Getting rid of the surplus ?e endings would help to make the ?short, closed? and ?long, open? vowel spelling method more transparent.
Redundant endings make words with short vowels look as if they should have a long sound:
gave - have, drive - give, combine - imagine, revise - promise,
to deliberate - a deliberate act -
cf. chaf, spiv, coffin, tennis, acrobat.
The surplus endings undermine the 'magic' or 'vowel-lengthening' role of , as in 'late, eve, kite, pole, rule'. Without them, the system would be more transparent and much easier to learn and teach.
One of the biggest groups comprises
64 words ending in .
Candidate, celibate, certificate, chocolate, climate, compassionate, confederate, conglomerate, considerate, consulate, corporate, curate, delicate, desperate, determinate, directorate, disconsolate, disparate, doctorate, effeminate, electorate, emirate, extortionate, foliate, fortunate, frigate, glutamate, immaculate, immediate, importunate, intermediate, intricate, inveterate, Latinate, laureate, legitimate, literate, magnate, numerate, obdurate, obstinate, opiate, palate, palatinate, passionate, pinnate, pirate, pomegranate, prelate, primate, private, proportionate, protectorate, proximate, quadrate, quadruplicate, quintuplicate, senate, silicate, temperate, triplicate, triumvirate, ultimate, vertebrate.
Compare:
Abate, accelerate, accommodate, accumulate, aggravate, agitate, amputate, appreciate, asphyxiate, assassinate, ate, calculate, celebrate, circulate, commemorate, complicate, concentrate, confiscate, congratulate, crate, create, cremate, cultivate, date, debate, decorate, dedicate, demonstrate, dominate, donate, eliminate, emigrate, estate, evacuate, exaggerate, exasperate, excavate, extricate, fate, gate, germinate, grate, gyrate, hate, hesitate, hibernate, humiliate, illuminate, illustrate, impersonate, indicate, inflate, infuriate, inoculate, interrogate, intimate, investigate, late, legislate, locate, lubricate, magistrate, mate, migrate, navigate, obliterate, operate, participate, penetrate, plate, pollinate, rate, relate, rotate, saturate, skate, slate, state, suffocate, terminate, tolerate, translate, vaccinate, vibrate.
Sometimes spells /-at/ when used as an adjective or a noun [a separate advocate] and /-ait/ when used as a verb [to separate, to advocate]:
Advocate, aggregate, alternate, appropriate, approximate, articulate, associate, consummate, coordinate, degenerate, delegate, deliberate, desolate, duplicate, elaborate, estimate, expatriate, incarnate, inviolate, laminate, moderate, ordinate, predicate, profligate, postulate, separate, syndicate.
The people who standardised those spellings clearly did not give any thought to ease of learning.