" 5" OR "
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIEj—On the subject of the "duplicate spelling" of the suffix -ize or. -iee, the following letter from Mr. Herbert Spencer to the late Mr. F. Howard Collins, as well as a quotation from Pro- fessor Skeat, both of which appear in the Preface to "Author and Printer," may be of interest to some of your readers :— "DEAR Comarrs,—By all means stand up for the Rules [of Mr. Hart] in respect of the use of in place of e wherever the sound dictates it. You may, if you like, quote me as saying that our language is irrationally unphonotie still, and this is done when- ever s is used in place of is in such words as ' authorize ' and 'apologize.' To spell these as though they were pronounced gauthorico' and 'apologico' when we have actually the letter which convoys the right sound is simply a retrograde movement, and the Clarendon Press Rules ' are to be approved for adhering to the s, and should indeed extend its usu. 1 always make my own printer substitute the a for the a wherever it is possible.—Truly yours, HERBERT SPENCER."
To this letter may be appropriately added a quotation from Professor Skeati—" The suffix -ize is both Greek and phonetic, and much to be preferred if we are to have uniformity. The suffix -ise is French."—I am, Sir, &c., J. RAYMOND SOLLY.
Union Club, Trafalgar Square, S. W.
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