Spelling (PR#6570)

On Tuesday 10 February 2004 20:25, Roger D. Peng wrote:

Unfortunately, with English it's conceivable that they're both
correct.  But the double 't' sounds/looks *more* correct to me.
Of course, this is coming from a native English speaker who is
generally unfamiliar with the rules of English.

On the other hand:

test --> testable?
arrest --> arrestable?
contest --> contestable?
detest --> detestable?
...

So maybe the single 't' is correct.  Did that clear things up?

This is probably not a valid comparison, since test->testing whereas 
set->setting. 

Oxford (OED) lists the word 'settable' but not 'setable'. subsettable (or 
subsetable) is obviously an artificial word (we use subset as a verb), but 
presumably invented derivatives of 'subset' should behave in a manner similar 
to those of 'set'.

Deepayan

OK...wait a minute.  I just found the following at:

http://grammar.uoregon.edu/spelling1.html

[Go Ducks!]

To Wit:

DOUBLING A FINAL CONSONANT WHEN ADDING A SUFFIX: from "Correct Spelling
Made Easy" (p. 69)


1) The word must end in just one consonant.
        
Compel (l + ed or ing) = Compelled; Compelling

But Not : Resist (+ ed or ing) = Resisted; Resisting
        
        
2) There must be only one vowel before the final single consonant.
        
Refer (r + ed or ing) = Referred; Referring

But Not: Appear = Appeared; Appearing
        

3) The last syllable of the verb must receive the accent.
        
Commit (accent on mit) = Committed; Committing
        
But Not: Profit = Profited; Profiting
        
        
4) The suffix to be added must start with a vowel--in order to double
the final consonant.
        
Defer (r + ed) = Deferred

But Not: Defer + ment) Deferment


So, if these rules are correct, it should be "subsetable", as 'subset'
meets 1, 2 and 4, but fails 3, as the accented syllable according to
various dictionaries is 'sub' and not 'set'.

Is it too late to change my vote?

Thus, 'testing' fails due to rule 1 ('st'), whereas it is 'setting' due
to 'et'.

HTH,

Marc

<I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming
of...well...programming...>