RULE XIV.—­COMPOUNDS.

Compounds generally retain the orthography of the simple words which compose them:  as, wherein, horseman, uphill, shellfish, knee-deep, kneedgrass, kneading-trough, innkeeper, skylight, plumtree, mandrill.

EXCEPTIONS.—­1.  In permanent compounds, or in any derivatives of which, they are not the roots, the words full and all drop one l; as, handful, careful, fulfil, always, although, withal; in temporary compounds, they retain both; as, full-eyed, chock-full,[119] all-wise, save-all. 2.  So the prefix mis, (if from miss, to err,) drops one s; but it is wrong to drop them both, as in Johnson’s “mispell” and “mispend,” for misspell and misspend. 3.  In the names of days, the word mass also drops one s; as, Christmas, Candlemas, Lammas. 4.  The possessive case often drops the apostrophe; as in herdsman, kitesfoot. 5.  One letter is dropped, if three of the same kind come together:  as, Rosshire, chaffinch; or else a hyphen is used:  as, Ross-shire, ill-looking, still-life. 6. Chilblain, welcome, and welfare, drop one l. 7. Pastime drops an s. 8. Shepherd, wherever, and whosever, drop an e; and wherefore and therefore assume one.

RULE XV.—­USAGE.

Any word for the spelling of which we have no rule but usage, is written wrong if not spelled according to the usage which is most common among the learned:  as, “The brewer grinds his malt before he brues his beer.”—­Red Book, p. 38.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.—­The foregoing rules aim at no wild and impracticable reformation of our orthography; but, if carefully applied, they will do much to obviate its chief difficulties.  Being made variable by the ignorance of some writers and the caprice of others, our spelling is now, and always has been, exceedingly irregular and unsettled.  Uniformity and consistency can be attained in no other way, than by the steady application of rules and principles; and these must be made as few and as general as the case will admit, that the memory of the learner may not be overmatched by their number or complexity.  Rules founded on the analogy of similar words, and sanctioned by the usage of careful writers, must be taken as our guides; because common practice is often found to be capricious, contradictory, and uncertain.  That errors and inconsistencies abound, even in the books which are proposed to the world as standards of English orthography, is a position which scarcely needs proof.  It is true, to a greater or less extent, of all the spelling-books and dictionaries that I have seen, and probably of all that have ever been published.  And as all authors are liable to mistakes, which others may copy, general rules should have more weight than particular examples to the contrary.  “The right spelling of a word may be said to be that which agrees the best with its pronunciation, its etymology, and with the analogy of the particular class of words to which it belongs.”—­Philological Museum, Vol. i, p. 647.