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In The Complete Guide to Spelling by John J Fulford, he writes "With double consonants, the division is between the two consonants unless they are at the end of the word. Never split a blend or digraph."

He then gives the following examples.

  • suc/cess
  • ill/ness
  • ac/cid/ent
  • suck/ing

Is it just me or did he immediately break this rule will "illness"? The way it's broken up makes logical sense but why?

Laurel
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Daniel Ward
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    He did. That's because there's another rule that conflicts with this one: break words at morpheme boundaries.. And here ill and ness constitute morphemes. See this answer. – Peter Shor Jul 05 '22 at 12:35
  • That is to say, English spelling does not allow consistent syllabification of spelled words. So just do what you think looks best and don't worry. That's what everybody else does, after all. – John Lawler Jul 05 '22 at 15:24
  • When he says 'unless they are at the end of the word', he means 'unless the first syllable is a complete word' (like ill and suck). – Kate Bunting Jul 05 '22 at 16:49
  • Thank you guys that helps a lot – Daniel Ward Jul 07 '22 at 12:56

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