Quote:
Originally Posted by Prove It There IS an S in L'Hospital. It just happens to be a SILENT S. |
Both versions are correct (though I personally prefer the spelling sans 's'.)
Guillaume de l'Hôpital's name was originally spelled with an 's', but the French language has evolved and the 's' was dropped in favor of a circumflex accent. In French the use of a circumflex accent is often used to indicate the disappearance of a silent 's'. For example, the words
tête (head), fenêtre (window),
pâte (pasta),
coût (cost), and of course
hôpital (hospital) (compare with the Italian
testa, finestra,
pasta,
costo, and
ospedale) all use the circumflex in this way.
But his rule is universal, regardless of how we spell it.