[bksvol-discuss] Re: Question on Spelling
- From: "Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:43:27 -0400
not to mention all the words that are added each year to the lexicon, smile.
Though even Shakespeare added words and so did J.R.R. Tolkien, his was
dwarves which was originally dwarfs but Tolkien spelled it with the Ves and
it caught on and is the "accepted" spelling now.
Shelley L. Rhodes B.S. Ed, CTVI
and Judson, guiding golden
juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc.
Graduate Alumni Association Board
www.guidedogs.com
Dog ownership is like a rainbow.
Puppies are the joy at one end.
Old dogs are the treasure at the other.
Carolyn Alexander
----- Original Message -----
From: <talmage@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 5:50 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Question on Spelling
This is of course only my opinion, but I think unless it is a
contemporary work, or at least fairly recent, you should be careful
with changes. What may be considered correct by today's standards
may not always have been the trend. The first record of an English
language dictionary was for an English - Latin translation dictionary
in the end of the 16th century. A commonly accepted English
dictionary didn't come along until the early 1800's in the U.S. when
Noah Webster published his ; and, in the mid 1800's when Samuel
Johnson (Dictionary Johnson) published his in London. If you were to
compare Webster's first with a contemporary one, you would find many
spelling changes.
Your example of realize is a perfect example, as when you look up
realize in the Oxford English dictionary you find that realise is
also an acceptable spelling.
That ize ending is also interesting as it is one of those favored it
seems for creating new words, changing them from a noun to a verb,
which tends to cause many traditionalist heartburn. I heard it said
once, and I have never been able to confirm it, that JFK added the
word prioritize to the English language by using it in a
speech. That case, even if not true, brings up the discussion of
different dialects of English. Aside from the numerous differences
between American, British, Australian, Canadian, etc. English, you
can't go from Maine to Alabama to Washington without running into
many differences between spelling and meanings.
So after all this long winded nonsense of mine, I would recommend
being careful with spell checkers and in making changes.
Dave
At 02:33 PM 3/23/2007, you wrote:
>Faulkner, like many authors, invents words and also has very
>creative spelling which may or may not be caught by his publishers
>and the scanners or validaters. Even when caught, how does one
>decide on what to correct or not to correct. So far my choices have
>been hit or miss but as a rule I try to stick with his spelling even
>when it is just misspelling - he often uses s instead of z in
>words like realize and I try to leave them as I think he wrote them
>even if he had not meant to misspell the words. I am a devout
>believer in the idea that an author's intentions are irrelevant when
>dealing with what s/he actually wrote even if we know them. I have,
>however, heard a lot of the opposing point of view to admit that
>correcting misspellings is not altogether wrong.
>
>Having read so many misspelled papers by freshman composition
>students that I am not always sure of correct spelling, I often
>look up words but if you don't know the correct spelling looking up
>a word in a dictionary is not particularly easy. Thank heavens for
>Spell Checks but they, too, are not always reliable. I would welcome
>more comments on the subject.
>
>Amy
>omsm
>
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to
bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of
available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.17/731 - Release Date: 3/23/2007
3:27 PM
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to
bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of
available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
Other related posts:
