Greg,

I see this sort of thing in the writing of persons who don't do a lot of
reading.  They spell the word the way it sounds to them when it is
pronounced.  The hasty speaker sometimes leaves the second -er off a word
like manufacturer. We are a long way from accepting this particular
respelling.  Spelling in English is exceedingly resistant to change.  This
misspelling might, however, mean that the pronunciation of the word is in
flux.  Pronunciation is not as resistant to change as spelling.  Notice, for
instance, the almost complete loss of the distinctive wh- sound in standard
English.  A large percentage of speakers now pronounces "weather" and
"whether" as homonyms.  That leads to some interesting confusion in writing.

Jeff Glauner
Associate Professor of English
Park University, Box 1303
8700 River Park Drive
Parkville MO 64152
[log in to unmask]
http://www.park.edu/jglauner/index.htm


-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Dyer [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 2:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Manufacture vs. Manufacturer


Hello all --

Thus far I've merely been a lurker on this list, but a recently
submitted paper prompted me to share this rather trivial
comment/question.  A few years ago, when I was teaching a technical
writing class for engineering majors, I began to notice students using
the word "manufactures" as a noun in place of "manufacturers."
Consider, for example, the following sentence: "Tire manufactures state
the tire is worn out once it reaches this minimal tread."  This use of
the word drives me absolutely nuts, but it happens often enough that I'm
beginning to wonder if the usage of the word has changed (or is
changing), at least within the technical professions.  Has anyone else
noticed a similar usage?

Greg Dyer

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