* Re: L'OBJET: A new journal (in French) on object technology.
[not found] ` <PAULE.95Feb7122322@merlin.noname>
@ 1995-02-07 14:10 ` Tucker Taft
1995-02-08 13:52 ` Robert Dewar
[not found] ` <JSULLIVA.147.00099A35@fhcrc.org>
1 sibling, 1 reply; 3+ messages in thread
From: Tucker Taft @ 1995-02-07 14:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
In article <PAULE.95Feb7122322@merlin.noname>,
Paul English <paule@merlin.noname> wrote:
> ...
>OK, now for the Australian perspective.
>
>From the Macquarie Student Writers Guide:
>
>---- begin quote ----
>-ise/-ize:
>Many words can be spelled with either -ise or -ize at the end. For
>the sake of consistency, you should decide to use either -ise or -ize
>in all such words.
>
>In the past, people have sometimes argued for one spelling or the
>other in a particular word because of its history. But the arguments
>are never clear-cut, and it is simpler to spell all one way or the
>other. Still, there are one or two points to note.
>
>1. If you choose -ise, as Australian newspapers and most government
>offices do, you can use it in every case except capsize. It is the
>only exception.
>
>2. If you choose -ize as most Americans and some Britons and
>Australians do, you have to remember quite a large number of
>exceptions. There can, for example, be no -ize in:
> advise chastise comprise compromise
> demise devise despise enterprise
> exercise improvise revise surprise
> supervise televise
>
Actually, my daughter's (American) spelling book indicates a relatively
simple rule -- if you drop the ize/ise and you still have a word (perhaps
after adding back a "-y") then use "ize"; otherwise use "ise."
All of the above "exceptions" clearly follow this rule.
Basically "-ize" is a (relatively modern) verb-forming suffix,
whereas words ending in "-ise" were usually produced by more normal
etymological processes from longer (and older) words.
> ...
>So there you have it, depending on your perspective it is less a
>matter of right and wrong, and more a matter of either efficiency or
>laziness! ;) ...
This may be one of the few cases where Americans are less lazy
than the average English-speaking person.
>Paul.
>
>--
> ,-_|\ | Paul English (p.english@nepean.uws.edu.au) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>/ \ | Associate Lecturer | PO Box 10 | Ph: +61 47 36 0607
>\_.--_/ <- | Department of Computing | Kingswood 2747 | Fax: +61 2 678 5570
> v | UWS - Nepean | NSW, AUSTRALIA |
-Tucker Taft stt@inmet.com
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread