"I" before "E" except after "C" and sounding like "A" as in neighbor and weigh.
What are some exceptions to this?
The two I came up with are atheist and weird.
2007-01-15 12:10:47 · 6 answers · asked by John Doe IV 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
out of your list-
beige
* feint
* feisty
* foreign
* forfeit
* heifer
* height
* heir
* heist
* neighbor
* reign
* rein
* seismometer
* their
* veil
* vein
* weigh (weight)
only about half dont follow the rule:
feisty
seismometer
their
heist
forfeit
heifer
feisty
foreign
height
the rest do sound like "ay"
useful, nontheless
2007-01-15 12:39:10 · update #1
The 'i before e, EXCEPT AFTER C' rule only applies for the sound of 'ee' after 'c' like receive, ceiling, conceit. There are three exceptions (when not after 'c'): seize, weird, counterfeit.
Actually there are very few words spelt with 'ie' giving the 'ee' sound. belief, believe, niece, relieve, relief, chief and a few others.
Other words like 'weigh, height, neighbour, their' don't have the sound of 'ee'.
.
2007-01-15 15:30:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
* beige
* feint
* feisty
* foreign
* forfeit
* heifer
* height
* heir
* heist
* neighbor
* reign
* rein
* seismometer
* their
* veil
* vein
* weigh (weight)
2007-01-15 12:16:10 · answer #2 · answered by Talking Hat 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i do not understand why the words ending in "-eive" are exceptions, except, perchance all of them have the same origins. the rule of thumb maintains with right here word however "... or sounding like ay as in neighbor and weigh." so as that explains something.
2016-12-02 08:22:00 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are numerous exceptions:
beige, cleidoic, codeine, conscience, deify, deity, deign, dreidel, eider, eight, either, feign, feint, feisty, foreign, forfeit, freight, gleization, gneiss, greige, greisen, heifer, heigh-ho, height, heinous, heir, heist, leitmotiv, neigh, neighbor, neither, peignoir, prescient, rein, science, seiche, seidel, seine, seismic, seize, sheik, society, sovereign, surfeit, teiid, veil, vein, weight, weir, weird, caffeine, casein, codeine, deil (Scots, devil), disseize,
either, geisha, inveigle, keister (slang, buttocks), keister, leisure, monteith, neither, obeisance, phenolphthalein, phthalein, protein, seize, seizin, sheik, sheila (Australian slang for "girl", not capitalized), specie, species, teiid, etc.
Check these links.
2007-01-15 12:25:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
their
2007-01-15 12:14:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
RECEIVE
DECEIVE
CONCEIVE
2007-01-15 13:00:33 · answer #6 · answered by Penny Mae 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋