English vs American spelling

[Malfini]

This is regarding some posts at http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=26526.0. My post was deleted from that thread because I didn't read that thread before a moderator decided to tell people to stay on topic. I have therefore decided to place my response here.

By Xordan: That's because it was written by an inexperienced writer whose first language is not English, Talad Tongue And the British spelling are more correct than the American ones, because British English is the International standard for English (hence the option of US English or International English on programs).

By Zanzibar: I'm not quibbling with you for fun.  American spellings are becoming more popular because of American word processing programs and spell checkers on our computers, American programs on TV, and even American textbooks in our schools.  That doesn't make them correct however.  Tolerable, in some instances, but not correct.  If you use American spellings, you will risk being seen as ignorant.

*edit*

I just read the link from that UofW website and it seems to support my position, not oppose it.  They say that their students should use the Canadian Oxford dictionary and they give a list of spellings that they want students to use - all of which are British spellings.  The website says to use centre and not center, rumour and not rumor.

The country known as the "United States of America" was once thirteen colonies settled by Great Britain but then the people of the colonies had a revolution and declared themselves their own independent country and won the revolutionary war. The revolutionary war ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris and one of the people who signed it was a man named David Hartley who was a member of the British Parliament representing the British Monarch King George the third. So America doesn't have to spell the way British people do. Furthermore in America we have our own way of spelling words so if a native citizen here used another countries standard of spelling it could make them look ignorant to their fellow countrymen and women. I personally don't care how words are spelled in PlaneShift because I realize that there are different forms of English in the world and just because I spell the word "rumor" does not mean the person that spells it "rumour" is any less intelligent.

[zanzibar]

Bilbous and I were talking about a Canadian context.

[Helm]

Malfini, calm down! If all ex-collonies would freak out because of being acussed of not using correctly the ex"mother-tongue", there would be no Europe any more!!!!! Just remember that the "main country" is most of the times 10-20 smaller!

I agree with making the UK English the base of the game. I do it for the same reason I demand the portuguese on the games to be the one of PORTUGAL. There are tons of ex-colonies speaking the same language, but all with their little differences. The only way to keep all American, Canadian, Australian, etc people happy is to use the mother English that gave origin to their own.

You know, my country owed half of the known land some centuries ago. If our ex-colonies would be imposing their own portuguese in the games, means that only the 3 million in their own country would understand it...

Don't get mad, boy. American English is nice. But I think it's logical we use the UK as a standard. No one is calling you a slave of the English crown by doing so!

[zanzibar]

I think extra "u"s are elegant.

[Malfini]

Helm I said that I didn't care how words are spelled in PlaneShift. American English, British English and Canadian English are almost identical anyways. I don't care if someone spells "rumor" the British way "rumour" even in America. If they spell it "rumer" however I MIGHT correct them. However if you want to talk about what is logical I think that many people could consider it more logical to simply select the most widely used form of English in the world. According to Wikipedia 67.2 % of the worlds first language native English speakers are in the United States, the United Kingdom has 16.9 %, and Canada has 5.8 %.

[Janner]

  Well you all, what a silly thing to talk about, herd [ even bad spellers, point finger at self ] of Idiosyncrasies, or even  slang, think of it as a Dialect, we all even in the same country talk slightly different.

 So the point being who cares how you spell it, as long as the person you are talking to UNderstands.

[Malfini]

Yes I agree that what matters most is if we understand each other. I don't mind that you're a bad speller Janner because I think spelling is overrated anyways. 

[Xordan]

Interestingly enough, there's 44 different 'types' of spoken English (dialect differences), and two main types of formal written English (British and American), with more minor types of written (AU, CA) although the minor types are almost identical to British except for in N.America. American being the most used by first language speakers (due to the USA's population), and British English being the most widely used and taught in the world. To me, what is logical is that the most widely form that is used in the whole world - not just for first language speakers - is used. But yeah, it doesn't really make much difference, it's not like it reads too differently

[Goldir]

I know that the "International English" Standard is what is taught formally in most non-english speaking countries, but when I was in asia, students were paying upwards of 300 dollars US per lesson to private (and sometimes illegal) tutors to learn to speak and spell "American Standard".  I believe the large reason behind it is that Americans REALLY like to buy stuff.  Corporations like to sell stuff, and they find that sales seem to increase if their employees and ad agencies etc speak in the local idiom, to make their products seem more familiar to the intended customer.  Parents will pay out the nose to ensure their children get a thorough education in things they think will help them succeed in life. I know that speaking american Midwestern Standard English and the local language got me a few extra won in my pocketbook when I lived there.

[Malfini]

There is actually a form of English called "Formal written English" that most educated English speakers around the world have agreed upon using for writing English in. Formal written English is actually composed of many different versions of English. The Scientific community around the world has taken advantage of the fact that there is just one formal version of written English in their scientific reports. Whenever there is a dispute over what spelling should be used for a word a committee decides which version to use. For example the American spelling "sulfur" is used and not the British spelling "sulphur" and the British form "aluminium" is used and not the American form "aluminum". As I type in this box I find it interesting that the only words that are being reported as misspelled  are "sulphur" and "aluminium" though.

[Xordan]

As I type in this box I find it interesting that the only words that are being reported as misspelled  are "sulphur" and "aluminium" though.

American English spell checker?

And there's no one worldwide formal written English. There are regional variations of one, but they're just very small. Wikipedia has an article on this. Or to be more to the point on spelling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_written_English#Differences_in_spelling although all differences aren't listed there.

A bit more link clicking to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences
and you see:
Aluminium is the international standard in the sciences (IUPAC);
and for Sulphur/Sulfur - The American spelling is the international standard in the sciences.

Seems that each country uses its own spelling regardless though

[Malfini]

Heh.. I thought the whole point of having a Formal written English was to solve regional spelling and grammar issues but apparently they have failed as well. This is just getting sad now. 
Maybe we can just write and speak in scientific lingo then?
The more I do research on this the more I am finding that everyone just seems to disagree on what is standard English and what isn't but it could just be the fact that it is 5:25 AM and I have not slept.

[Helm]

"it more logical to simply select the most widely used form of English in the world. According to Wikipedia 67.2 % of the worlds first language native English speakers are in the United States, the United Kingdom has 16.9 %, and Canada has 5.8 %."

As I told you, I do not think this is logical. What matters is not the numbers of people who speak it. What matters is that actually everybody understands it.

The original Latin was spoken only by a very few people, mostly educated ones. The "common" latin was very different from the "original" one, and was even more different depending on regions. But when you wanted all these different regions to comunicate fluently with each other, they used the "original" one, even though it is not spoken by the majority.


I know that all English "languages" are not very different from each other. So this discussion is a bit silly anyway. But you have to see I come from a country that spread a languange all over the world, and it is very difficult to actually understand each portuguese dialect. There are 10 million in the original Portuguese country, but Portuguese is (or at least was last time I saw these kind of statistcs) the 6th most spoken language in the world. Still, it is more common to see the Portuguese from Portugal in books and games instead of the Brazillian one, even though they have 10 million just in the capital city...

I don't see using the UK english as a sign of Imperialism, but more as a sign of respect to all english speakers out there. But don't get mad with such little things! The only way to get over this is to invent a time machine and kick the ass of the architect who design the Babel tower!

[zanzibar]

None the less, if you use American spellings in Canada, you risk being percieved as ignorant.

[eldoth_terevan]

And if you use British spellings in America you are at worse arrogant, or at best people just don't know why you spell that way.