performance/preformance

[A. Vine]

Hmm, in all this r-shifting discussion, no-one has mentioned the -er vs. -re
suffixes.  While they may not be distinguishable in English now, might they have
been at one time?  Or is this a case of borrowing French orthography (and
pronunciation?), then correcting the orthography to match the pronunciation?
E.g. theatre vs. theater.

Andrea
--
Andrea Vine, avine at eng.sun.com, Sun-Netscape Alliance i18n architect
"So I just don't see this as an either-or issue as much as an apples
are yummy, and oranges are yummy, too, issue, and every now and then
fruit salad is tasty." -- Matthew Wall