49. +Differences in Pronunciation.+-- From this source we have +parson+ and +person+ (the parson being the _person_ or representative of the Church); +sop+ and +soup+; +task+ and +tax+ (the +sk+ has here become +ks+); +thread+ and +thrid+; +ticket+ and +etiquette+; +sauce+ and +souse+ (to steep in brine); +squall+ and +squeal+. 50. +Differences in Spelling.+-- +To+ and +too+ are the same word-- one being used as a preposition, the other as an adverb; +of+ and +off+, +from+ and +fro+, are only different spellings, which represent different functions or uses of the same word; +onion+ and +union+ are the same word. An +union+[10] comes from the Latin +unus+, one, and it meant a large single pearl-- a unique jewel; the word was then applied to the plant, the head of which is of a pearl-shape. [Footnote 10: In Hamlet v. 2. 283, Shakespeare makes the King say-- “The King shall drink to Hamlet’s better breath; And in the cup an union shall he throw.”] 51. +Contractions.+-- Contraction has been a pretty fruitful source of doublets in English. A long word has a syllable or two cut off; or two or three are compressed into one. Thus +example+ has become +sample+; +alone+ appears also as +lone+; +amend+ has been shortened into +mend+; +defend+ has been cut down into +fend+ (as in +fender+); +manœuvre+ has been contracted into +manure+ (both meaning originally to work with the hand); +madam+ becomes +’m+ in +yes ’m+[11]; and +presbyter+ has been squeezed down into +priest+.[12] Other examples of contraction are: +capital+ and +cattle+; +chirurgeon+ (a worker with the hand) and +surgeon+; +cholera+ and +choler+ (from chŏlos, the Greek word for _bile_); +disport+ and +sport+; +estate+ and +state+; +esquire+ and +squire+; +Egyptian+ and +gipsy+; +emmet+ and +ant+; +gammon+ and +game+; +grandfather+ and +gaffer+; +grandmother+ and +gammer+; +iota+ (the Greek letter +i+) and +jot+; +maximum+ and +maxim+; +mobile+ and +mob+; +mosquito+ and +musket+; +papa+ and +pope+; +periwig+ and +wig+; +poesy+ and +posy+; +procurator+ and +proctor+; +shallop+ and +sloop+; +unity+ and +unit+. It is quite evident that the above pairs of words, although in reality one, have very different meanings and uses. [Footnote 11: Professor Max Müller gives this as the most remarkable instance of cutting down. The Latin _mea domina_ became in French _madame_; in English _ma’am_; and, in the language of servants, _’m_.] [Footnote 12: Milton says, in one of his sonnets-- “New Presbyter is but old Priest writ large.” From the etymological point of view, the truth is just the other way about. _Priest_ is old _Presbyter_ writ small.]