LL-L "Orthography" 2003.02.14 (10) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Ian James Parsley <parsleyij at yahoo.com>
Subject: Orthography

Críostóir,

Not sure I was explaining myself properly!

The fact remains, indisputably, that
_judgment_/_judgement_, _queuing_/_queueing_,
_realise_/_realize_ etc are all valid alternatives in
Standard British English, regardless of which may be
predominant. All forms of English have this (take
American _ax_/_axe_ etc). Different people have
different views (I heard someone the other day claim
that _judgment_ referred only to legal 'judgments',
otherwise the 'correct' form was _judgement_), but
dictionaries will give both options and the very fact
we debate them indicates both are available. I cannot
speak for varieties other than 'British' because I
don't have the dictionaries for them, but I know
variations of spelling are permitted by dictionaries
in many cases.

The same applies to certain other elements of usage
which do allow options, according to most
authoritative grammars and dictionaries.

Of course, the fact we're having to rely on
dictionaries and suchlike for such prescriptive
information is proof in itself that English has a
popularly accepted standard which is both fluid and
permissive of variations.

This is different from ('different to'? 'different
than'?!!) French and Spanish, whose Academies
generally lay down the law rigidly (whether anyone
pays any attention is, of course, another matter).

So to get back to the original point, few standards
are absolutely rigid, and the fact is Scots activists
will not accept any kind of 'Academie Ecossaise'. So
variations will inevitably be accepted.

Just to get back to the original point!

=====
------------------
Ian James Parsley
www.ianjamesparsley.net
+44 (0)77 2095 1736
JOY - "Jesus, Others, You"

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