10 replies to this topic

[Alistair]

Is it possible to have modules in British English?

I note the ESV has 'color' for 'colour', etc. In an ideal world there would be a button to press to switch between languages, or a setting in the preferences to determine the language used, which would change the spelling of these words automatically.

I know most translations are not published in multiple versions of the English language, but some are (most famously the NIV).

[Helen Brown]

I have great sympathy for your request since I am British and I still struggle with the different spelling conventions on this side of the pond. However the reality is that the majority market, and the majority sources for our texts, are in the US. I do not think that there would be sufficient demand to justify the work of providing alternate texts, or the neat idea of automatic conversion of a suspect list of words.

I wonder what others think?

[Harry Hoffner]

I'm not clear on the nature of Alistair's need: is it in composing or reading the U.S. spellings? The former would be understandable, since as a North American I would have trouble predicting U.K. spelling. But I do not normally have any trouble reading/understanding them. I would think that in using the Accordance modules one normally is only reading and copying them into one's publications. When you copy into your British publication, you are still quoting a U.S. source and should retain the peculiar U.S. spellings. So what exactly is the problem? I don't mean to sound unsympathetic; I am only unclear what the precise problem is. I would agree with Helen that, unless the problem is acute and widely shared, it probably does not justify the Oaksoft staff's time and effort to make the requested change.

[Helen Brown]

From the British point of view, the spelling is plain wrong, so it's like seeing multiple typos in the work.

[Helen Brown]

BTW: We do have one British translation: Revised English Bible of 1989, published by Oxford University Pressand Cambridge University Press.

[Alistair]

Helen hit in on the head when she wrote that to a British reader the US text is full of typos! US books/magazines/products with US spelling are freely available over here; I have often wondered if British ones are just as prevalent over there, and how people respond to the spelling differences.

However, I recognise that in our world the variation in the English language (UK, US, Australian, etc) worldwide means having to adjust and adapt to seeing what appears wrong but is in fact just different—a rare ethical dilemma where something can be right for me but wrong for others, and the situation (location) defines what is right from what is wrong!

So there's no problem per se in reading the US spellings, but I prefer to read the UK spellings.

When I paste Bible texts into my word processor a problem does arise—spell checks only work in a single language, either US or UK English but not both. This is not necessarily an Accordance problem, but I was wondering if there could be an Accordance solution. For instance, I'm currently working on a book where the body text has judgement (UK) and the pasted Bible verse (NKJV) have judgment. I'm a great stickler for consistency, so this is somewhat inconvenient.

The purist might want to add that since the "original texts" are in the US spelling we British should not dare to "correct" them to our way of spelling. If this never happened in history it would have made the job of textual criticism a lot easier! But then we're told by apologists that variations in spelling do not constitute real changes to the text of manuscripts, as long as no fundamental doctrine is altered.

[Lorinda H. M. Hoover]

As an American, I do run across UK spellings on occasion, but UK publications are probably not as prevalent in the US as US publications are in the UK. On the other hand, unless things have changed in the last few years, UK spellings are listed in US dictionaries as acceptable spellings. So, while US spell checkers will tag "colour" and "judgement" as misspelled, a print dictionary will indicate that either spelling is acceptable.

Many years ago I had a running argument with one of my jr. high teachers, who insisted that the UK options listed were "secondary" and therefore not "as correct" as the first spelling listed. My dictionary's preface, however, clearly stated that when two spellings were given, both were equally acceptable. Interestingly enough, the argument occurred because I insisted on spelling judgement with the e in the middle! This is in part influenced by my mother, who spent 4 years in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and continued to use certain UK spellings after she returned to the States, on the contention that they made more sense than US spellings.

[Bud Lengtat]

Perhaps you do not need a better Accordance. Perhaps you need a better spell-checker. I wonder if there are any spell-checkers out there that not only tell you what is spelled incorrectly, but also allow you to specify words that you always want changed automatically without even being told about it. I personally do not write that much, so I do not spell-check much. What word processor do you use?

[Alistair]

I've been using Pages 2 with the built-in spell checker. I know there are third party utilities for spelling and indeed grammar checking, but I've not used one since the glory days of System 7. Even so, I'm not aware of a multilingual WP or spellchecker. Anyone know of one?

[Tom]

I've been using Pages 2 with the built-in spell checker. I know there are third party utilities for spelling and indeed grammar checking, but I've not used one since the glory days of System 7. Even so, I'm not aware of a multilingual WP or spellchecker. Anyone know of one?

Ahhh, the very best, incredibly powerful and user definable, with great personal support by the developer: SpellCatcher X

I have used it for years. Couldn't imagine a more flexible, more powerful spell checker, with better tech support.

Tom

[D. Voth]

As far as multiple languages within a document, Nisus Writer Express allows you to change the dictionary used for different parts.