[Eventine]

G'Day All -
Just wondering if someone could answer my question or point me to somewhere I can get an answer.
The question is:

What is the rule for when words end with ie or with y to make an "e" sound?

For example - why is hilly spelt with a y and budgie with an ie?

Or Danny with a y and Julie with an ie?

Please help!!!!

[Qin]

Consider the following:

Blood = phonetically: Blud
Bloom = phonetically: Bloom

Spelled almost the exact same way, with the only difference being the last letter. There are no rules of grammar to explain this, and no historical explanation that I know of. It just is. The english language has many inconsistencies such as this. You can't explain them; you can only accept them.

[Ladijen]

I'm probably just pulling this out of my...well, you know...but I think that a lot of the inconsistencies are left over from Old English. If you read Chaucer, you will find that the same word might be spelled two different ways on the same page, e.g. "wife" and "wyf". I think that when the language was "standardized" many of the variations became, well, standard.

[Ogg]

Yelp I gotta agree that was pulled out of the neither realm, but hey it sounded good :D :D

[Ladijen]

Yeah, the "nether realm" spews some interesting stuff sometimes...like it has a mind of its own! :D

I have another spelling question to add here:

Is it "spelled" or "spelt"? Or is this a US vs UK thing?

[Ogg]

Originally posted by Ladijen
Or is this a US vs UK thing?


I might be wrong but everything here is an Aussy vs the world thing.. :D :D Oh, I am so gonna play for that one...

[Bond]

I've heard from teachers that English is a very difficult language to learn. There is always an exception to the rule. You just have to learn all of them the hard way I guess.

[fortytwo]

Ladijen,
According to my Oxford Dictionary you're correct -spelt- is the British way. :)

[Ladijen]

Ogg--I stand (or sit) corrected. :) The "G'Day" should have tipped me off, even if I didn't read where Eventine was from. :)

(But, as some of my friends from the UK have told me, neither Americans nor Aussie's speak English!)

I waited too long to post this-----thanks 42!

[Qin]

Most Americans within my age group (18-21) don't speak proper english. Rahter, they utilize remnant english, combined with slang and regional dialects. Thus, we have phrases such as "That's so sick!" which means "That's so cool!" which in fact means "I like that a lot!" I'm guilty of the same though, since I pronounce Newton (a neighboring town) as "New'un," as many others do.

Six Degrees of Seperation from English anyone?