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Which words may start with “al-”?

The word alright comes from "all right". Where did the second l go?

Similarly: altogether from "all together".

Community
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Simon Verbeke
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1 Answers1

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The link below gives the history of this spelling:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alright

As to why this change is taking place, it isn't easy to give an answer. Perhaps its followers have decided that it should imitate the word "fulfil", where the double consonants were done away with when the two words full and fill were united.

Irene
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  • I've never seen fulfil, only *fulfill*. Do you actually see fulfil in the wild? – Brendon Dec 23 '11 at 12:58
  • @Brendon: In British English, yes, I see only "fulfil". I believe "fulfill" is the American spelling. – Irene Dec 23 '11 at 13:05
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    The existence of the two forms performs a useful function. There is a difference between 'Your answers to the exam questions were all right' and 'Your answers to the exam questions were alright'. – Barrie England Dec 23 '11 at 13:33
  • @BarrieEngland: Is there a difference in meaning? I see only a difference in spelling. – Irene Dec 23 '11 at 13:45
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    @Irene: (1) every answer was correct. (2) the answers were O.K. I think you would hear the difference if it was spoken. – Peter Shor Dec 23 '11 at 14:05
  • In discussing the spelling, you have not set out the difference between the word alright and the phrase all right, leading to great confusion. In the example, it not always fulfil - even Word flags this spelling. – Kris Dec 23 '11 at 14:05
  • From your own reference, 'the first two years of medical school were alright — Gertrude Stein' does not mean each of the years was OK, only that the period was generally OK. – Kris Dec 23 '11 at 14:11
  • @PeterShor: Thank you, too. I did see the difference when I heard myself speak both sentences. – Irene Dec 23 '11 at 16:18
  • This is strictly about writing, then? No one need resort to mention of spoken language. – John Lawler Dec 23 '11 at 16:22
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    @Kris: Word flags spelling which is not American. If you switch to UK English, things change. As for the difference in meaning, 1)I don't think OP asked for that 2)I wasn't aware of a difference in meaning until it was pointed out to me in a comment above. I thought that "alright" was a non-standard (and not accepted by many) variation of "all right". – Irene Dec 23 '11 at 16:24
  • @Kris: (continue) I believed (I still do actually, but since the language changes, I have to adjust) that both meanings explained by Peter Shor could be expressed by "all right". Apparently, I was wrong. – Irene Dec 23 '11 at 16:33
  • @Irene: I think this is one of those cases where American spelling (notwithstanding significant advances back in Webster's day) tends to be more conservative than British. Even for UK usage, NGram suggests the more recent alright is 5-6 times less common than all right - but it's maybe 20 times less common in the US. We both seem to make the same okay/all correct distinction in speech though, so I really do think this is just a matter of how it's written down. – FumbleFingers Dec 23 '11 at 18:45