SPELLING: BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

Some American spellings are quite different from the British spellings. Americans believe that a word should be spelt as it is pronounced. These differences are notable in the following examples:

BRITISH                                                                                AMERICA

A                           ‘s’                                                                                            ‘z’

                        specialisation                                                                           specialization

                        colonise                                                                                   colonize

                        summarise                                                                               summarize

                        organise                                                                                   organize

                        mechanise                                                                                mechanize

                        economise                                                                               economize

                        pressurise                                                                                 pressurize

  centralise                                                                                centralize

B                     ‘our’                                                                                        ‘or’

                        habour                                                                                     habor

                        honour                                                                                     honor

                        labour                                                                                      labor

                        neighbour                                                                                neighbor

                        favour                                                                                      favor

                        vapour                                                                                     vapor

                        odour                                                                                       odor

C                     ‘re’                                                                                           ‘er’

                        centre                                                                                      center

                        metre                                                                                       meter

                        kilometre                                                                                 kilometer

D.                    ‘amme’                                                                                    ‘am’

                        gramme                                                                                   gram

                        kilogramme                                                                             kilogram

                        programme                                                                              program

E.                     ‘ogue’                                                                                      ‘og’

                        dialogue                                                                                  dialog

                        catalogue                                                                                 catalog

F.         In verbs which end in ‘l’ and are not stressed on the final syllable, the ‘l’  is not doubled in the – ing form and the past participle.

                        British                                                                                     American

                        travelling                                                                                 traveling

equalled                                                                                   equaled

cancelling                                                                                canceling

G.        There is also the usual practice to replace ‘ae’ or ‘oe’ in words by ‘e’ (Words of Greek and Latin origin). The original spelling is however retained by the British.

            British                                                                                                 American

            Haemoglobin                                                                                       hemoglobin

            Diaerrhoea                                                                                           diarrhea

            Encyclopaedia                                                                                     encyclopedia

EVALUATION

Give ten words that have different spellings in the British and American spellings.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Phrases and Clauses.

GENERAL EVALUATION

Comprehension

Death and the King’s Horseman                                                                                                  

1. In three short sentences, summarise the play extract.
2. List the four main points on which Elesin contradicts Pilkings.
3. In what two ways has Pilkings interfered with Elesin’s life?

Structure

• Use the information provided on page of your Effective English to write a sentence each with hardly, scarcely or barely.

Essay

• Write an article to illustrate this saying, “A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed”

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Part 1, Page 33, Effective English.