Moss Spelling Dictionary

lucobrium, corrected

heard as lucobrium

spelled leucobryum

Leucobryum. Two letters go back in: the e of leuco- and the y of bryum.

What the ear did

Both losses come from the same instinct, which is to write what the mouth does. Neither vowel is audible as a separate sound, and both are load-bearing in the spelling.

Sound decision: two sound decisions at once. Said loo-koh-BRY-um.

L-E-U-C-O-B-R-Y-U-M

The full entry for leucobryum covers the name itself.

Other spellings people try