I & II NEW CONCEPT. Introduce the pattern of adding y to a root word. Also introduce the pattern of changing y to i when adding a suffix. Notice that the noun hand can be made into the adjective handy, but that an i is used to spell handiest and handiness. In any of these cases, the sound of y or i approximates the sound of long-vowel e (|ē|).

III NEW CONCEPT. Introduce dropping e and adding y or i to a root word. If we are adding the suffixes est or ness to a root word that used to end in e but now ends in y, we must now change the y to an i. An example of this pattern is taste, which can be made into tasty, tastiest, and tastiness. The i is changed to a y to keep the word from ending in the dotted letter i (not tasti but tasty).

IV NEW PATTERN. Introduce adding ly to a root word and pronouncing this suffix with nearly the long-vowel |ē| sound. Adding ly to the noun man makes it into the adjective manly. Adding the suffixes est or ness gives us other adjectives as well. A y in the interior of a word must be converted to an i (manliest and manliness).

Note: One exception to this pattern is when the meaning of the word would change if we dropped the y. For example, when we add ing to study, we will keep the y (study → studying).

INTRODUCE keeping the e and adding ly or li to a root word. We change y to i and add the suffixes iest and iness, as in lonely, loneliest, and loneliness. Some words drop the e, as is the case with taste → tasty. Some words keep the e, as is the case with lone → lonely. Keep a dictionary handy to confirm which pattern applies.

Review: y i

V REVIEW the y, iest, iness, ly, liest, and liness pronunciation and spelling patterns evident in creamy, creamiest, and creaminess, and manly, manliest, and manliness.

As mentioned several times before, words in English hardly ever end with a dotted letter. Hence, English words almost never end with an i or j. Exceptions are taxi (from the longer word taxicab), and ski and spaghetti (foreign words from Norway and Italy). (Taj Mahal might also come to mind, but Taj is not really an English word.) In most cases, the end spelling will be a y, as in baby. In English words, the end spelling will change the j to ge, as introduced in Lesson 71.