[thelist] Email vs. E-mail vs. email vs. e-mail

Syed Zeeshan Haider szh at hotpop.com
Tue May 21 19:01:01 CDT 2002


Hi Miriam,
I agree with you. You have a strong opinion.
I wanted to say the same thing but couldn't describe that good.
Thanks!
Syed Zeeshan Haider.
http://syedzeeshanhaider.faithweb.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Frost" <miriam at members.evolt.org>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Subject: Re: [thelist] Email vs. E-mail vs. email vs. e-mail
Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 10:50:31 -0500
Reply-To: thelist at lists.evolt.org

> Does anyone else see the obvious reason that the spelling 'email' won
in
> this poll?

Conventional / popular usage is not always the same as correct.

I believe that "e-mail" is preferred in more academic or journalistic
arenas
because in according to most English pronunciation rules, an initial "e"
followed by a consonant is pronounced as a schwa, an unaccented vowel.*
Hence:
emetic
emancipate
emanate
etcetera
(Naturally, there's an exception we're all familiar with: evolt.org --
which, because of the missing hyphen, I regularly mispronounced until
Dan
corrected me... and then I corrected his spelling.)

Until it's pronounced uh-male, not eee-male, I suggest the hyphen
rules....

best,
Miriam



*From Merriam-Webster: "an unstressed mid-central vowel (as the usual
sound
of the first and last vowels of the English word America)"


--
http://www.dynagirl.com
They named the dictionary after me, and then spelled my name wrong....








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