Maintain

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The verb 'to maintain' and its associated (noncount) noun maintenance are both among the 117 mis-spellings listed as 'Common difficulties' in the section on 'Spelling' within 'Writing' in UEfAP. The difficulties with spelling may be linked with the differences in their pronunciation.

  • The verb 'to maintain' is stressed on the second syllable, which has the same vowel sound as the first: 'mane-TANE', IPA: /meɪn ˈteɪn/. As '-ai-' is one of the normal ways of representing this diphthong (/eɪ/) in English, the spelling appears logical.
  • In the noun maintenance, the stress has shifted to the first syllable, and consequently the vowel of the second, and usually the third, syllable has been reduced to the common English unstressed shwa vowel: 'MANE-tern-erns', /ˈmeɪn tən əns/.
A similar pattern of shifting stress and consequent reduction of vowel to shwa may be seen in sustain - sustenance, and, with a different spelling for the shwa sound, pertain - pertinence, abstain - abstinence and contain - continence; appertain - appurtenance
    • The varied meanings of the two words may be explained by their base meanings, of 'holding', 'keeping'. (The root is the Latin manū, 'in or by hand', and tenēre, 'to hold'. In classical Latin, the phrase manū tenēre was used mean 'to have tangible evidence of something'.) This has been extended to mean, amongst others:
      • 'support', 'back up', 'uphold', 'defend'.
        • This could become 'to incite' or 'abet' some wrong action. In Law, the maintenance of a court action, is "wrongfully aiding and abetting litigation; spec[ifically] support of a suit or suitor at law by a party who has no legally recognized interest in the proceedings" (OED).
      • To maintain an opinion or idea is to uphold or defend it in discussion or debate etc. Sometimes this is ass simple as asserting that it is true or right, without any reasoned explanation. In the song of the Vicar of Bray, the singer asserts simply "And this is law, I will maintain/ Unto my Dying Day, Sir,/ That whatsoever King may reign,/ I will be the Vicar of Bray, Sir!"
        • In military terms, maintaining a position, place or possession means holding or defending it; one can maintain one's ground. This sense is often used figuratively, as when the playwright John Fletcher wrote, in Rule a Wife and have a Wife (1640) iii. 37 (cited OED): "I stand upon the ground of mine own honour And will maintain it," where the speaker says she will uphold and defend her honour.
      • A further main branch of the meaning is 'to support', 'to keep alive', 'upkeep', 'keep in good condition, and make necessary changes to improve the condition'.
        • One can maintain (~ 'pay for') oneself, a household, a child (through education, for example) or 'one's state' (~ position in life, or status).
        • To this was added the extension that the Royal Navy was able to maintain a blockade, with great organizational skills in resupplying all materials (a ship could remain on station for three years) throughout the Napoleonic wars, as armies maintained garrisons in forts and other defensible places.
      • Maintenance then becomes the process through which something is supported, kept in life or in good condition.
        • A divorced spouse, or separated parent, may pay (may be ordered by a law-court to pay) maintenance to the separated partner or child(ren).
        • In Biology and Medicine, a maintenance diet is that which meets the daily needs of the animal being fed, without surplus; maintenance treatment aims to support the continuation of an initial therapeutic intervention, at a lower dose (of drugs), or an exercise and education programme (for weight loss maintenance).
        • In dealing with physical objects such as houses and machines, maintenance is "The work necessary to keep things operating properly and in a good state of repair" (Gorse, Johnston, and Pritchard; motor vehicle maintenance is a popular subject in schools and colleges with boys, and regular house maintenance will help a property to keep it habitable, in good condition - and maintain its market value.
        • A maintained school in UK terminology is a school that is paid for out of public funds - a 'state school'.
      • One can maintain things other than by paying for them, in the general sense of 'carrying them on' or 'continuing' them, as failing businessman may maintain the fiction that his affairs are in good order, or a politician under attack may maintain a good face.
There is also a cap of maintenance, of which OED observes: "The sense of maintenance here is obscure", defining it as "a cap or hat worn as a symbol of official dignity or high rank, or carried before a sovereign or a high dignitary on ceremonial occasions", with more detail s.v. maintenance n., 6..