RSUS MYTH.

(Vol. vii., p. 326.)

MR. KEIGHTLEY'S rule is only partially true, and in the part which is true
is not fully stated. The following rules, qualified by the accompanying
remarks, will I trust be found substantially correct.

English monosyllables, formed from Greek or Latin monosyllabic roots,

(1.) When the root ends in a single consonant preceded by a vowel, require
the lengthening e.

(2.) When the root ends in a single consonant preceded by a diphthong, or
in more than one consonant preceded by a vowel, reject the e.

1. Examples from the Greek:--[Greek: schem-a], _scheme_; [Greek: lur-a]
(lyr-a), _lyre_; [Greek: zon-e] (zon-a), _zon-e_; [Greek: bas-is], _base_;
[Greek: phras-is], _phras-e_; [Greek: trop-os], _trop-e_. From Latin,
ros-a, _ros-e_; fin-is, _fin-e_; fum-us, _fum-e_; pur-us, _pur-e_; grad-us,
_grad-e_. Compare, in verbs, ced-o, _ced-e_.

_Remarks._--This rule admits of a modification; _e.g._ we form from [Greek:
zel-os] _zeal_ (the sound hardly perceptibly differing from _zel-e_); from
[Greek: hor-a] (hor-a), _hour_; from flos (flor-is), _flower_ and _flour_
(the long sound communicated to the vowel in the other words by the added
_e_, being in these already contained in the diphthong). Add ven-a, _vein_;
van-us, _vain_; sol-um, _soil_, &c.; and compare _-ceed_ in _proceed_,
_succeed_, formed from compounds of ced-o. Some, but not all, of these
words have come to us through the French.

2. Examples from the Greek:--[Greek: rheum-a], _rheum_; [Greek: chasm-a],
_chasm_; [Greek: murr-a], _myrrh_; [Greek: gloss-a], _gloss_; [Greek:
numph-e] (nymph-a), _nymph_; [Greek: disk-os], (disc-us), _disk_; [Greek:
plinth-os], _plinth_; [Greek: psalm-os], _psalm_. From Latin, fraus
(fraud-is), _fraud_; laus (laud-is), _laud_; plant-a, _plant_; orb-is,
_orb_; plumb-um, _plumb_; long-us, _long_, flux-us, _flux_; port-us,
_port_. Compare, in verbs, damn-o, _damn_; err-o, _err_; add-o, _add_;
vex-o, _vex_.

_Remarks._--From roots ending in the same consonant doubled, our derived
words ordinarily drop one of them; _e.g._ [Greek: stemm-a], _stem_; gemm-a,
_gem_; summ-a, _sum_; penn-a, _pen_; carr-us, _car_. (Note this tendency of
our language, by comparing our _man_ with the German _mann_.)

If the root ends in _s_ or _v_ preceded by a diphthong, or in a consonant
+_s_[5] or +_v_ preceded by a vowel, our derived words add _e_, _as_
[Greek: paus-is] (paus-a), _paus-e_; caus-a, _cause-e_; naev-a, _nav-e_;