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Spelling. Conventions

    The content of these guidelines is taken from the fourth edition of the Vives University Network’s Interuniversity Style Guide for Writing Institutional Texts, an interuniversity project in which the UPC participates with the support of the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Government of Catalonia.

     

    Differences in spelling between British and American English

    • For most general purposes, there is little significant difference between British and American English in written texts. In practically all circumstances, any text written in standard British English will be comprehensible to an American reader, and vice versa.

    • Historically, in British usage both the ise and ize spellings have been accepted in verbs like organise/organize and recognise/recognize and other parts of speech derived from them (organisation/organization and recognisable/recognizable). The ise spelling is used more frequently in a broad range of publications.

    • Therefore, we recommend that the ise, yse and isation forms be used, except where the context specifically requires American spelling.

    • Some universities within the Vives Network have opted to use British English with Oxford spelling. In the following paragraphs, we will highlight the spelling differences and similarities between British English, with and without Oxford spelling, and American English.

      British 
      Oxford American 
      authorise  authorize  authorize
      authorisation authorization authorization
      digitise digitize digitize
      digitisation digitization digitization
      finalise finalize finalize
      finalising finalizing finalizing
      globalise globalize globalize
      globalisation globalization globalization

    • The Greek root lys, found in British English verbs like analyse, is also conserved in Oxford spelling. American English equivalents (analyze) are again the result of standardisation reforms. Some other verbs that follow this pattern are listed below.

      British 
      Oxford American 
      catalyse catalyse catalyze
      electrolyse electrolyse electrolyze
      paralyse paralyse paralyze


    • However, that British English, Oxford spelling and American English all spell certain words always with an s or with a z. In the case of s, this happens when ise is not a complete suffix but a fragment of a longer component like cise, mise, prise or vise, often from French past participles.

      advertise advise compromise disguise
      enterprise exercise improvise merchandise
      supervise surprise televise revise


    • In the case of the letter z, this happens with a small number of words including prize and size.

    • The following summary lists other well-known and now commonly accepted distinctions between British and American spelling.

      British English American English
      ce (defence) se (defense)
      our (colour) or (color)
      re (centre) er (center)


    • Note that British usage has the form programme (as opposed to the American program) except when referring to computer code, in which case program is preferred.
       

    Ligatures

    • Although the æ/œ spelling (known as a ligature, in which two or more letters are graphically combined) for more technical words (e.g., œstrogen, cæsium, haematology or orthopaedics) is still in use in British English, this is now not universally the case for most other words that were traditionally written with a ligature; these words now have a single written vowel that substitutes the older æ form (medieval and encyclopedia being well-known examples).
    • Opt for the simplified spelling for all such non-technical words.

     

    Double consonants before suffixes

    • Where consonants are doubled for monosyllabic words (basically, after a short vowel and immediately before a suffix beginning with a vowel such as -ing, -er, -est or -ed), British and American English spelling is the same.

      flat flattest
      stop stoppable
      shop shopping

       

    • For words of more than one syllable, however, differences between British and American usage can differ.

     

    The letter l

    • As an indication for when to double this final consonant in British English, we replicate the explanation given in Section 1.5 of the English Style Guide of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation (see Bibliography): "In British usage, a final -l is doubled after a short vowel on adding -ing or -ed to verbs (sole exception: parallel, paralleled) and adding -er to make nouns from verbs".

      Examples would include the following:

      Membership will probably level off by the end of the year.
      Student interest in the new programmes has levelled off since January.

      All those wishing to travel under the terms of the new grant should contact the International Office.
      This regulation applies to administrative staff who travelled during the first semester.

      Model your task on one of the following diagrams.
      Project modellers will need a minimum of five years' experience.

    • In American English, except for words ending in -al (final/finally; minimal/minimally), l is usually not doubled before a suffix.

      travel, traveling, traveled, traveler
      model, modeling, modeled, modeler
      level, leveling, leveled, leveler

    • Finally, there are certain words ending in -l in British English which double this consonant in American English:

      enrol-enroll; fulfil-fulfill; appal-appall
    • Note that the -l is accordingly doubled or not in derivatives ending in -ment:

      enrolment-enrollment; fulfilment-fulfillment

     

    Other consonants

    • Usage may vary considerably between British and American English in the doubling of a consonant other than l at the end of a word. If in doubt, consult a reliable English dictionary. However, the following observations generally hold for both variants. The consonants t and r double before -ed and -ing if the last syllable of the root word is stressed.

      The Department will admit students who meet the following requirements.
      The Dean admitted that faculty disruptions were inevitable.

      Students must submit their assignments in the agreed format.
      Applicants who are submitting their papers in June should fill in the following form

      The Rector will confer an honorary doctorate on two renowned sociologists.
      The University has rarely conferred such degrees in this academic field

      Faculty members will refer all complaints to the Dean.
      Reliable international research should be referred to for clarification.

    • In contrast to this, for two-syllable words whose first syllable is stressed, the final consonant is not doubled.

      open opening opened
      focus focusing focused
      target targeting targeted

    • In British English the exception to this are two-syllable words ending in -p, where the final consonant is doubled even when the principal stress is on the first syllable.

      The new dean plans to equip laboratories with the latest technology.
      The science labs are equipped with state-of-the-art instruments.