Re: The one already done

From: "tristan alexander mcleay" <zsau@...>
> While everyone's talking about spelling reform:
>
> Do americans spell aero- as ero-? (For example, do they spell
> 'aerodrome' as "erodrome" (I know they spell 'aeroplane' as "airplane",
> and pronounce it to match, and that's the only diff i remember seeing).
No.

> If not, why not? They spell 'mediaeval' as "medieval" (pointless, IMHO,
> because it no longer suggests two vowels), aesthetic as esthetic, why
> have I never seen aero- as ero-?
Probably because a-dropping <ae> is from the Latin <ae> diphthong, which,
IIRC, became pronounced <e> everywhere anyway.  <aero-> is from Greek
<ae:r>.

Anyway, why should 'medieval' suggest two vowels?  I always hear it
pronounced as if it were "mid-evil" (and, frighteningly, have even seen it
spelled that way).

> Also, does anyone know Webster's logic behind respelling 'colour' as
> "color", but not 'source' as "sorce", which, being a stressed vowel,
> would need it more, IMHO.
My impression is that it's because the vowel in <colo[u]r> is not the same
as the vowel in <source> [in General-American, anyway].  But I think it
might have been that only final <-our> that was respelled.


    *Muke!