UK spellings and stuff

Question

I understand the spellings of "flavor" and "labor" as "flavour" and "labour" in UK English, but why is
"laboratory" not spelled "labouratory"?
Also, what is the general rule for spelling "paedophile" and "naeocrophilia"? Where where else does the American -e- turn into -ae- in UK English?
Thanks.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

In our last episode,
(Email Removed), the lovely and talented Digital Puer broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]I understand the spellings of "flavor" and "labor" as "flavour" and "labour" in UK English, but why is "laboratory" not spelled "labouratory"?[/nq]
It pretty much depends upon whether a word came directly from Latin or was filtered through French, where many of the u's were added. Some of the extraneous u's in British English had no justification in any language. As is often the case, the American usage represents one of competing schools of British thought. Some progress was being made toward eliminating the u's in British English until it was noticed that Americans had already done so, which rather poisoned the idea for John Bull.
[nq:1]Also, what is the general rule for spelling "paedophile" and "naeocrophilia"? Where where else does the American -e- turn into -ae- in UK English?[/nq]
Again, this is a case of American English simplifying spellings that British English preserves from roots. Pretty much the same thing happens with the -oe- diphthong.

Lars Eighner (Email Removed) http://www.larseighner.com/ My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine everybody drinks water. Mark Twain

Usenet · Answer

"Paedophile" turns into "pedophile", not the reverse. The earlier version, which was simplified into the "American" version, comes direct from Latin and has "ae" to correspond with the "ai" in the Greek word it comes from, "pais", a child. By medieval times or earlier, the diphthong was pronounced like a long "e", and the temptation to simplify the spelling arose.
There is no *"naecrophilia" to simplify into "necrophilia", the only correct spelling, because the corresponding vowel in the Greek original for the first part of the word, "nekros", a corpse, is a short "e", an epsilon.
So there can be no rule for turning these simplified spellings into the older ones. If you want to know those, you just have to learn them and then simplify them where you want to. Of course, sometimes the spelling with the diphthong is just wrong. "Fetus" is the correct spelling of that word, borrowed from the Latin word for "offspring, that which is brought forth", not the spelling "foetus", apparently adopted on the theory that fetuses stink (but you can spell "fetid" as "foetid").

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Also, what is the general rule for spelling "paedophile" and "naeocrophilia"? Where where else does the American -e- turn into -ae- in UK English?[/nq]
ae used to be a stanard English transliteration for the Greek diphthong that looks like "ai", but sometimes it is also English ai as in "air" (rather than "aer", which is poetic), but seen in words like aeroplane.

Similarly the Greek diphtong that looks like "oi" was traditionally transliterated oe, but sometimes with e, so you get oecumenical and ecumenical, foetus and fetus.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Also, what is the general rule for spelling "paedophile" and "naeocrophilia"? Where where else does the American -e- turn into -ae- in UK English?[/nq]
[nq:1]ae used to be a stanard English transliteration for the Greek diphthong that looks like "ai", but sometimes it is ... looks like "oi" was traditionally transliterated oe, but sometimes with e, so you get oecumenical and ecumenical, foetus and fetus.[/nq]
The mis-spelling with 'e' is a recent yankism - sadly it's taken off. You didn't see it in medical spelling even twenty years ago.

O how I cried when Alice died
The day we were to have wed!
We never had our Roasted Duck
And now she's a Loaf of Bread!
At nights I weep an cannot sleep,
Moonlight to me recalls
I never saw her Waterfront
Nor she my Waterfalls
- W.H. Auden verses for 'The Dog Beneath the Skin' * TagZilla 0.057 * http://tagzilla.mozdev.org

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I understand the spellings of "flavor" and "labor" as "flavour" and "labour" in UK English, but why is "laboratory" not spelled "labouratory"?[/nq]
[nq:1]It pretty much depends upon whether a word came directly from Latin or was filtered through French, where many of ... represents one of competing schools of British thought. Some progress was being made toward eliminating the u's in British English[/nq]
Just reading Johnson & Boswell's accounts of their 18C voyage to the Hebrides. Both spell 'author' 'authour', so that looks like one that did get changed...
DC

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