RULE I.—Final e is dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel; as, fine, finer; love, loving.

Exceptions.-Words ending in ce and ge retain e before able and ous to keep c and g soft; as, peaceable, changeable, courageous. Words in oe and ee retain the e unless the suffix begins with e; as, hoeing, seeing.

RULE II.-Y after a consonant becomes i before a suffix not beginning with i; as, witty, wittier; dry, dried.

Exception. Y does not change before 's; as, enemy's.

RULE III.-In monosyllables and words accented on the last syllable, a final consonant after a single vowel doubles before a suffix beginning with a vowel; as, hot, hotter; begin, beginning.

Exceptions.-The final consonant is not doubled when, in the derivative, the accent is thrown from the last syllable of the primitive; as, refer', reference. But we have excel', ex'cellent, ex'cellence. X, k, and v are never doubled.

Remark. To the Rules above (and inferences from them) there are a few other exceptions; as, dyeing (coloring), singeing, tingeing, mileage, awful, wholly, judgment, acknowledgment; slyly, dryness, piteous; gases, transferable, humbugged, crystallize, cancellation.

Coalescence of the Anglo-Saxon and the Norman-French....

Danelagh ..

1-3

14-18

7

Danish Conquest of Britain.

Dialects in English..

6, 7

76-78

English, The-The New Tongue..

Englishman's (The) Debt to his Ancestry...

Greek, Hebrew, and the Modern Languages in English..

18

13

21-23