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#30463 05/28/01 12:04 PM
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Why did "advertise" not get changed to "advertize" when spelled in US English? It sounds like organize (-se) and all those others. Are there other -se words which were missed in the US-ization (-isation) of spelling?


#30464 05/28/01 12:08 PM
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Fine question, Bean... although do note that US'n pronunciation (ad-ver-TIZE-ment) differs markedly from Brit pronunciation (ad-VERT-iz-ment)...

That's about all I have to add to this conversation. Just pleased to be in at the start of a thread, for once!


#30465 05/28/01 12:20 PM
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Why did "advertise" not get changed to "advertize" when spelled in US English?

Probably because otherwise we would be confronted by a rule without an exception, something extremely rare and unstable.


#30466 05/28/01 02:07 PM
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I decided to LIU, and in fact, I surprisingly found an entry for to advertize in Webster's, but no entry for advertizement (less surprising).
Perhaps the etymology of the word, given by AHD as 'Middle English advertisen', has something to do with the US spelling exception.


#30467 05/28/01 02:08 PM
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advertise isn't quite the exception that proves the rule -- just try to fathom the rule!

from alt.english.usage:
"-ize" vs "-ise"
---------------

The following verbs are always spelled with "-ise": advertise, advise, arise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, demise, despise, devise, disguise, enterprise, excise, exercise, (dis/en)franchise, improvise, incise, merchandise, premise, reprise, revise, rise, supervise, surmise, surprise, televise. (At least, they're *almost* always spelled that way: "advertize", "merchandize", and "surprize" ARE listed in some U.S. college dictionaries, but are not the usual forms anywhere.) A useful mnemonic is that, except "improvise", none of these make nouns in "-isation", "-ization", or "-ism". (Exceptions in the other direction are "aggrandize", "capsize", "recognize", and verbs from
which no verb "-ization" has been formed because the parent or cognate noun already had the desired meaning.)

"Apprise" means "to inform"; "apprize" means "to appreciate". U.K. "prise open" = U.S. "pry open".

"Exorcize" is most commonly spelled "exorcise" in the U.S., though "exorcize" (which Fowler would have recommended) also occurs.

For other verbs, "-ize" is usual in the U.S. and recommended by Fowler, although "-ise" is also used in the U.K. Fowler recommends "-yse" in "analyse", "catalyse", and "paralyse", although "-yze" is usual in the U.S.


aaarrrrrggh


#30468 05/28/01 02:25 PM
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the OED seems to have taken the approach of using -ize for all words except those already well-established as -ise stemming from French through Latin:
In med.L. and the mod. langs. these have been formed also on L. or modern national names, and the use has been extended to the formation of verbs from L. adjs. or ns. This practice prob. began first in French; in mod.F. the suffix has become -iser, alike in words from Greek, as baptiser, évangéliser, organiser, and those formed after them from L., as civiliser, cicatriser, humaniser. Hence, some have used the spelling -ise in Eng., as in French, for all these words, and some prefer -ise in words formed in French or Eng. from L. elements, retaining -ize for those of Gr. composition. But the suffix itself, whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Gr. [], L. -izare; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the special French spelling should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once etymological and phonetic. In this Dictionary the termination is uniformly written -ize.


#30469 05/28/01 02:53 PM
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US'n pronunciation (ad-ver-TIZE-ment) differs markedly from Brit pronunciation (ad-VERT-iz-ment

It's been my experience that the latter pronunciation is more common than the former. "adverTIZEment" just sounds wrong to these Midwestern ears! Is it really preferred elsewhere in the US?


#30470 05/28/01 03:14 PM
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"adverTIZEment" just sounds wrong to these Midwestern ears! It sounds correct to these midwestern ears!

Does anyone say adVERTisers?


#30471 05/28/01 03:28 PM
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In Canada most people I know say ad-ver-TIZE-ment, although you hear the occasional ad-VER-tiz-ment and then it sounds...pretentious (for lack of a better word)...to my ears. Like the whole ant/ahnt thing.


#30472 05/28/01 05:07 PM
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"adverTIZEment" just sounds wrong to these Midwestern ears! Is it really preferred elsewhere in the US? -- asks Nancy from Detroit

"AdverTIZEment" is preferred all the way over in Lansing.




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