Message text written by Charles - diallist. >I chose as my username "diallist".< And quite right too!! :-)
>Am I right or wrong in thinking that "diallist" is a proper archaic spelling?< I would say that 'diallist' is the proper MODERN (British!) spelling. In the US, following some spelling revisions in the 1920s (I think it was then, though undoubtedly I shall be corrected if wrong <gg>), the US tended to remove redundant letters and made several other changes to the written language. So, I presume that 'dialist' would be the more common (?correct) modern spelling in the USA. I suspect that if you wanted to make your spelling look archaic (or at least like that in the 1700s) then try replacing the 'i' with a 'y' - making 'dyallist' - That was certainly used in the 1700s, though I suppose it may still be thought today of as being a bit devised. Patrick
