It is argued here that morphemic spelling is fundamentally the same as etymological spelling, as both are different manifestations of IdP, one connecting the meaning of related English words, in spite of differences (electric, electricity, electrician) the other connecting English to other languages (e.g. It has long been known that polymorphemic words tend to keep the spelling of their constituent morphemes ‘as much as possible’ (Venezky 1970: 120), and I examine how much this is possible, by looking at how amendments are made, firstly in inflected forms, and then in affixed derivation, where the complicating factor of etymology often plays a part. Any spelling All words must have some spelling. Invariant spelling Once a spelling has been settled upon, it is not changed. Distinctiveness (DSTNCT) Words with different meanings should have different spellings, if possible. Phonographic Matching (PhM) The spelling must match the known phonological form and changes may be made, where necessary, if possible, by amending the spelling-to-sound correspondences 3. Hence related words have related spellings. Identity Preservation (IdP) A spelling takes its form from the spellings of its subcomponents. I argue that there are five basic principles of English spelling and that different kinds of words may be spelt in different ways, subject to different applications of these principles, which state: 1. This study provides a method for studying a wide range of English spellings.
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