Hints to Writers No. 2: The Diphthongs EI and IE
THE DIPHTHONGS EI AND IE. Some people are frequently at a loss how to spell words containing these diphthongs, when they have the sound of long e; for in some words the e comes before the i, as in receive, and in others, the i comes before the e, as in believe. A careful writer would not like to be caught spelling receive, recieve, nor spelling believe, beleive; and to tell in what words of this class, e comes before i, and in what ones the i should be written before the e, without looking them up, is often quite a matter of perplexity. Nor will it satisfy all minds to do as we once heard a teacher direct, that is, make both letters like i and put a dot midway between them, so that it may be taken to belong to either. No one should be satisfied with less than making every letter distinct, and then putting the right letter in the right place, every time. The following general rule may be given in reference to these words which will perhaps assist some minds to remember their proper spelling. 1. After s, and c having the sound of s, e always comes before i; as, receive, deceive, perceive, conceive, receipt, deceit, conceit, ceil, seignior, seine, and seize, with their derivatives and compounds. To this there is one exception in the word, siege, in which, following s, the i comes before e. 2. In all other words of this class, i always comes before e; as, believe, belief, relieve, relief, mischief, handkerchief, fief, field, fiend, fierce, frieze, grief, mien, niece, piece, pier, pierce, priest, reprieve and yield, with their compounds and derivatives. To this there are two exceptions: leisure, and teil, a tree. DOUBLING FINAL CONSONANTS. The words revel and rebel, each end with a single l; but when another syllable is added, the l in rebel is doubled, but the l in revel remains single; thus rebelling, reveling. Why is this? The rule is that all monosyllables ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double that consonant on taking an additional syllable; and words of more than one syllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, if accented on the last syllable, double that consonant on taking an additional syllable, but if the accent is not on the last syllable, the consonant is not doubled. Thus: plan, planned, planning; hot, hotter; begin, beginning. The consonant is doubled in such cases to preserve the short sound of the vowel; as, for instance, planed would naturally be pronounced with the long sound of a instead of the short; and then it would be a very different word from planned. Take the words first introduced: revel has the accent on the first syllable, so does not double its final consonant; but rebel has the accent on the last syllable, and therefore does double it. The word traveling has but one l because the word travel is accented on the first syllable, and the word worshiping but one p for a like reason. The rule is a simple one, and if the reader will fix it firmly in his mind, he will find that it will enable him to master thoroughly a numerous class of words, which otherwise he will be liable to misspell. ABBREVIATIONS. In writing for the press, use no unnecessary abbreviations. Never write “Sab.” for Sabbath, nor “10 com.” for ten commandments; for (1) it makes additional work for us here at the Office to write them out; (2) it seems like abusing the noble institution of the Sabbath and the royal law of which it is a part; and (3) it looks shiftless in the manuscript. Never write “tho” for though, “thro” for through, &c. Write such words out in full, just as they should stand in print. Never abbreviate the name of a State, unless some place, county, town, city or district, in the State is named in connection with it. Thus, it would be proper to say, I spent a week in Chicago, Ill.; but not to say, I labored so long a time in Ill., and then in Wis., and then in Minn., &c. In such cases the names of the States should be written in full. So we should not say, The Mich. Conference, The Vt. Conference, &c., except in statistical or index work, where the shortest abbreviations are allowable.