Verbs that end on -ie

Question

Hi everybody!One of the miracles of the English language (at least for German students and me, their English teacher, who also happens to be a non-native speaker) is the fact that the gerund (or present partciple or progressive) of "to die" is spelled "dying." Somehow this change from "-ie" to "-ying" is again and again a reason for mistakes. So I wanted to make a list of verbs that end on "-ie" so that my students know when danger is lurking around the corner. I came up with the following verbs (and had to learn that - according to Webster's New World Dictionary - the gerung of some of them is actually spelled with "-ieing"; e.g. pieing).to dieto hieto gie (Scottish for "to give")to lieto pieto tieto vieFrom this list you may guess my method of searching through the dictionary. So here are my questions:Are there any more verbs that end on "-ie?" (And, for that matter, is the preposition "on" correct here?)Can anybody explain the inconsistency in the spelling of the ing-forms?Thanks in advance!Merry Christmas!Peter

Usenet · Accepted Answer

Pete typed thus:
[nq:1]Hi everybody! One of the miracles of the English language (at least for German students and me, their English teacher, ... according to Webster's New World Dictionary - the gerung of some of them is actually spelled with "-ieing"; e.g. pieing).[/nq]
Some comments:
[nq:1]to die to hie[/nq]
this is archaic to the point that I have only heard it a few times in real life over 40 years, and those uses were probably ironic.
[nq:1]to gie (Scottish for "to give") to lie to pie[/nq]
I don't recognise this as a verb at all. What does your dictionary say it means?
[nq:1]to tie to vie[/nq]
This is not exactly common.
[nq:1]From this list you may guess my method of searching through the dictionary. So here are my questions: Are there any more verbs that end on "-ie?" (And, for that matter, is the preposition "on" correct here?)[/nq]
No, it should be "with".
[nq:1]Can anybody explain the inconsistency in the spelling of the ing-forms?[/nq]
Not me. A linguist will be along in a moment.

David
==
replace the first component of address
with the definite article.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Pete typed thus:[/nq]
[nq:2]to pie[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't recognise this as a verb at all. What does your dictionary say it means?[/nq]
I don't think it's terribly uncommon, meaning "to hit someone with a pie". The pie is usually filled with whipped cream, custard, or the like, and thrown from close range, top forward, to strike the target in the face. If not part of a comedy act involving a more-or-less willing victim, such a "pieing" is usually directed at a politician.

Here's an example: the verb appears (as the past participle, "pied", not the same as the more common adjective meaning particoloured, which comes from the Latin pica , through "(mag)pie") in the second heading and in the second paragraph following.

[nq:2]Are there any more verbs that end on "-ie?" (And, for that matter, is the preposition "on" correct here?)[/nq]
[nq:1]No, it should be "with".[/nq]
Or "in".

Odysseus

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi everybody! One of the miracles of the English language (at least for German students and me, their English teacher, ... questions: Are there any more verbs that end on "-ie?" (And, for that matter, is the preposition "on" correct here?)[/nq]
"in" or "with"
There are lots of uncommon verbs ending in *ie, mostly obsolete or dialect. There are some medium common ones like birdie, belie, boogie, hog-tie, sortie, stymie or underlie.
I couldn't begin to imagine what rules, if any, govern these and others like them. You need Josh the Intern.

John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Can anybody explain the inconsistency in the spelling of theing-forms?[/nq]
Can't tell you, but here's some ideas... English spelling has had a complex history. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage notes, "Our present-day spelling... is a mishmash of archaism, reform, error, and accident".
I've scanned the OED2 entries for "die" and "lie", and, down the centuries, there seem to have been a great variety of spellings of the present participle, including "dieing" and "lieing". At some point in the nineteenth century, the -y- forms won. I don't know why. It might have been the influence of a dictionary that championed those forms. Given the rule "drop 'e' before adding '-ing'", the dictionary-makers, or the populace at large, might have felt that "-iing" forms were impossible, but "-ieing" forms, also, were unaesthetically well-envoweled. The alternative spellings might have seemed a convenient solution.
As to why the "-ieing" forms are retained for other words, the obvious explanation (though I have no idea if it's anywhere near the correct one) is that these are all uncommon words. The dictionary-makers, or whoever had influence in settling spelling, must have thought that these other words weren't sufficiently well known to be recognizable if you turned the "i" into a "y" so, instead, their present participles simply abided by the ordinary rule.
==
Regards,
VI
http://kenm.mydeardiary.com/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Pete typed thus:[/nq]
[nq:2]I don't recognise this as a verb at all. What does your dictionary say it means?[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't think it's terribly uncommon, meaning "to hit someone with a[/nq]
On the contrary, in my 58 years of absorbing Br. English, I can honestly say I have never heard pie used as a verb. It is most uncommon.
Merry Christmas,

Richard Buttrey
Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK

Usenet · Answer

Richard Buttrey typed thus:
[nq:2] I don't think it's terribly uncommon, meaning "to hit someone with a[/nq]
[nq:1]On the contrary, in my 58 years of absorbing Br. English, I can honestly say I have never heard pie used as a verb. It is most uncommon. Merry Christmas, Richard Buttrey Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK[/nq]
Eek. Not only does he agree with me, but he's only 2 miles away.

David
==
replace the first component of address
with the definite article.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Richard Buttrey typed thus:[/nq]
[nq:2]On the contrary, in my 58 years of absorbing Br. ... Merry Christmas, Richard Buttrey Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK[/nq]
[nq:1]Eek. Not only does he agree with me, but he's only 2 miles away.[/nq]
You are on the verge of repeating what he says like a magpie like a magpie. (1657)
But you could visit him and put (potatoes, etc.) in a pit or heap and cover them with straw and earth, for storing and protection from frost. (1791).
And with your Xmas present John Bull printing set you could make (type) into 'pie'; to mix or jumble up indiscriminately. (1870)

Or you could just watch repeats of TISWAS while you debate whether the chap in Hamelin was a past participle piper or not.
John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]snip<[/nq]
[nq:2]to pie[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't recognise this as a verb at all. What does your dictionary say it means?[/nq]
Webster's New World Dictionary lists it as a alternative spelling of "to pi" which means "to make jumbled; to mix up (type)"

Verbs that end on -ie

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