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Thread: NZ vs US vs British English: -ize, -ise

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by ralf-nz View Post
    This is of course a matter of perception - worldwide!

    Also, wikipedia is not really a relevant source per se. It can lead to one but needs to be substantiated by primary sourcrs.
    Regarding the "primary sources" comment. Are you a librarian? I work with a number of them and they hate Wikipedia with a passion.

    Oxford Spelling first then (that's British: -ize and -ise):

    http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/pa...iseyse?view=uk

    Just to confirm the accepted American spelling:

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-ize

    Well, I did learn something from the Oxford Dictionaries link's table of exceptions, so a good day. Compromise! No zee, after all.
    Last edited by Chiba; 6th January 2011 at 11:11 PM.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chiba View Post
    Perception? Pfft. That way lies arguments on religion and little green men. No thankee kindly.

    As to the "primary sources" comment, that seems to be the latest fashion when a Wikipedia URL is posted. Are you a librarian? I work with a number of them and they hate Wikipedia with a passion.

    So, Oxford Spelling first then (that's -ize and -ise):

    http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/pa...iseyse?view=uk

    Just to confirm the accepted American spelling:

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-ize
    Perception is how the world is running and determined today. We may think of it as positive or not.

    No I am not a librarian just an engineer.

    The Oxford link shows a tendency towards -ise in BE doesn't it?

    The Merriam-Webster link doesn't open on my mobile; so I cannot comment rigjt now.

  3. #13
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    Funny, I hadn't even meant the -ize, -ise issue, I know that is debatable. I was thinking of the other clearly US spellings like JoJo mentioned above.

    I find it sloppy to not adjust the spelling to your target audience (I just got a newsletter form the Auckland Libraries using US spelling, they will of course hear from me )

    I am not saying that one is righter than the other, btw, and of course I used US spelling happily while at college there.

    Daniela

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chiba View Post
    Compromise! No zee, after all.
    Of course, you mean "zed"

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by GrumpyGoat View Post
    Of course, you mean "zed"
    Here, fishy fish... nice worm for you to bite on... Got one!!

  6. #16
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    I only took the bait to spoil it for the ones who really enjoy that sort of thing (correcting others)!

  7. #17
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    When we first moved here, we lauged and laughed about the sing song way the kiwis say the ".co.nz" for their internet address on commercials. "dot co dot enn zed"

    The kids were very young (2 and 4). I carefully explained to them that "zee" was now "zed" in their alphabet.

    Well, this confused them to no end--my son said "so now a zebra is called a zed-bra?"

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by GrumpyGoat View Post
    When we first moved here, we lauged and laughed about the sing song way the kiwis say the ".co.nz" for their internet address on commercials. "dot co dot enn zed"

    The kids were very young (2 and 4). I carefully explained to them that "zee" was now "zed" in their alphabet.

    Well, this confused them to no end--my son said "so now a zebra is called a zed-bra?"

    Really! I always pronounced it zed-bra - not zee-bra.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dell View Post
    Really! I always pronounced it zed-bra - not zee-bra.
    Son does not know if they are saying "zed-bra" or "zeb-ra" (not "zeee bra" like I say it)

    And I clearly don't know

    the accent thing has been somewhat of a problem in our house. The kids are forever correcting my pronunciation (tomato, garage, missile, etc)!

    It becomes a problem when the kids won't listen to me when I explain that they are just wrong about something. DD was showing me her "scarf" when she meant "scar" and when I try to correct her she says "no, Mom--that is what it is called in NZ" Or "sunberts" instead of "sunburned" (the NZ "sunburnt" is what is causing the confusion on this one). Or "yogrit" instead of "yogurt"

    My poor DD is having a very hard time because of the heavy Kiwi accent of the teacher at school--and then having parents with heavy Southern drawls at home. It has certainly not helped her literacy.

  10. #20
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    Have you noticed some kiwis dropping the l's in word like jandal and the last l on little, almost substituting a 'w' sound? I don't even know how to spell it phonetically. I'm still guilty of it on occasion.

    I've been in the US for so many years, I have trouble remembering if I'm using kiwi or US spelling - I have to rely on spell check on my US computer - which country words like 'jewellery' have a double l or single l?

    Ditto with pronunciation. Lever or leever. In which country is it pronounced 'leever'?

    Kiwis also say 'that's my one' and Americans say 'that's mine'.

    And the logical dub dub dub for www. And numbers such as 2244 are 'double-2, double-4'.

    Grumpygoat, Kiwis would say sunburnt - Americans say sunburned, ditto with dreamed - dreamt, and lots of other words ending in -ed. And I think I said zed-bra not zeb-ra.
    Last edited by Dell; 8th January 2011 at 10:57 AM.

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