EXCEPTIONS.—­1.  This rule applies to derivatives, but not to compounds:  thus, we write merciful, and mercy-seat; penniless, and pennyworth; scurviness, and scurvy-grass; &c.  But ladyship and goodyship, being unlike secretariship and suretiship; handicraft and handiwork,[116] unlike handygripe and handystroke; babyship and babyhood, unlike stateliness and likelihood; the distinction between derivatives and compounds, we see, is too nice a point to have been always accurately observed. 2.  Before ing or ish, the y is retained to prevent the doubling of i:  as, pity, pitying; baby, babyish. 3.  Words ending in ie, dropping the e by Rule 9th, change the i into y, for the same reason:  as, die, dying; vie, vying; lie, lying.

RULE XII—­FINAL Y.

The final y of a primitive word, when preceded by a vowel, should not be changed into i before any additional termination:  as, day, days; key, keys; guy, guys; valley, valleys; coy, coyly; cloy, cloys, cloyed; boy, boyish, boyhood; annoy, annoyer, annoyance; joy, joyless, joyful.

EXCEPTIONS.—­1.  From lay, pay, say, and stay, are formed laid, paid, said, and staid; but the regular words, layed, payed, stayed, are sometimes used. 2. Raiment, contracted from arrayment, is never written with the y. 3. Daily is more common than the regular form dayly; but gayly, gayety, and gayness, are justly superseding gaily and gaiety.

RULE XIII.—­IZE AND ISE.

Words ending in ize or ise sounded alike, as in wise and size, generally take the z in all such as are essentially formed by means of the termination; and the s in monosyllables, and all such as are essentially formed by means of prefixes:  as, gormandise, apologize, brutalize, canonize, pilgrimize, philosophize, cauterize, anathematize, sympathize, disorganize, with z;[117] rise, arise, disguise, advise, devise, supervise, circumcise, despise, surmise, surprise, comprise, compromise, enterprise, presurmise, with s.

EXCEPTIONS.—­1. Advertise, catechise, chastise, criticise,[118] exercise, exorcise, and merchandise, are most commonly written with s and size, assize, capsize, analyze, overprize, detonize, and recognize, with z.  How many of them are real exceptions to the rule, it is difficult to say. 2. Prise, a thing taken, and prize, to esteem; apprise, to inform, and apprize, to value, or appraise, are often written either way, without this distinction of meaning, which some wish to establish. 3.  The want of the foregoing rule has also made many words variable, which ought, unquestionably, to conform to the general principle.