The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules (26 page)

Anomalies include the words
crayon, bayonet
, and
mayor,
which retain the
y
in order to avoid the triple vowel combination of
aio
. Many years ago,
mayor
was spelled
mair.

C
HAPTER 25

Using
au
and
aw

T
hese two syllables are similar in sound and could cause confusion. This is because the
w
in many of these words is being used in place of the
u
as an auxiliary vowel. But the spelling rules that govern
au
and
aw
are quite clear. They usually produce the
or
sound, as in
order
,
door
,
ball
,
raw
, but there are exceptions.

Spelling rule #1: The
au
spelling is used at the beginning or in the middle of a word. It is usually found in a closed syllable.

The
au
spelling does not appear at the end of words except for a handful of exotic words which are mostly French and have an
o
sound or an
ow
sound.

Spelling rule#2: The
aw
spelling is used at the end of a word or syllable:

The
aw
spelling occasionally appears before a final
n
or
l
:

Exceptions are
bawd
and
bawdy.

Note that many
aw
words were originally spelled with a
u.

Note that
shawl
is from the Persian word
shal
and
yawl
is from the Dutch word
jol
.

Fewer than a dozen words begin with
aw
:

Note that
awe
is the only commonly used word in this group that uses the silent
e.

Historical footnote:
The ancient Celts used the
w
much as we use the
u
, and the spelling still exists in modern Welsh. For example,
cwm
is a word that means
a small valley.
Although
cwm
is the only word of its type left in our dictionaries, it is quite popular in Welsh place names, and its English variation,
combe
, is very common in England.

C
HAPTER 26

Using
ou
and
ow

S
ince the
ou
and
ow
combinations often make the same sound, it would seem that there is little difference between them. This is because, in many cases, the
w
is being used in place of the
u
as an auxiliary vowel.

Spelling rule #1: The
ou
spelling is almost always used in the middle of a word:

Note that the
ou
is almost never used at the end of a word. There are very few exceptions.

There are barely half a dozen commonly used English words that begin with
ou.
One of these has a different sound.

Spelling rule #2: The
ow
is most often used at the end of a word.

Only a tiny handful of commonly used English words begin with
ow
. Most of these have different sounds.