User:JaneStillman/Spelling

This subpage is about the differences between US and Commonwealth spellings, the way I use them and why. I also attempt to come to some conclusions for a possible spelling reform.

My spellings

The leeway that US/Commonwealth differences create allow us, by making intelligent choices, to render the language a little more logical and regular.

Case	US	Commonwealth	Rationale
<o(u)r#> [əː]	favor	favour	Shorter, and <ou> should be reserved for [äʊ]
<er/re#> [əː]	center	centre	Closer to the actual pronunciation
<se/ce#> [s]	defense	defence	Both are equally logical regarding pronunciation, but <se> is aligned on the etymology and on derivatives (defensive). Also note that <practise> is doubly illogical, as it should be pronounced [præktäɪz]. <practice> is a little better.
<ise/ize#>, <yse/yze#> [äɪz], <isation/ization#> [äɪzeɪʃən]	realize, analyze, realization	realise, analyse, realisation	The s-forms emphasise the fact that <s> is always voiced between two vowels and avoid the use of the relatively rare and non-native letter <z>.
<og(ue)#> [ɒg]	catalog	catalogue	<logue> should be [ləʊg].
<VC(C)V>	traveling, kidnaped, revealing	travelling, kidnapped, revealing	Intervocalic consonants should always be doubled after short vowels.
<C(e)V>	aging, routing, likable, traceable, unabridgeable, judgment	ageing, routeing, likeable, traceable, unabridgeable, judgement	These mute <e> are useless and may create spurious diphthongs <ei>, <ea>. They are however indispensable when a preceding <c> or <g> must be softened.