The English Oracle

Is this use of 'chuse' a spelling mistake, a digitization error or the correct spelling for the time?

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Chapters
00:00 Is This Use Of 'Chuse' A Spelling Mistake, A Digitization Error Or The Correct Spelling For
00:40 Accepted Answer Score 57
01:03 Answer 2 Score 19
01:56 Answer 3 Score 5
02:30 Answer 4 Score 1
02:57 Thank you

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Tags
#orthography #historicalchange

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 57


'Chuse' was actually a variant spelling which went out-of-style around 1840, after enjoying singnificant popularity in the 1700s.

Since your novel was published in 1815, I'd say it's not an error.

enter image description here

Link for some example usages from Google Books.




ANSWER 2

Score 19


"Chuse" was a common alternative spelling. Today, it's obsolete, but many authors from the 19th century and earlier (ch)use it. For example,

I would the Colledge of the Cardinalls Would chuse him Pope. – William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Pt. 2 i. iii. 65 (1616/1623)

Chuse an Author as you chuse a Friend. – Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon, An Essay on Translated Verse (1684)

At Liberty to chuse their Business. – Samuel Johnson, The Idler (2nd February, 1760)

Sing another song, or chuse another tree. – William Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads II.77 (1800)

Would not Mr. Waverley chuse some refreshment after his journey? – Sir Walter Scott, Waverley I. ix. 121 (1814)




ANSWER 3

Score 5


https://books.google.ie/books?id=HySf4w0fBZgC&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34#v=onepage&q&f=false is a scanned version of the 2008 edition of the 1896 version that had illustrations by Hugh Thomson, and the use of chuse is quite clearly not a digitalisation error.

Some editions have choose but editors generally consider it their prerogative to change spelling.

More generally, Austen did indeed prefer chuse, but not consistently. Likewise scissars for scissors is rarely found now, but the form Austen preferred. Shew for show is perhaps a better-known example, having been the more common spelling until a few years after Austen's death.




ANSWER 4

Score 1


In his A Dictionary of the English Language published in 1755, Dr. Samuel Johnson opted for "choose". (I'm looking at an online version http://www.whichenglish.com/Johnsons-Dictionary/1755-Letter-C.html)

It's interesting to see that the popularity of "chuse" starts declining a few years after 1750 according to the Google Books Ngram Viewer image in an earlier answer. Coincidence or cause?