English (United States)

[Elok]

PH:

Originally posted by Elok
I don't know what kind of bug you've got up your butt for me in particular. Perhaps you want to have a silly Asher/Agathon style prolonged-catfighting feud? If so, I'm not interested.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by thesilentone
I really don't care about the spelling differences, colour/color, I understand both just fine, I've even made the old mistake of spelling civilization rather than the proper english spelling of civilisation... You get the idea.

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/ize?view=uk

Are spellings like 'privatize' and 'organize' Americanisms?

No, not really. British spelling has always recognized the existence of variant spellings using the suffix -ize/-ise. When American spelling was standardized during the 19th century (mainly through the efforts of the great American lexicographer Noah Webster), the consistent use of -ize was one of the conventions that became established. However, since then, the -ise spellings have become more popular in Britain (and in other English-speaking countries such as Australia), perhaps partly as a reaction against the American custom. Spellings such as organisation would have struck many older British writers as rather French-looking. The Oxford English Dictionary favoured -ize, partly on the linguistic basis that the suffix derives from the Greek suffix -izo, and this was also the style of Encyclopaedia Britannica (even before it was American-owned) and formerly of the Times newspaper.

[Drake Tungsten]

British spelling is entirely too French...

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
British spelling is entirely too French...

What's wrong with French? (Outside of a Quebec context of course?)

[Bill3000]

Originally posted by Victor Galis


What's wrong with French? (Outside of a Quebec context of course?)

Too friggin' non-phonetic.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by LordShiva


Official documents are released in English and Hindi. English and Hindi are the languages used primarily in parliament.

Schools teach in either Hindi or English, or in the regional language; there are probably more English-language schools than there are schools of any one particular regional language.

Significant numbers of people speak any of several tens of languages between themselves. English is one of them.




Those 22 languages are the languages recognized apart from Hindi and English (notice how both of them are missing from the list).

You haven't read your own constitution have you? Article 343 specifically lists Hindi as the official language of the union, but allows for the continued usage of English where it had been previously used for government functions for a period of up to 15 years. Article 120 lists Hindi as the official language of the national legislature, but also allows the continued usage of English for a period of 15 years. Schedule VIII lists the official languages of India. Hindi is very much present on this list, but English was excluded.

Even if legisaltion has been passed to allow the continued usage of English it is still an incontrovertable fact that the Constitution of India clearly states that Hindi is the national language of India.

[LordShiva]

There is a difference between national language and official language.

The "expiring in 15 years" reference is cute, and shows you've clicked beyond just the first link from a Google search. The context is as follows: When the republic was constituted in 1950, English was made the pricipal official language. After 1965, Hindi was to become the principal official language, with English designated a "subsidiary official language."

[Nubclear]

Of course, as has already been pointed out, this discussion of the status of English in India (something quite laughable since English is already an official language of India) is quite irrelevant, considering English is not the official/national language of the United States at all, disqualifying it from the worldwide vote of "Best English Dialect".

Hence, British English still wins.

PWND

[LordShiva]

As to whether I've read my own country's constitution, the answer is that I have. I also read the bit where it says that the central government is allowed to pass legislation on matters such as these, which it has done in the Official Languages Act, the Official Languages Resolution, the Official Languages Rules, the Official Languages Orders, and various Presidential orders made on behalf of the elected representatives of the people.

But all this is irrelevant:

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
The key question is what language does your government use internally

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by Bill3000


Too friggin' non-phonetic.

Not really. If you see the word written, you know exactly how to pronounce it. The trouble is the reverse as there's very many ways to write the same thing.

[SlowwHand]

All this is about is regionalism. Big deal. What's English? London speaks differently than Newcastle.
Dallas speaks differently than New York.
What's the point? It's all English. Except for Chicago.

[Victor Galis]

Well the official spellings are different. It will behoove me to use Canadian spellings in writing my economics papers.

[notyoueither]

Canadian spellings?

[SlowwHand]

I think it's like Texican only different.

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Canadian spellings?

Well... as far as I can tell identical to the British spellings, though Word gives it as a separate option. Not really sure how big of an issue this is. I have to get used to adding a 'u' to words that previously didn't have it, and some words I think there's something with 'c' and 's.'