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Showing posts with label American spelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American spelling. Show all posts

Thursday, March 26, 2026

English and American spelling - practise and practice

 American and English spelling differs slightly. Some would say differs a lot. You rarely get any misunderstanding. You can find yourself in difficulty or delay when composing work to be published in another language, or using a dictionary.

Some of the most common changes I have noticed are:

Why Is American Spelling Different?

American spelling was simplified and made more phonetic, easy to teach others, teach yourself, and understand and remember, Webster's dictionary was published by Webster, a publisher who produced school text books, work books, and the dictionary which still bears his name in the USA. 

I learned this when I visited the home of American Webster in the USA when my husband and I were living there.

England still follows the old spellings which allow you to instantly see the meaning of two words which sound the same. 

Practise and Practice in British English

In British English, the SE ending is for the verb, the doing word, and CE if for the noun, the object, or subject of a sentence, the idea. It is good practice, to practise.

May 14th 2026 is the date of the annual fundraiser, War of Words, for Noah Webster House in Hartford where several teams compete for a trophy.

You can buy an American Webster's dictionary from Amazon online and from physical bookshops in the USA.

The Oxford English dictionary, with British spelling, is sold on Amazon and online bookshops and from shops in the UK.

Online dictionaries sometimes give English spalling, sometimes US spelling. Some online dictionaries allow you to hear both the American and English pronunciation and intonation.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Place Names in Esperanto - What You See Is What You Say

Problem
How do I learn and remember place names in Esperanto? I have such trouble in Belgium. You drive along looking for Bruges, then find it is listed as Brugge.

Answer
No such problem in Esperanto. It's all logical and simplified. Just like Webster changed American spelling to simplified English from the British language of the day, Zamenhof created a new simplified international easily understood language, Esperanto. I have put these names into alphabetical order for you.

What You See Is What You Say
You just add o to the names, sometimes io, especially if there is a Y. You add o to nouns.
Esperanto does not have the letter Y.
Nor the W, only V.
No Q.
No X - it is ks.
No Z - it is C.

You make the sh sound by adding a hat or circumflex over the s. š (On my keyboard I hold down the s key and of the three choices of pictures and numbers I type 3 simultaneously.)
I will add more later.

Adreso - address
asocio - association

Argentino - Argentina
Belgio - Belgium
Bjalistoko - Bialystok
Bonaero - Buenos Aires
Britio - Britain
Boulongjo-sur-Maro - Boulogne-sur-mer
Bulgario - Bulgaria
Danio - Denmark
Edinburgo - Edinburgh
Florenco - Florence
Francio - France
Germanio - Germany
Hispanio - Spain
Hungario -Hungary
Israelo - Israel
Italio - Italy
Japanio - Japan
Kanoda - Canada
Londono - London
Madrido - Madrid
Nederlando -The Netherlands
Norvegio - Norway
Oslo - Oslo
Parizo - Paris
Pollando - Poland
Portlando - Portland
Prago - Prague
Romo - Rome
Stokholmo -Stockholm
Svislando - Switzerland
Tel Avivo - Tel Aviv
Tokio - Tokyo
Vieno - Vienna

You see that maro is sea.

The French Boulogne-sur-Mer is Bulonjo-sur-Maro because a ya sound is J.
You tell the reader that a g is pronounced J by adding by adding a hat over the g.

You can see why the Chinese and Japanese are keen on Esperanto. The spelling is easier than English. So is the grammar. Also they can do business with all the East European countries, former communist countries, nearer to them geographically, and diverse languages.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, speaker, teacher of languages.