spelling.dita

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE concept PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Concept//EN" "concept.dtd">
<concept id="spelling">
    <title>Spelling</title>
    <shortdesc></shortdesc>
    <conbody>
        <p>The spelling of English words is not fixed and invariable, nor does it depend on any
            other authority than general agreement. At the present day there is practically
            unanimous agreement as to the spelling of most words.</p>
        <p>In the list below, for example, rime for rhyme is the only allowable variation; all the
            other forms are co-extensive with the English language. At any given moment, however, a
            relatively small number of words may be spelled in more than one way. Gradually, as a
            rule, one of these forms comes to be generally preferred, and the less customary form
            comes to look obsolete and is discarded. From time to time new forms, mostly
            simplifications, are introduced by innovators, and either win their place or die of
            neglect.The practical objection to unaccepted and over-simplified spellings is the
            disfavor with which they are received by the reader. They distract his attention and
            exhaust his patience. He reads the form though automatically, without thought of its
            needless complexity; he reads the abbreviation tho and mentally supplies the missing
            letters, at the cost of a fraction of his attention. The writer has defeated his own
            purpose.</p>
    </conbody>
</concept>