Language Museum Blog

As someone who grew up in England and thus speaks British English, I have never really understood why or how Americans felt the need to change our wonderfully obtuse spellings by removing various letters from random words. How much extra time does it really take to write that extra ‘u’ in ‘colour’ anyway?

According to the MSN Encarta, it’s mostly due to the work of one man – Noah Webster (of Merriam-Webster), who around the time of the American Civil War decided that Americans needed their own dictionary. And their own spellings. His books, “An American Dictionary of the English Language” (1828) and “The American Spelling Book” (1783) were widely used and promoted “the use of an American language that intentionally differed from British English”.

So out with the old, and in with the new – Webster had most success with removing those ‘u’s (“colour” to “color”, “honour” to “honor”) as well as changing suffixes such as ‘que’ (e.g. “cheque” became “check”).

Other words such as “program” (in British English it is “programme”) have developed and changed in the intervening years through immigration and its further cultural influences. With American English being adopted by more English language learners because of America’s continued cultural and business success overseas, we’re sure to see more American spellings in every day life.

Prioritise. Prioritize. Apologise. Apologize.

Same word, one letter different. People often get confused with the “z” and the “s” in words like these. One way is generally favoured by American English, the other by British English. Which is which?

The answer is slightly complex. The use of ‘z’ was popularised in American English when it was standardised in the 19th Century, whilst ‘s’ has become more widely used in British English, perhaps as a backlash against the American use of ‘z’. However, British spelling has always recognised the use of the suffix ‘ize’, with the Oxford English Dictionary generally favouring it.

There are some American spellings using ‘z’ though that are not acceptable in British English, ‘analyze’ being one.
Most importantly though, it’s best to be consistent. So if you start off by “organizing”, you should continue by “prioritizing”.

The evolving dominance of English as the international language of business is being felt now in Rwanda. The former Belgian colony has decided to change its entire education system from French to English in an attempt to become part of the mostly English speaking East African Community.

Most Rwandans speak Kinyarwanda, one of three official languages along with English and French. Whilst English has been an official language in Rwanda since 1994, it was only an option at school along with French until now.

Rwanda has also applied for membership to the Commonwealth of Nations, which is also English speaking. The change also has a historical basis: 

underpinning the move is a long and bitter dispute with France born of its support for the Hutu regime that oversaw the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis, which has seen the French ambassador expelled and the closure of the French cultural centre, international school and radio station.

With fewer than 5% of the current population speaking English, however, it will be interesting to see how this policy affects the Rwandan people.

I’ve attempted learning many different languages over the years, for a number of different reasons. At high school, we learned French and German. For fun, I tried to pick up Esperanto. To learn more about the culture whilst I lived in New Zealand, I took classes in Maori. In addition to these, I’ve picked up a few words of various languages through friends and travel.

Whilst I often wonder why none of these languages have ever really stuck, I mostly put it down to laziness on my part. Becoming proficient in any language requires a degree of dedication that I appear not to have (at the moment at least). The prevalence of English and the countries I’ve lived in (all of which have been predominantly English-speaking) have all contributed to this laziness.

So I’m really in awe of people who dedicate their time to practising and really getting to grips with all aspects of their chosen tongue. The main thing these people seem to have in common is a real reason for wanting to speak the language, whether it be family connections, an upcoming holiday or a move overseas.

What’s your motivation for learning?

We commonly use the term “déjà vu” in English to describe the sensation that a current situation has happened to us before (current research suggests there’s a rational theory). For example, we may walk in to a friend’s house for the first time and feel like we have been there previously.

The French, however, have a range of terms to describe the different feelings that in English we may all describe as déjà vu. Déjà is the French word for “already”, and vu means “seen”. There’s also déjà senti (already felt), déjà vecu (already experienced) and déjà visite (already visited).

The example I provided above then, would more accurately be described as déjà visite. Next time you get that odd feeling of having previously experienced a situation, think about it a bit more – it may not be déjà vu!

Recently I went to the supermarket with a Swedish friend. In the fresh produce section, she was surprised to find a vegetable called a ‘swede’. I was equally surprised to find she didn’t know it as a swede!

This led to us pointing out different produce and comparing names. An ‘aubergine’ to me was an ‘eggplant’ to her; ‘courgette’ a ‘zucchini’ (I like both exotic sounding names for this cucumber-esque fruit).

This duality of names is not limited to vegetables – in English (as, I’m sure, in many other languages), we name a lot of things twice, if not more. ‘Mummy’, ‘Mum’, ‘Mama’, and ‘Ma’ are all common alternatives for one person – your mother (‘Mother’ is also a common, if somewhat more formal term).

So, how do you decide which term to use? It really depends on who you’re talking to. The main point of language is to be understood, so a person with American English will understand ‘zucchini’ but not ‘courgette’, and vice versa for someone who speaks British English. As for a Swede? Who knows…