Indeed I am.
Should British/Australians adopt American spellings?
In reply to:
<< So, Name, are you saying that you'd just like a standardised English language for all English speaking countries, wheter that be standardised to American, British or Kiwi? >>
<< So, Name, are you saying that you'd just like a standardised English language for all English speaking countries, wheter that be standardised to American, British or Kiwi? >>
What would be the purpose of that?
We are all mutualy intelligible to each other and our distinct "quirks" represent our respective cultures and differnces.
I'd say it's a good thing!
We are all mutualy intelligible to each other and our distinct "quirks" represent our respective cultures and differnces.
I'd say it's a good thing!
Caspian said:
<British English was here first>
No, it wasn't.
<The Americans are welcome to spell words however they wish - but they changed the spelling from the standard.>
No, we didn't.
<Why should the standard follow suit? The idea is ridiculous.>
So if you're against having standards change, do you think we should go by Old English?
<British English was here first>
No, it wasn't.
<The Americans are welcome to spell words however they wish - but they changed the spelling from the standard.>
No, we didn't.
<Why should the standard follow suit? The idea is ridiculous.>
So if you're against having standards change, do you think we should go by Old English?
<British English was here first>
No, it wasn't.
Please expand on this statement. Is it the word "British" you have an issue with in this context? Please pinpoint for us where (as in location) you believe the Language we now know as English originated? Where it evolved, and who were the first speakers of the emerging dialects which subsequently became subsumed into the new baby tongue later to be known as English? The Language we now all love and cherish with a passion....well, some of us at least.
No, it wasn't.
Please expand on this statement. Is it the word "British" you have an issue with in this context? Please pinpoint for us where (as in location) you believe the Language we now know as English originated? Where it evolved, and who were the first speakers of the emerging dialects which subsequently became subsumed into the new baby tongue later to be known as English? The Language we now all love and cherish with a passion....well, some of us at least.
Umm, English originated with the Anglo-Saxons, so technically it's not native to Britain but then neither are it's speakers.
No one owns a language or has jurisdiction over it. If Russia tomorrow decides to make English the only official language and every one comes to speak it natively then English belongs to them just as much as to the British.
<< No, it wasn't. >>
Yes, it was.
<< No, we didn't. >>
Yes, you did.
<< So if you're against having standards change, do you think we should go by Old English? >>
No; it's extinct. I think we should go by British English in Britain. Do what you like in America.
Yes, it was.
<< No, we didn't. >>
Yes, you did.
<< So if you're against having standards change, do you think we should go by Old English? >>
No; it's extinct. I think we should go by British English in Britain. Do what you like in America.
The American spellings are just as legitimate as British ones. There was no "standard" at the time when American spellings came into use.
I say they should both change it to something a little more phonetic and consistent.
Which would favor American spelling I think (color, theater, etc.)
Which would favor American spelling I think (color, theater, etc.)
Skippy, that's just biased!
I think everyone should keep their own orthographies.
Seeing as the majority of English speakers in the world favour the British system of adding u's and using -ise instead of -ize, I can't see your justification in wanting everyone to switch to American spelling.
I think the diversity is fantastic and a standardisation would take away progression and ethnical diversity within native English speaking communities.
One day in the next few centuries you may be able to call your version American because it may be so different to the other English dialects that it becomes less and less mutualy understandable.
Wouldn't that be lovely! To each have our own language!
I think everyone should keep their own orthographies.
Seeing as the majority of English speakers in the world favour the British system of adding u's and using -ise instead of -ize, I can't see your justification in wanting everyone to switch to American spelling.
I think the diversity is fantastic and a standardisation would take away progression and ethnical diversity within native English speaking communities.
One day in the next few centuries you may be able to call your version American because it may be so different to the other English dialects that it becomes less and less mutualy understandable.
Wouldn't that be lovely! To each have our own language!
I don't have an opinion one way or another.
I do like to read English books, however, because the different choices of words and different method of spelling tends to give the books "flavor". (Or should that be "flavour"?) ;-)
I do like to read English books, however, because the different choices of words and different method of spelling tends to give the books "flavor". (Or should that be "flavour"?) ;-)
There's no point in discussing spelling. English is just a bunch of similar dialects whose speakers still all write in the same way, for some weird reason.
If "pin" and "pen" are pronounced the same, the distinction in spelling is useless, and they should be considered interchangeable, or one spelling form should be dropped. If "this" is pronounced with /d/ and there's already a spelling for that consonant, then you don't need "th" at all, it's redundant. If you keep both, you might write "de thevil" instead of "the devil"... there would be no difference. If "then" and "than" are pronounced the same, then why do you need two words for the same phoneme? And so on.
You'd get a bunch of similar dialects with different spellings that reflect their different features, and different way of reading the words, according to how their phonemes are pronounced. Different languages, but not too distinct.
But this isn't going to happen soon, so discussing it is pointless. Maybe one day a group of frustrated English teachers will found a Standard English Organization... that might happen after the Queen's died and they won't know what kind of standard English to teach anymore: Miley Cyrus's English or should we choose Ozzy Osbourne?
If "pin" and "pen" are pronounced the same, the distinction in spelling is useless, and they should be considered interchangeable, or one spelling form should be dropped. If "this" is pronounced with /d/ and there's already a spelling for that consonant, then you don't need "th" at all, it's redundant. If you keep both, you might write "de thevil" instead of "the devil"... there would be no difference. If "then" and "than" are pronounced the same, then why do you need two words for the same phoneme? And so on.
You'd get a bunch of similar dialects with different spellings that reflect their different features, and different way of reading the words, according to how their phonemes are pronounced. Different languages, but not too distinct.
But this isn't going to happen soon, so discussing it is pointless. Maybe one day a group of frustrated English teachers will found a Standard English Organization... that might happen after the Queen's died and they won't know what kind of standard English to teach anymore: Miley Cyrus's English or should we choose Ozzy Osbourne?
***Umm, English originated with the Anglo-Saxons, so technically it's not native to Britain but then neither are it's speakers***
Technically you are quite right up... to a point.....up to the point when "Old English" ensued following the Anglo Saxon invasions of these islands which, prior to these invasions (and all subsequent invasions by all the other groups eager to settle in this fair land of mists and mellow fruitfulness and balmy breezes blowing in off the surrounding seas) was populated by the former true native Celtic peoples speaking a Language very similar to modern day Welsh and ran around in little but woad in spite of the infamously vagaries of the climate of Britannia's clouded isles.
Anglo Saxon Speak took hold and displaced the Celtic tongues, and so was formed the early forms of Early "English" in the bulk of this island nation, mostly in what is now known as England, the dominant region of the dominant island, with we poor Celts forming the northern (Scottish) and western (Welsh) extremities, with smaller groups located elsewhere in these fringes of Britannia.
The Germanic Anglo Saxons from Northern Europe (mostly from the modern day Germany/Denmark area) formed the foundations for what was later to become the dominant Language in this country.
Time passed, as is its unstoppable habit, and gradually this Old English turned into Middle English and eventually it all gradually developed to the point when the Language we now all know (and love in a good many cases) came into being - Modern English. These changes in the Language was very much a domestic factor as far as England (and later the rest of what is now the UK) is concerned, even though many influences did come from outside of these islands.
It was here that the Language grew and developed over the years, and with the coming of the British Empire it became enriched with new words being incorporated into the Langauge, much as had occurred centuries before due to all those invasions to these shores from both the near (the Normans) and more distant (the Vikings) parts of the Continental mass.
All these factors helped to form the modern English Language of today, the native Language of all people of Britain (discounting the minority Languages of the aforementioned "fringes" of the realm, which have miraculously managed to survive the growth and expansion of the linguistic Mammoth that English became.
Of course, as the British Empire reached its tentacles out to all four corners of the world the English Language was also similarly transported, and so English became the "official" LKanguage of all these ourposts of the Empire, many of them many thousands of miles away from the cradle of the Language itself. As Old Man Time ticked on the English Language formed ints own little enclaves in all these various countries, and began to develop their own "brands" of the Language, and although still basically the same as the English of the Motherland, they did indeed develop individual characteristcs of their own, but still allowing citizens of these countries to understand the speech of people back there in Britain.......at least, for the most part at least. Divergences in the Language have taken place which can mean various difficuties in comprehension between the various English speaking counntrie, but by and large we all understand each other most of the time.
Not so between the speakers of present day English in Britain and the speakers of the present day Languages in those countries now forming those areas from which the Anglo Saxons first set out to storm the shores of Britannia (the name the similarly invasive Romans attributed to this misty island country).
The modern English which had subsequently developed in England gradually became quite unlike the other Langauges to which it had historical links in its early stages of existence. So much so that nowadays the great majority of speakers of English in the present day UK would not be able to follow a normal conversation between two Germans...not at all, really.....the occasional word may ring some kind of bell, but so different are the Languages now that mutual comprehension would be virtually a no brainer, although a much greater number of Germans would be able to follow, at least to some degree, a normal conversation in English, and speak it at the same time. The same would apply to Danish - even fewer British people would even be able to recognise the language as Danish, let alone understand a single world of it. On the other hand I dare say the number of Danes able to speak and understand modern English would be even greater than with the Germans, as English is pretty much universally understood in Scandinavia generally.
So modern day English IS a native born British language. Modern English is as British as roast sirloin of beef and Yorkshire pudding or steak and kidney pie or fresh cod and chips with mushy peas or a hunk of Cheddar cheese or Stilton with Branston pickle and fresh crusty bread, all washed down with a tankard of Belhaven 90 bob or a flagon of Devon cider.
All other varieties of English are now the preserve of their guardians in those countries to which English was exported, and talking of exports....the English Language is most probably the greatest export, and therefore a gift, little old England has ever given to the world at large! Treat it with care and love and kindness, but what you do with your own versions of the English Language are your own concern. We have enough of a tough job back here in Britannia - its Homeland and Birthplace - preserving it from desecration is very much the concern of many lovers of the Langauge HERE let alone anywhere else where it's the main Language of the people.
PS: Time constraints do not allow effective proof reading of the above. Sorry!
Technically you are quite right up... to a point.....up to the point when "Old English" ensued following the Anglo Saxon invasions of these islands which, prior to these invasions (and all subsequent invasions by all the other groups eager to settle in this fair land of mists and mellow fruitfulness and balmy breezes blowing in off the surrounding seas) was populated by the former true native Celtic peoples speaking a Language very similar to modern day Welsh and ran around in little but woad in spite of the infamously vagaries of the climate of Britannia's clouded isles.
Anglo Saxon Speak took hold and displaced the Celtic tongues, and so was formed the early forms of Early "English" in the bulk of this island nation, mostly in what is now known as England, the dominant region of the dominant island, with we poor Celts forming the northern (Scottish) and western (Welsh) extremities, with smaller groups located elsewhere in these fringes of Britannia.
The Germanic Anglo Saxons from Northern Europe (mostly from the modern day Germany/Denmark area) formed the foundations for what was later to become the dominant Language in this country.
Time passed, as is its unstoppable habit, and gradually this Old English turned into Middle English and eventually it all gradually developed to the point when the Language we now all know (and love in a good many cases) came into being - Modern English. These changes in the Language was very much a domestic factor as far as England (and later the rest of what is now the UK) is concerned, even though many influences did come from outside of these islands.
It was here that the Language grew and developed over the years, and with the coming of the British Empire it became enriched with new words being incorporated into the Langauge, much as had occurred centuries before due to all those invasions to these shores from both the near (the Normans) and more distant (the Vikings) parts of the Continental mass.
All these factors helped to form the modern English Language of today, the native Language of all people of Britain (discounting the minority Languages of the aforementioned "fringes" of the realm, which have miraculously managed to survive the growth and expansion of the linguistic Mammoth that English became.
Of course, as the British Empire reached its tentacles out to all four corners of the world the English Language was also similarly transported, and so English became the "official" LKanguage of all these ourposts of the Empire, many of them many thousands of miles away from the cradle of the Language itself. As Old Man Time ticked on the English Language formed ints own little enclaves in all these various countries, and began to develop their own "brands" of the Language, and although still basically the same as the English of the Motherland, they did indeed develop individual characteristcs of their own, but still allowing citizens of these countries to understand the speech of people back there in Britain.......at least, for the most part at least. Divergences in the Language have taken place which can mean various difficuties in comprehension between the various English speaking counntrie, but by and large we all understand each other most of the time.
Not so between the speakers of present day English in Britain and the speakers of the present day Languages in those countries now forming those areas from which the Anglo Saxons first set out to storm the shores of Britannia (the name the similarly invasive Romans attributed to this misty island country).
The modern English which had subsequently developed in England gradually became quite unlike the other Langauges to which it had historical links in its early stages of existence. So much so that nowadays the great majority of speakers of English in the present day UK would not be able to follow a normal conversation between two Germans...not at all, really.....the occasional word may ring some kind of bell, but so different are the Languages now that mutual comprehension would be virtually a no brainer, although a much greater number of Germans would be able to follow, at least to some degree, a normal conversation in English, and speak it at the same time. The same would apply to Danish - even fewer British people would even be able to recognise the language as Danish, let alone understand a single world of it. On the other hand I dare say the number of Danes able to speak and understand modern English would be even greater than with the Germans, as English is pretty much universally understood in Scandinavia generally.
So modern day English IS a native born British language. Modern English is as British as roast sirloin of beef and Yorkshire pudding or steak and kidney pie or fresh cod and chips with mushy peas or a hunk of Cheddar cheese or Stilton with Branston pickle and fresh crusty bread, all washed down with a tankard of Belhaven 90 bob or a flagon of Devon cider.
All other varieties of English are now the preserve of their guardians in those countries to which English was exported, and talking of exports....the English Language is most probably the greatest export, and therefore a gift, little old England has ever given to the world at large! Treat it with care and love and kindness, but what you do with your own versions of the English Language are your own concern. We have enough of a tough job back here in Britannia - its Homeland and Birthplace - preserving it from desecration is very much the concern of many lovers of the Langauge HERE let alone anywhere else where it's the main Language of the people.
PS: Time constraints do not allow effective proof reading of the above. Sorry!