel sound.  Compare:

          {a}      rat          ra:te
          {e}      pet          Pe:te
          {i}      sit          si:te
          {o}      not          no:te
          {u}      cut          cu:te  (where pronunciation is /kyu:t/)
                 dud          du:de  (where pronunciation is /du:d/)
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 VOWEL-CONSONANT PATTERNS AND PRONUNCIATION
If you were able to distinguish between long and short vowel pronunciations
in the preceding screen, you are aware of a fundamental rule that ties
spelling to pronunciation in English.

 In an accented syllable with the pattern {vowel-consonant-vowel}, the
  first vowel is long.

 Study the following table, where {V}=vowel and {C}=consonant:

               V-C-V          V-C-C          V-C
          -----------------------------------------------
              f{ate}           f{att}en         f{at}
              h{opi}ng         h{opp}ed         h{op}
              qu{ite}          qu{itt}er        qu{it}
              w{ise}           w{isd}om
              l{ike}           l{ick}

              LONG           SHORT          SHORT

A single or double consonant "closes" the vowel and makes it short.
A consonant + vowel "opens" the vowel and makes it long.
This principle is basic to English spelling.
.page
 Double vowels usually make the long vowel sound.
  Adding C+V to a vowel is one way of spelling a long vowel sound in English.
  Another way is using V+V.  With one major exception, this pattern will be
  used to spell the {long} vowel sound.  Compare:

                    V-C               V-V-C
                  -------------------------------------
              A    bat                b{ai}t      /ba:t/

              E    bet                b{ee}t      /be:t/
                                      b{ea}t        "
                                      rec{ei}ve   /se:v/
                                      bel{ie}ve   /le:v/

              I    lid                l{ie}d      /li:d/

              O    got                g{oa}t      /go:t/

              U    mud                m{oo}d      /mu:d/

The major exception is the V+V pattern {ea} + {d}, which often has the sound
of "bet":  dead   head   lead (noun).  Also, {ea} varies between /a:/ and /e:/,
so that we have b{ea}k /be:k/  but br{ea}k /bra:k/.
.page

Use these sound-spelling correspondences to help you do the following set of
exercises.  Remember:

          V-C     V-C-C         SHORT sound

          V-C-V   V-V           LONG  sound

These correspondences are actually more powerful than the rules we have
looked at so far.  Sometimes they are the underlying reasons for the rules;
sometimes they explain exceptions to the rules (example: wise + dom ~ wisdom,
not "wisedom," because the {i} in "w{i}sdom" has the short sound).

In these exercises, be sure to pronounce each word to help you decide
whether the spelling is correct or not.

$Exercise set 5
If you exc<e>d the speed limit, you are likely to get a ticket.
     exceed

The ice on the pond was smooth and gla<s>y after the wind had swept it clean.
     glassy

I didn't like his ma<n>er at all; indeed, I thought he was quite rude.
     manner

When the dinner bell fi<nn>ally called us to the dining room, I was no longer      hungry.
     finally

She received a ticket for speeding, driving while listening to Barry Manilow,     and not sto<p>ing at the stoplight.
     stopping

Because I was totally upset by his attitude, I cannot repeat exactly what he      said.
     OK

In "Little Red Riding Hood," the wolf travels to the grandmother's co<t>age.
     cottage

Does anyone know where the practice of using yellow ri<b>ons to remember hostages    came from?
     ribbons
#Conclusion
Learning the rules and sound-spelling correspondences that govern English
is a big step towards improving your spelling, but a knowledge of rules
alone is not enough to make a good speller.

Research has shown that good spellers have a strong {visual memory} of words:
when trying to remember how a word is spelled, they often attempt to see it
mentally, or write down a spelling and compare it with the spelling in their
memory.

Some of this talent may be inborn; some may be acquired through reading.  One
practical thing you can do to develop it, however, is to work on exercises
that force you to concentrate on the {form} of words.  The "QuickSpell"
program on this disk is designed to help you do that.  After you are finished
with this Spell program (you may want to try the TEST and EXTRA TEST modes),
give QuickSpell a try!
$END