|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
|
OP
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
I keep coming across the word "acknowledgement" spelled as "acknowledgment". I am told that they are both correct, but somehow I hadn't seen (or noticed) the second spelling until recently. Is one more frequent than the other? Or is it a matter of geographical preference? And why the two different spellings? Which one do y'all use? 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Marianna: My dictionary gives both forms with identical definition. No clue as to when the "e" omission began. I think I will stick with using the "e" after the "g". I don't remember ever seeing the short form in print before. Perhaps it follows precedent of "judgment" vs "judgement".
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
From the langscape project's results:
Most interesting among all the responses on suffixed words were those for words ending in -ment, where usage in some places is inclined to remove the medial e, at least in acknowledgment and judgment. This runs counter to the general rule for suffixes beginning with a consonant (whereby the e is retained as in advertisement). However legal usage has long preferred judgment. The overall response was an endorsement of the rule by large majorities: abridgement (80%), acknowledgement (73%), judgement (76%), lodgement (83%). The publishers' common practice of titling their "acknowledgments" page with the e-less form seems therefore to be out of step with a large body of English users. The responses from England, L2 Europeans and from Australians were all alike on this; however American respondents stood apart in their preference for e-less forms. If you want to take part in the project the on-line component is at: http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/langques/Bingley
Bingley
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393 |
I've never known which are more common in these pairs; I've always used -dge- on philological grounds: in Old English the J sound was represented cg, as in ecg. In the transition to modern spelling this became not edg but edge; i.e. it was the softening effect of the -e that was perceived as giving g its affricate (soft) sound.
The d therefore just strengthens the consonant, like the t in match. For this reason I hold that the group dg by itself is not pronounced J.
This reason is not very weighty, but I have to decide one way or the other, and that's how I do.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
|
|
OP
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
This is really interesting! It's great to have so many different people and ideas on the board, as then you get answers that come from every perspective. So it turns out that European speakers of English and their antipodeans are the ones to spell with an "e", while Usamericans (what about Canadians?) prefer not to have the "e". The philological explanation makes sense... I think I understand that the *orthodox pronunciation for a "dg" cluster with no "e" would normally be a hard /g/ and not /dz/? Nicholas, I see that you are in London. Maybe you can solve what is one of life's great unanswerable mysteries for me. How do you spell and pronounce "Edgware Road"? Thanks for all the other words I hadn't thought of. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393 |
Edgware always gives me pause. I've just had to hunt around and confirm on a tube map that both places are Edgware: that station itself, a distant north-western suburb; and also Edgware Road, an inner station near Paddington on the road which leads out towards Edgware.
Prononciation is simple edge + ware/wear/where.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
what about Canadians?I think I like the look better with the "e", but I honesly don't remember what I was taught in school. In general Canadian spelling follows British spelling with two major exceptions: we prefer "z" instead of "s" in words like "analyze", and we don't use the extra squished-together vowels (what are they called?) in words like "fetus" and "estivate". But we do use the extra "u" in all those "our" words like colour, tumour, honour, etc. So Canadian spelling is not entirely like either British or American, it is something all its own.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
I am wondering if the loss in popularity of the dipthong ("squished-together vowels" - a delightfully apt description! ) is, at least in part, due to the relative difficulty in producing them on word processing software. They are fairly rare in English, anyway, so the temptation to reduce them to a single vowel is quite intense. If this is so, it is rather a pity, as yet another example of how our culture is increasingly being defined by our technology. A probable second reason - and one which was apparent before the advent of mass-PC/Mac ownership - is uncertainty among many people of how to pronounce words with dipthongs.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2 |
As a life-long resident of the United States, I cast a vote for the extra 'e', for the pronunciation reasons given before. As far as dipthongs go, I'd rather have back the runic characters for 'th'.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>...I'd rather have back the runic characters for 'th'.
here you go Þen: þÞ
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,372
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
220
guests, and
2
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
