origin of double letters in English

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#176367 - 04/25/08 03:30 PM origin of double letters in English
twosleepy old hand Registered: 02/28/08 Posts: 795 Loc: western NY	As I listened to NPR on my morning commute, I heard a story about the Walapai indian "Skywalk" over the Grand Canyon. It sounds really cool (but not for acrophobics!) and I hope to experience it someday. Anyhoo.... I got to thinking about the spelling of the tribe's name, and that instinctively I thought "walapi", not "wallapi". Then I wondered why I thought that, and decided that when dealing with a language other than English, I usually leave out doubled letters such as "ll", "rr", "ss" and so on. Does anyone know why English has these, even though they often have the same sound as a single letter? I realize there are some rules about a v_c_v causing the first vowel to change to short from long (ex: pinning/pining), but that's often not a factor. Spanish has "rr" and "ll", but they are distinct phonemes from the single letters. :0)
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#176368 - 04/25/08 04:03 PM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: twosleepy]
zmjezhd Pooh-Bah Registered: 08/13/05 Posts: 2436 Loc: R'lyeh	There are very few rules indeed when it comes to the vagaries of English spelling, but one thing that double consonants tend to signify in English is a different in the proceeding vowel's quality: e.g., cf. many with mannish. [Fixed typos.] Edited by zmjezhd (04/26/08 09:59 AM)
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#176387 - 04/26/08 05:58 AM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: zmjezhd]
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 12513	Sometimes we inherit the double letters from the language we got the word from. Words like illegal and immoral we got from Latin where the il and im respectively were from a prefix in- with the n assimilated by the following letter.
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#176390 - 04/26/08 06:27 AM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: zmjezhd]
BranShea Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/23/06 Posts: 3724 Loc: Netherlands, the Hague	Originally Posted By: zmjezhd There are very few ules indeed when it comes to the vagaries of English spelling, but one thing that double consonants tend to signify in English is a different in the prceeding vowel's quality: e.g., cf. many with mannish. You did this intentionally? prceeding? Is pre- or proceeding or both?
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#176391 - 04/26/08 06:35 AM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: BranShea]
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 12513	Originally Posted By: BranShea Originally Posted By: zmjezhd There are very few ules indeed when it comes to the vagaries of English spelling, but one thing that double consonants tend to signify in English is a different in the prceeding vowel's quality: e.g., cf. many with mannish. You did this intentionally? prceeding? Is pre- or proceeding or both? I understood that part perfectly; it was the ules that I wondered about.
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#176396 - 04/26/08 10:32 AM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: Faldage]
Jackie Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 10392 Loc: Louisville, Kentucky	Hey, some people are too busy to be bothered checking every detail.
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#176402 - 04/26/08 12:52 PM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: Jackie]
BranShea Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/23/06 Posts: 3724 Loc: Netherlands, the Hague	The ule sat in the elm tree At early fall of night And yond behind the distant hills the cuckoo clock replied: "cuckoo, cuckoo" and so on and so on.
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#176408 - 04/27/08 12:51 AM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: Faldage]
The Pook old hand Registered: 02/20/08 Posts: 1067 Loc: Tasmania	Originally Posted By: Faldage Originally Posted By: BranShea Originally Posted By: zmjezhd There are very few ules indeed when it comes to the vagaries of English spelling, but one thing that double consonants tend to signify in English is a different in the prceeding vowel's quality: e.g., cf. many with mannish. You did this intentionally? prceeding? Is pre- or proceeding or both? I understood that part perfectly; it was the ules that I wondered about. 'Ules' are reputedly wise birds, so perhaps the meaning is there is very little wisdom when it comes to the vagaries of English. That would fit.
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#176417 - 04/27/08 11:22 AM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: The Pook]
BranShea Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/23/06 Posts: 3724 Loc: Netherlands, the Hague	The ule is wisest in July The cuckoo cooks in June and rather than a wise comment I'd see a lame reply.
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#176425 - 04/27/08 03:55 PM Re: origin of double letters in English [Re: BranShea]
twosleepy old hand Registered: 02/28/08 Posts: 795 Loc: western NY	Speaking of vagaries... why isn't it spelled "vagueries"? Truly it looks funny to me (vagaries)! I don't see it often, but it's made several appearances on this thread. It has the same root as "vague", and one would think it would follow that spelling lead... Oh well! :0)
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