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Tardis:Spelling: Difference between revisions
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{{inuse}}Our '''spelling policy''' derives from [[Tardis:Manual of Style#Type of English|our manual of style's commitment to using British English]]. Put simply, it requires editors to use British spellings in most articles. | {{lock}}{{inuse}}Our '''spelling policy''' derives from [[Tardis:Manual of Style#Type of English|our manual of style's commitment to using British English]]. Put simply, it requires editors to use British spellings in most articles. | ||
==General guidelines== | ==General guidelines== | ||
British spellings should always be employed in the main [[namespace]]. | British spellings should always be employed in the main [[namespace]]. To give an exceptionally brief overview, this means using "our" in a lot of words, such as "colour" and "favour". It also means the general, but not universal, preference for the suffix "-ise" over "-ize". | ||
As | As 30 May 2011, we have not, as a community, decided upon a single reference work that will be used to settle spelling disputes. Nevertheless, there are a number of online resources which do offer assistance in this regard: | ||
*[http://www.oed.com/ The Oxford English Dictionary.] | *[http://www.oed.com/ The Oxford English Dictionary.] The "mother" of all British English dictionaries, the OED has the disadvantage of not being free to everyone. Unless your local library subscribes to it, you'll have to pay to use it. Contact your librarian for info. | ||
*[http://www.ldoceonline.com/ Longman's Dictionary of Contemporary English | *[http://www.ldoceonline.com/ Longman's Dictionary of Contemporary English] has a reasonable reputation and is entirely free. | ||
*[http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/spellingbritamericanspell/british-and-american-spelling | *[http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/spellingbritamericanspell/british-and-american-spelling Oxforddictionaries.com], not to be confused with ''the'' Oxford English Dictionary, offers a good overview of the basic differences between American and British English. | ||
*[http://www.bg-map.com/us-uk.html Not exactly a spelling guide, but a useful phrase translation list] | *[http://www.bg-map.com/us-uk.html Not exactly a spelling guide, but a useful phrase translation list] | ||
*[http://www.travelfurther.net/dictionaries/ TravelFurther.net's American-British dictionary] | *[http://www.travelfurther.net/dictionaries/ TravelFurther.net's American-British dictionary] is a less academic guide to inter-English difficulties | ||
None of the above resource are considered definitive by this site. They will ''likely'' guide you in the correct direction for proper British spelling. However, if and when we decide on a definitive dictionary for this site, spellings in ''that'' dictionary will supersede any given on the above sites. | None of the above resource are considered definitive by this site. They will ''likely'' guide you in the correct direction for proper British spelling. However, if and when we decide on a definitive dictionary for this site, spellings in ''that'' dictionary will supersede any given on the above sites. | ||
==Dictionaries native to your operating system== | |||
Some computer operating systems provide dictionaries by default. The OED is also available to Mac users as a native part of OS X, depending on their localisation settings. Mac users with American localisation have the O'''A'''D, instead — but even the OAD leverages its connection to the OED to give common British spellings. The OAD/OED has been standard in OS X since at least version 10.4.0. | |||
Windows users are less fortunate, with no dictionary being a part of the core software at least through and including Windows 7. There ''is'' an [http://www.windows7download.com/win7-oxford-dictionary-of-english/chyfxkny.html OED version available for Win7], but it's not free. | |||
Linux/UNIX users will find that their dictionary experience will usually be controlled behind the scenes by the ''dict'' executable directory. ''kdict'' and ''gdict'' are GUI expressions of ''dict'', often included as a a part of the KDE and GNOME environments, but it is not known to what degree these are useful in settling questions of British spelling. Linux users are advised to go [http://www.arachnoid.com/linux/dictionary.html here] for a good primer on the ''dict'' core that's still a part of most Linux environments. | |||
===Cross-platform possibilities=== | |||
There are at least a couple of cross-platform dictionary possibilities, which are free: | |||
*[http://wordweb.info/free/ WordWeb] | |||
*[http://stardict.sourceforge.net/ StarDict] | |||
Both allow the user to load in whatever dictionaries they want, including the OED. Note that this wiki doesn't actually recommend these pieces of software, nor guarantee that you'll be able to use them, nor warrant that they'll be harmless to your computing environment. You must investigate them yourself and decide if you find them suitable. | |||
==Spell checking software== | ==Spell checking software== | ||
Because the differences between British and American English are much greater than simply -our and -ise, it's '''strongly''' recommended that you set your computer or browser's spell checker to British English whilst editing this wiki. Once that's done, you will likely be in compliance with our Manual of Style, unless you choose to simply ignore your spell checker. | |||
If, for whatever reason, you don't have a British English spell checker available to you, then | If, for whatever reason, you don't have a British English spell checker available to you, then | ||
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That said, it should be pointed out that spell checkers only point out to the user spellings that are known to be correct in a particular English variant. They do not tell you about alternate spellings that are equally valid. For instance, '''traveller''' is the ''primary'' British spelling, but '''traveler''' is a secondary spelling | That said, it should be pointed out that spell checkers only point out to the user spellings that are known to be correct in a particular English variant. They do not tell you about alternate spellings that are equally valid. For instance, '''traveller''' is the ''primary'' British spelling, but '''traveler''' is a secondary spelling | ||
A frequently noticed example of British English vs. American English involves words that end in "or" vs. "our". In British English, for example, colour is spelled with "our", whereas American English spells it "color". The former is the preferred style. | A frequently noticed example of British English vs. American English involves words that end in "or" vs. "our". In British English, for example, colour is spelled with "our", whereas American English spells it "color". The former is the preferred style. | ||
