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#200124 06/01/11 01:47 AM
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olly Offline OP
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Heres one that may have reared its head here before.

Is it Pearlize or Pearlise?

I have tried different dictionaries and online look ups and have come to the conclusion that... it doesn't really matter. I just wanted to get to the root of my pedancy. Here in Enzed we use british english. Any thoughts on the matter would be most welcome.

olly #200127 06/01/11 02:02 AM
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One Look has only the "z".


----please, draw me a sheep----
olly #200128 06/01/11 02:05 AM
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I think that generally it's "ise" in England, and "ize" in the US.


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My understanding too. It may also have something to do with the word origins. English borrows a lot from french where I belive the 'ise' is more dominant?

Last edited by olly; 06/01/11 03:32 AM.
olly #200134 06/01/11 10:01 AM
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My understanding is that it was originally -ize but the Brits, in their excessive love of the French, changed over to the French -ise.

olly #200135 06/01/11 12:32 PM
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british english

Ah, yes, well. The OED (all editions) lists entries with -ize suffix. There is an entry for -ise, but it is merely glossed as a variant of -ize. If one is to apply the etymological fallacy pedantically, one ought to observe that the French did not invent the suffix (i.e., it isn't from Latin). It is Greek in origin, where a zeta is used.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #200139 06/01/11 02:54 PM
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Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
If one is to apply the etymological fallacy pedantically


This is what the OED does, it seems to me. They note that some prefer the spelling -ise for words borrowed from French, and -ize for words borrowed from Greek. But then they say
Quote:
But the suffix itself, whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek -ιζειν, Latin -izāre; 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.


Last edited by goofy; 06/01/11 02:55 PM.
goofy #200146 06/01/11 09:07 PM
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I know 'shift happens' but I can't seem to get away from the fact that the truth is out there and should to some degree be adhered to.
So in my opinion the Ize have it.

goofy #200147 06/02/11 12:03 AM
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he pronunciation is also with z

Indications are that the pronunciation of zeta in Classical greek was not the same as the pronunciation of z in English: Gk /dz/ PDE /z/.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
olly #200154 06/02/11 11:58 AM
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Interesting topic..I have noticed that the 's' is often exchanged with a 'z' in the word paradise!

This seems mostly in songs for some reason.

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