Klarinet Archive - Posting 000327.txt from 2004/03

From: Joe Fasel <jhf@------.gov>
Subj: Re: [kl] English and American
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2004 16:25:03 -0500


On 2004.03.05 08:34, tony-w@------.co.uk wrote:
> Just one more example - clarinetist and clarinettist - which is correct?
> They can`t both be!!

(As he attempts to drag this thread back on-topic...) As I
understand it, the general orthographic rule in British English
is to double a final consonant when adding a suffix whenever the
vowel is short, whereas in American English, there is the further
requirement that the originally final syllable is stressed. (This,
I presume, is connected with our appalling habit of turning
unstressed vowels into schwas.) Now, in my experience, "clarinet"
with stress on the last syllable is common, but so is stress
on the first, but I think that "clarinettist" with stress on the
third syllable is much more common than on the first (probably
because three unstressed syllables in a row are awkward).
Thus, even according to American orthography, and certainly,
British, I would claim that "clarinettist" is to be preferred.
[Note the "rr" in that last word.]

Frankly, I hadn't noticed this issue with this word before,
and I think I may have been spelling it the other way.
I won't anymore. ;-)

Cheers,
--Joe

Joseph H. Fasel, Ph.D. email: jhf@------.gov
Systems Planning and Analysis phone: +1 505 667 7158
University of California fax: +1 505 667 2960
Los Alamos National Laboratory post: D-2 MS F609; Los Alamos, NM 87545