The Final “i” Convention – What about spaghetti?

By Rachel Moore, MD, Certified Dyslexia Practitioner

At LRS microSchool, we have a different approach to spelling than the traditional approach you may  remember from your school days. Gone are the “lists to memorize” and the weekly spelling test.  Instead, we explain the English spelling system. You might have been taught a number of inconsistent  spelling “rules” that turned out not to work very well… Ever heard the “two vowels go walking” one?  How about “<i> before <e> except after <c>”? Yeah, we don’t use those, because they’re really not  correct over the whole system. But there are some generalities that really do exist. The system really  does have explanations. And when we glimpse the whole system as it works and understand the  premise behind English spelling, we can understand the beauty of our own language in a way that beats  spelling tests by a mile! 

We had an interesting discussion come up in class this week about the English spelling convention that  <i> is never at the end of an English word. When I first heard this idea from orthographic phonologists  (people who study the spelling system of language as it interacts with the units of pronunciation that  represent meaning), I admit I was skeptical. I could think of a bunch of English words that end in <i>:  bikini, chili, spaghetti, macaroni, cacti, nuclei, kiwi, graffiti, safari, taxi, hi, pi, mini… What about these  words? 

The discussion got a bit complex for the kids, but I thought the parents might enjoy hearing my thinking  on this topic. I’ll share with the students in smaller bites. 

1. It’s important to remember the perspective from which we are approaching the language when  we are looking for spelling (orthographic) conventions. As speakers of English, we don’t give  much thought to a word’s history within the language – every word we use “belongs”. Every  

word we speak is an “English word”. However, orthography is first and foremost the meaning of  a language made visible in print. It has evolved conventions and structure which, if we  understand them, we can use to learn to spell (and to read) with real comprehension.  

2. Keeping in mind #1, words in English which have been absorbed “whole” from separate  languages will tend to defy the standard conventions of English spelling. That is because they  follow the “spelling rules” or conventions of the languages they come from unless they have  been purposefully changed to conform. A word that enters another language whole and  unchanged is a “loan word”, no matter how long it has been a part of its “host language” or how  familiar it is to the host’s speakers. This is by no means an attempt to “purify” English or to  exclude words because they are somehow “foreign” but just to understand that while some  words journey into English and are “digested” by the English orthographic system into  conformity, others are “swallowed whole” and retain their distinctiveness. 

3. Besides these “loan words”, what else won’t follow spelling conventions? Abbreviations. Clips  (words that evolved as longer words and then lost a piece). Slang. Proper nouns. Exclamations!  These things, by their very nature, have “non-standard” spellings. 

4. Remember, the goal here is to point out to students the beautiful consistencies of the English  spelling system – of which there are many. There is a logic to that system which, when 

glimpsed, can lead to improved understanding of text and a smoother, more informed writing  process. 

5. Knowing the <i> never ends a complete English word explains the spellings of <pie>, <die>, <lie>  and also helps us spell <my>, <cry>, <fry>, <dry> and <by>. Eventually, it will help us understand  <high> and <thigh> and even <guy> and <buy>. It helps us understand the <ai>/<ay>  convention and why <ai> doesn’t occur at the end of a word. Also the <oi>/<oy> convention. It  links us to the idea that <u> also does not end an English word, explaining <true> and <blue>  and <cue>. And neither does <o>, while we’re at it – explaining <toe> and <foe>. It corresponds to the idea that <v> does not end an English word, explaining the spellings of <have> and <give>.  It’s a very useful concept. But, it’s not just useful, it’s actually true. 

So, what about those “exception words”. I did a word search of the common English lexicon for every  word ending in <i>. It’s every word in regular usage I could find. Here are ALL of those words and their  explanations for why they have a final <i>. I hope you’ll find the evidence convincing! Look how many  of them are loan words.