italki - Is there any particular reason why the word "beggar" is not spelt "begger"? I've noticed that "begga

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Olga

Is there any particular reason why the word "beggar" is not spelt "begger"? I've noticed that "beggar" is spelt with an "ar", whereas most of the time when a verb turns into a noun (eg build - builder, rob - robber, teach - teacher, sing - singer, compute - computer etc) get an "er" on the end. I would have thought "beg" would turn into "begger". Is "beggar" just another one of those quirks in the English language that you simply have to learn, or is there a reason for it. If so, why aren't more words spelled with the suffix "ar"?I have also noticed (through looking up the saying "beggars can't be choosers") that in old English "begger" was right, this was from a book from 1546 that shows the first time the saying was recorded: Beggers should be no choosers, but yet they will: Who can bryng a begger from choyse to begge still? So, why was it changed? I'm guessing it is like the transition from cacao to cocoa, a mistake or a misinterpretation which ended up as "beggars"?

14 mars 2015 12:59

Réponses · 5

It's just one of those quirks you just have to learn. It's not the only -ar word. "Bursar" (one who disburses funds) and "scholar" (one who goes to school) are two others that come to mind. A machine that calculates is a "calculator." ("Calculater" is not an accepted spelling). There are also a good handful of words for which -er and -or are both acceptable spellings: adviser/advisor, for example. It's not an issue with the ending, but consider this: the person who controls the accounting operations in a large company is called the "comptroller." Except in companies that choose to use the spelling "controller." And remember that before about 1755, nobody cared about "correct" spelling, and English speakers spelled things any way they liked. Shakespeare himself spelled his own last name several different ways.

14 mars 2015

Right. It is a quirk. No particular reason. About 200 years ago, there were no exact spelling rules. Those were adopted, but certainly, one might just as well spell "beggar" as "begger".

14 mars 2015

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