Drop the 'e' rule

This is just a guess, but I would say the 'e" is retained to preserve the "soft g." Without it, there would be a tendency to pronounce the g as in "game"

khoffThis is just a guess, but I would say the 'e" is retained to preserve the "soft g." Without it, there would be a tendency to pronounce the g as in "game"

Unfortunately, that doesn't always work.

Knowledgeable/knowledgable and judgemental/judgmental are perfectly acceptable alternatives.

Rover

Rover_KEUnfortunately, that doesn't always work.

Back to the drawing board.

Rover_KEKnowledgeable/knowledgable and judgemental/judgmental are perfectly acceptable alternatives.

Although in that case the vowel is preceded by dg, not g. Since there seems to be no english words were dg is pronounced d-g (at least none that I can think of right now), maintaining the e may not be perceived as necessary to

It doesn't always work, but that's what the "e" is doing there—denoting a soft "g". "Judgment" is the American spelling, and only because Webster wanted it that way as part of his campaign to create an American English.

Henry74Although in that case the vowel is preceded by dg, not g.

Good point. Paradise lost. Paradise regained.

Henry74English words were dg is pronounced d-g

Edgar, floodgate, headgear

CJ

CalifJimEdgar, floodgate, headgear

There. I knew you would find some.
It is interesting, though, that with the exception of Edgar both floodgate and headgear are compound words. The pronounciation d-g could perhaps be seen here as accidental to the reading of dg; whereas in judgemental the pair dg was originally designed as reading for the si