Spelling Notes

Mechanics of Writing: Spelling

Definition of Spelling

• Spelling is the correct formation of words from individual letters, whether in writing or speaking.

Challenges in English Spelling

• Spelling is often problematic for English language users due to several factors:

  1. Pronunciation vs. Spelling Mismatch:

     • English pronunciations often differ significantly from their spellings.
     • Example: The letter "a" has different sounds in "fare" (/eə/, IPA symbol), "war" (/ɔ:/, IPA symbol), "hat" (/æ/, IPA symbol), "many" (/e/, IPA symbol), "lay" (/ei/, IPA symbol), "far" (/ɑ:/, IPA symbol), "human" (/ə/, IPA symbol).
     • "Tally" and "ally" are represented by (/li/, IPA symbol) and (/lai/, IPA symbol) respectively.

  2. Multiple Spellings for a Single Sound:

     • A single English sound can have various spellings.
     • Example: The sound (/i:/, IPA symbol) is represented in "bee", "believe", "machine", "precede", "sea", etc.

  3. Silent Letters:

     • Many English words contain silent letters.
     • Examples: "lamb", "psychology", "knife", "wrote", "pneumonia", "mnemonic".

  4. Homophones:

     • Homophones are words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings.
     • Examples: write/right, sight/site, meat/meet, peace/piece, rite/cite, mete/meet.

  5. Faulty Pronunciation:

     • Incorrect pronunciation can lead to misspelling, although it's not a primary cause.

Common Misspellings

• Examples of commonly misspelled words and their correct spellings:
  • privledge - privilege
  • enviroment - environment
  • mischievious - mischievous
  • Acommodation - accommodation

Impact of Technology

• The advent of smartphones and social media has further complicated spelling.
• Users often transfer shortened forms from social media to formal writing.
• Examples: "u" for "you", "ur" for "your", "ystdy" for "yesterday".
• Such errors can distort meaning and create an impression of incompetence or carelessness.

Guide to Good Spelling

• Achieving complete correctness in English spelling is challenging, but several techniques can help:

  • Extensive and Intensive Reading:

    • Read widely and deeply to improve familiarity with correct spellings.

  • Underlining Difficult Words:

    • Underline challenging words and practice their spellings repeatedly.

  • Using a Dictionary:

    • Consult a dictionary instead of guessing spellings.

  • Interest in Words:

    • Take time to understand the spelling and pronunciation of words.

  • Correct Pronunciation:

    • Master the correct pronunciation of words to avoid misspellings.

  • Correcting Errors:

    • Pay attention to and correct any spelling errors that are brought to your attention.

  • Regular Practice:

    • Practice spelling words frequently.

  • Personal Spelling List:

    • Maintain a list of words you have misspelled and corrected.

  • Identifying Patterns:

    • Look for patterns in your misspellings to understand common problem areas, such as plurals or words ending in "-cede", "-ceed", or "-sede".

  • Attention to Silent Letters:

    • Pay close attention to words with silent letters.

Examples of Silent Letters

• Silent ‘c’: scene, scent, science etc.
• Silent ‘b’: debt, bomb, lamb, comb, subtle etc.
• Silent ‘d’: bridge, judge, badge, handkerchief etc.
• Silent ‘g’: Diaphragm, foreign, reign, sing etc.
• Silent ‘gh’: bought, fight, sought, caught, right.
• Silent ‘h’: exhaust, exhibit, vehicle, khaki etc.
• Silent ‘k’: knapsack, knee, knife, know, knock etc.
• Silent ‘l’: alms, balm, would, folk, half, yolk etc.
• Silent ‘n’: hymn, autumn, solemn, condemn etc.
• Silent ‘r’: border, cord, cargo, dirt, dark, farm, germ etc.
• Silent ‘g’: gnash, gnat, gnaw etc.
• Silent ‘h’: heir, honest, honour etc.
• Silent ‘p’: psalm, pneumonia, psychology etc.
• Silent ‘w’: wrap, wrinkle, wretched, wrath etc.

Homophones

• Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings:
  • Examples: Air/heir, their/there, mail/male, knot/not, feet/feat, heard/herd, lone/loan, groan/grown, one/won, for/four, father/farther, flair/flare, cue/queue, Dam/damn, Eye/I, Hour/our, Knew/new, Stair/stare.

English Words with Foreign Origin

• Taking note of the spelling of English words with foreign origin including their singular and plural forms:

Differences in British and American Spelling

Commonly Misspelt Words