Grove Spelling Dictionary
a doubled consonant

One m or two?

graft: letter 3
Writtenkumquat

KUM-kwot

One. English doubles a consonant to protect a short vowel from the letter that follows, which is why summer has two m and why hammer does. But the doubling only works between two vowels. In kumquat the m is followed by q, and a consonant already does the job of keeping the u short. There is nothing for a second m to protect.

Other spellings of kumquat

Back to the kumquat entry