Page:The American Language.djvu/261

Rh American skeptic slug (verb) slush splendor stanch story (of a house) succor taffy tire (noun) toilet traveler tumor valor vapor veranda vial vigor vise (a tool) wagon woolen

English sceptic slog slosh splendour staunch storey succour toffy tyre toilette traveller tumour valour vapour verandah phial vigour vice waggon woollen

§2

General Tendencies—This list is by no means exhaustive. According to a recent writer upon the subject, "there are 812 words in which the prevailing American spelling differs from the English." But enough examples are given to reveal a number of definite tendencies. American, in general, moves toward simplified forms of spelling more rapidly than English, and has got much further along the road. Redundant and unnecessary letters have been dropped from whole groups of words—the u from the group of nouns in -our, with the sole exception of Saviour, and from such words as mould and baulk; the e from annexe, asphalte, axe, forme, pease, storey, etc.; the duplicate consonant from waggon, nett, faggot, woollen, jeweller, councillor, etc., and the silent foreign suffixes from toilette, epaulette, programme, verandah, etc. In addition, simple vowels have been substituted for degenerated diphthongs in such words as anaemia,