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There's a well-established rule that a doubling of a consonant means that the immediately preceding vowel is stressed. Or maybe it's the reverse: if the vowel is stressed, the consonant is doubled. It's probably more nuanced than that, but that's the general gist of it.
So, what's the deal with "desiccate/d"? A newby to the language would try to say it with the stress on the 2nd syllable, de-SIC-ate, but we oldbies know different. It's just another exception to the general rules, and there's nothing exceptional about English exceptions. But we still have to remember to spell it correctly, not as "dessicated". I'm struggling to think of any similar case. Is there one? Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 19:56, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
Language desk | ||
---|---|---|
< October 10 | << Sep | October | Nov >> | Current desk > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives |
---|
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
There's a well-established rule that a doubling of a consonant means that the immediately preceding vowel is stressed. Or maybe it's the reverse: if the vowel is stressed, the consonant is doubled. It's probably more nuanced than that, but that's the general gist of it.
So, what's the deal with "desiccate/d"? A newby to the language would try to say it with the stress on the 2nd syllable, de-SIC-ate, but we oldbies know different. It's just another exception to the general rules, and there's nothing exceptional about English exceptions. But we still have to remember to spell it correctly, not as "dessicated". I'm struggling to think of any similar case. Is there one? Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 19:56, 11 October 2023 (UTC)