not change the official spelling of organisations, ships, buildings or the titles of books, moviesetc. Thus, it is Australian Labor Party but British Labour Party.Doubling consonants in word endings (totalling or talling?)The general rule for final consonants is to double them before adding the suffix if:• The preceding vowel is a single letter (e.g. wet, wetted, wetting) <strong>and</strong> the accent is on the lastsyllable before the suffix (regret, regretted). To illustrate: occur, occurred, occurring; defer,deferred, deferring; budget, budgeted, budgeting; rivet, riveting, riveted; fever, fevered,feverish.• Unfortunately this is only a general rule, with many exceptions, such as format/formatted;kidnap/kidnapped; program/programmed.• Words ending in –l do not appear to follow any particular rule. Thus, we have: channel,channelled, channelling; devil, devilry, devilish; equal, equalled, equalise; libel, libelled,libellous; total, totalled, totality.Use the spellings listed here <strong>and</strong> in the alphabetical sections of this book. Otherwise, use the firstlisted spelling of the Macquarie Dictionary.Eliminating the etymological digraph (anaemic or anemic?)A digraph is a combination of vowels such as –ae or –oe, as in haemoglobin <strong>and</strong> foetus. Attemptsare being made to weed them out of the language, with spellings such as paediatrician <strong>and</strong>archaeology beginning to take hold, as is fetus (which was the original Latin spelling anyway,the oe not being added until the 14 th century.• However, we cannot make a rule. Look up each word in this <strong>guide</strong>. And do not alter thespelling of an organisation such as the Regional <strong>and</strong> General Paediatricians Society.-ise not –ize (realise or realize?)The suffix –ise is our <strong>style</strong>. Do not try to apply this to words like capsize where -ize is not asuffix.-or <strong>and</strong> –er noun endings (impostor or imposter?)The agentive nouns ending in –or <strong>and</strong> –er are a contradictory mixture. Historically, -or was theLatin suffix while English added –er to coin new agentives from its own verbs. If in doubt, theonly sure answer is to consult the dictionary.-ed/-et endingsWe prefer burnt not burned; learnt not learned (although learned, pronounced learn-ed, is in useamong lawyers when referring to each other in court).As a general <strong>guide</strong> the –or suffix is likely to be attached to Latin stems ending in thefollowing: at- agitator, demonstrator, spectator; it- auditor, creditor, monitor; ut- distributor,interlocutor, prosecutor; ct- collector, contractor, instructor; nt- inventor, precentor; st- imposter,investor, transistor; ns- censor, sponsor; s- divisor, incisor, supervisor.There are many exceptions such as: adviser, digester, presser, computer, dispenser, preventer,contester, molester, promoter, decanter, presenter, protester.-ible <strong>and</strong> –able endingsUQ <strong>SJC</strong> STYLEBOOK <strong>2012</strong> – PAGE 18
The –ible <strong>and</strong> –able adjectives provide a problem. Like the –er <strong>and</strong> –or agentives, the variationdepends on Latin versus English formations, but a pattern is even more difficult to establish. Itmight be helpful to note that new or recent formations will probably end with –able.Attempts have failed to make a universal rule for words ending in –eable (likeable orlikable). What follows is the spelling for common –ible <strong>and</strong> –able words. If the word you arelooking for is not here, use the first spelling in the Macquarie Dictionary:-IBLE discernible indefeasible permissibleaccessible divisible indefensible persuasibleadmissible edible indelible plausibleaudible eligible indestructible reduciblecollapsible exemptible indigestible reprehensiblecomprehensible expressible inexhaustible responsiblecompressible fallible inflexible reversiblecontemptible feasible intangible submersibleconvertible flexible intelligible suggestiblecorruptible forcible irresistible suppressiblecredible gullible legible susceptiblededucible incorrigible negligible tangibledeductible incorruptible ostensible transmissibledigestible incredible perceptible visible-ABLEdemonstrable inviolable respectableactionable detestable irreconcilable sanctifiableadorable dissolvable likable serviceableadvisable drinkable lovable sizeableagreeable forgettable manageable teachableamiable forgivable movable tenablearguable immovable notable tolerablebelievable impenetrable noticeable traversablecalculable improvable palatable treasonablechangeable inadmissible peaceable uncontrollablechargeable inalienable personable undeniablecollectable incalculable preferable unendurablecomfortable inconceivable preventable unmistakableconceivable incurable provable unshakablecontestable indispensable reasonabledebatable inestimable regrettabledefinable inflatable removable-y or –ie as colloquial endings (footie or footy?)Colloquialisms formed in this way need to be st<strong>and</strong>ardised as much as possible. Taking asa yardstick the expression Aussie (who could spell it Aussy?) the –ie ending is generallypreferred for that type of word. (Notable exceptions to this are footy, aunty, daddy, mummy,PAGE 19 – <strong>2012</strong>UQ <strong>SJC</strong> STYLEBOOK
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