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Australian Spelling: Five More Rules

6/30/2018

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It’s disconcerting for an editor to realize she doesn’t know how to spell. When I arrived in Australia, I discovered this country mostly follows British spelling rules, which meant I had to learn how to spell all over again. In my last post, I described using “-our” rather than “-or” in words like “colour” and “honour.” Here are five more new rules for me to master.

The first rule is to use an “s” instead of a “z.” We spell words like “generalize” and “analyze” with “-ize” or “-yze” endings. Australians use “-ise” and “-yse” instead. So “organize,” “authorize,” and “paralyze” become “organise,” “authorise,” and “paralyse.”

In the second rule, use “-re” instead of “-er.” Australian spelling retains an “-re” ending on some words to preserve their original French spellings. In contrast, Noah Webster standardized American spelling of those words to end in “-er,” to match how they were pronounced and to conform with the spelling of other words that ended in “-er.” In Australia, words like “theater,” “center,” and “kilometer” are spelled “theatre,” “centre,” and “kilometre.”

Noah Webster also tried to simplify American spelling by removing silent letters. Australian spelling instead retains the silent “a” and “o” for some words. The American spelling of “pediatrician” becomes “paediatrician” in Australia, and “estrogen” becomes “oestrogen.”

In the fourth rule, Australian spelling often uses double consonants. So, words like “focused,” “counseling,” and “traveled” become “focussed,” “counselling,” and “travelled.”

The last rule confuses me to no end. Sometimes, Australian spelling uses a “c” instead of an “s,” so our spellings of “defense” and “pretense” become “defence” and “pretence.” However, sometimes the opposite occurs, and words that we would spell with an “c” are replaced with an “s” in Australia. For example, our American spelling of “practice” is spelled “practise” by Australians—but only if it is used as a verb, as in “to practise piano.” If the word is used as a noun, then it is spelled “practice,” as in “We have band practice today.” I’ve decided that MY rule will be to consult a dictionary whenever I see an “-se” or “-ce” ending.

And then there are words that have completely different spellings, such as “cheque” instead of “check” and “tyre” rather than “tire.” Yep, a subscription to an online Australian spelling dictionary is definitely in my future.

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Australian Spelling: "-Our" Not "-Or"

6/17/2018

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Moving to Australia presented some challenges for me as an editor. I realized I would have to master new spelling rules. The most obvious of these is adding a “u” to our American “-or” endings. For example, “honor” is spelled “honour” in Australia.

Australian spelling closely resembles British spelling. Australia’s ongoing cordial relationship with Great Britain may have led to the preference for British spellings. The United States, after its revolution, likely wanted to differentiate itself from the mother country.

Noah Webster led the effort in changing how Americans spelled words. He began to codify rules for spelling in the late 1700s and early 1800s. He tried where possible to simplify; the ending “-or” is simpler than “-our” because it removes the silent “u.” His “-or” ending also helps to differentiate words with “our” that were pronounced differently, such as “hour.” The “-or” ending for a word like “candor” rather than “candour” indicated that readers shouldn’t pronounce it as “can-dower.”

Beyond creating the first American dictionary, Noah Webster wrote textbooks that teachers used to teach spelling for the next century.

Here are some other “-or” words that are spelled differently in Australia:
  • Armour
  • Behaviour
  • Colour
  • Demeanour
  • Flavour
  • Harbour
  • Humour
  • Labour (except for the Australian Labor Party)
  • Neighbour
  • Odour
  • Saviour
  • Vapour
Next time, I’ll describe other Australian spelling rules that follow British English. No surprise—many American English spelling rules veered away from British English, thanks again to Noah Webster. 

Note: Special thanks to https://pluslexia.com/ for the image used at the top of the post.
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