Legal Writing

Ah, Those -ah words in English!

By Maeve Maddox

AJ Tapper wrote:

I’ve seen on a couple different books and websites two different spellings of the word, “savannah”. Is it “savanna” or “savannah”?

The OED gives savannah as the only spelling.

Merriam-Webster gives savanna as the first spelling and savannah as a variant.

This question about savannah caused me to wonder about other -ah words in English. Here are the results of my inquiry.

The OED prefers veranda to verandah.

H. W. Fowler curtly concurs:

OED gives the -da form first, & there is no reason for the -h;

In my opinion verandah looks more exotic than veranda. If I were writing a novel set in India or even England of a hundred years ago, I think I’d go for the h.

The OED and Merriam-Webster agree on the -ah ending for:
mitzvah
wallah
howdah
hallelujah
menorah
messiah
selah
torah
chutzpah
pariah
ayatollah
shah
loofah

Although I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the spelling “hosannah,” both the OED and Merriam-Webster give only hosanna.

Depending upon which dictionary you prefer, the following words may be spelled either way:

yeshivah/yeshiva
megillah/megilla
mezuzah/mezuza
cheetah/cheeta
hookah/hooka
majarajah/majaraja
pujah/puja
rajah/raja
mullah/mulla
casbah/kasbah
kabbalah/cabala/cabbala
halvah/halva
huzzah/huzza
moolah/moola

I haven’t taken the time to define all these words. If you don’t already know what they mean, you’re not likely to need to know how to spell them.

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on August 19, 2009 (boomark / email).