Many questions related to spelling can be resolved simply by referring to a dictionary, since these questions tend to concern the specific way in which a word is correctly written, and by activating a good spell-check function in your word processor. But there are also issues that require more careful consideration and that cannot be resolved automatically. This section of the Guide provides recommendations on such issues, including the general conventions applicable to spelling, such as use of British and American variants, and the consequences of these conventions, for example digraphs and consonant doubling. It also refers to other considerations that are not strictly in the province of spelling but that nevertheless pertain to the orthography of the language; issues here include the use or non-use of diacritics, italicisation and hyphenation.

1.1 Conventions

As a reflection of our broader geographical situation, we recommend the use of British English in most contexts, particularly for institutional documents. However, many university texts may be addressed specifically to North American readers or may be for or from an academic ambit in which American English is more usual. In such cases, use common sense and discretion in deciding which variant is most suitable for your objectives.

We strongly recommend, however, that only one variant of English be used within a single text or related series of texts, for obvious reasons of coherence.

1.1.1 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.

British usage historically accepts both the -ise and -ize spellings, but the former is now more frequently used in a broad range of publications. Therefore, we recommend that the -ise/-yse/-isation forms be used, except where the context specifically requires American spelling.

The following summary lists the well-known and now commonly accepted distinctions in British/American spelling.

However, note that size and capsize are never written with -ise in British English.

Also, 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.

1.1.2 Digraphs

Although the æ/œ spelling (known as a digraph, the combined letters representing a single sound) for forms such as œstrogen or cæsium is still in use in British English, this is now not universally the case for most other words that were traditionally written with a digraph; these words now have a single vowel that substitutes the older æ form (medieval and encyclopedia being well-known examples). Opt for the simplified spelling for all such words.

1.1.3 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.

For words of more than one syllable, however, differences between British and American usage can be complicated; our guidelines on this are therefore an attempt to simplify the question by limiting comments to the doubling of the letter l and the doubling of other consonants.

i) Doubling of 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 Appendix II: Resources and further reading): “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.

In American English, except for multi-syllabic words ending -al (final/finally; minimal/minimally), l is usually not doubled before a suffix, though a high-frequency exception to this is the American English enrollment (in British English, enrolment).

ii) Doubling of other consonants

Usage may vary considerably between British and American English in the doubling of word-final consonants other than l, and a reliable English dictionary should always be consulted if in doubt. However, the following observations generally hold for both variants. Consonants such as t or r double before -ed and -ing if the last syllable of the root word is stressed.

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

In British English the exception to this are two-syllable words ending in -p, which double that final consonant even though the principal stress is on the first syllable.

1.2 Diacritics

Diacritics are orthographical marks added above or below a letter (or sometimes within or between letters). In the Latin alphabet, they are basically used to indicate a modification in the pronunciation of the letter in question.

Although languages make use of a large number of such marks, in our context the most common diacritics are the so-called grave ( ` ) or acute ( ´ ) accents, the cedilla ( ¸ ), the umlaut/dierisis ( ¨ ), the tilde ( ˜ ) and the circumflex ( ˆ ).

Unlike other European languages, modern English does not have diacritics. Some borrowed words may be written in English with their original non-English diacritic, but this rarely affects pronunciation (for exceptional cases, see Section 1.2.1 Diacritics and their effect on pronunciation).

However, even with words borrowed fairly recently from languages that do make use of such orthographic marks, there is actually no obligation in English to use the original diacritic. An example of this is façade, borrowed from French, which can also be correctly written as facade (the pronunciation is identical for both forms: /f?’sa:d/), though some users feel uncomfortable if the cedilla is omitted. For such cases, consult a reliable English dictionary.

1.2.1 Diacritics and their effect on pronunciation

Use diacritics when their absence could result in incorrect pronunciation.

The form Barca (referring to the football team) might lead readers to pronounce the word /’ba:k?/, which would be incorrect, and so in this case the cedilla assists in pointing readers to the accepted pronunciation.

1.2.2 Diacritics in foreign proper nouns

Use diacritics in all proper nouns (i.e., names) in foreign languages, for reasons of textual tradition.

1.2.3 Diacritics in foreign words that are not proper nouns

When an English text uses foreign words or phrases that are not proper nouns but that have a diacritic in the original language, you should either keep all such marks or else use none at all. Be consistent. If you decide to use them, remember that they should also be used on capital letters and in headings.

1.3 Italics

Italics are used for drawing attention to words or phrases, for instance in order to provide an example.

However, we generally recommend avoiding their use for emphasis: clear, emphatic writing ought not to require this device as an additional support. Other than illustrating examples, we suggest limiting their use to the following cases.

1.3.1 Italics in titles of books, journals and other publications

Unless following specific editorial guides, write the titles of books, journals and other published materials in italics, to distinguish the titles from the rest of the sentence.

Be aware, however, that conventions for indicating the title of a book, journal or article may vary depending on factors such as publication requirements or even academic ambit. You will therefore have to bear these factors in mind, depending on the purpose of your text and where it will be published. For additional comment, see Appendix II: Resources and further reading.

1.3.2 Italics in foreign words and expressions

Italicise foreign words or expressions that are not common in English (that is, words not included in a reliable English dictionary) and that may therefore not be readily understood.

This includes the Latin terms for academic distinction, cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude (meaning “with honour”, “with great honour” and “with highest honour”, respectively), which should always be italicised.

But note that foreign words that have now become part of normal English usage do not require italics.

Note also that, in the event of using a non-English form for the official name of an organisation (universities, companies, governmental bodies, etc.) these names are not written in italics.

1.4 Hyphens

The use or non-use of hyphens is a complex issue that affects a range of questions. To avoid unnecessary difficulties, we will give only certain basic guidelines.

1.4.1 Hyphens in fractions

Unless they belong to a figure (1½), always write fractions in full form and with a hyphen.

1.4.2 Hyphens with prefixes

Many words beginning with a prefix are written with a hyphen (co-payment); many are not (overproduction). Confusingly, there are also cases where both forms are considered acceptable (British: pre-school / American: preschool). As can be seen from this last example, the tendency in American English is to hyphenate less than in British English. In all events, if in doubt about whether a prefix should be followed by a hyphen, consult a reliable dictionary. However, the following observations generally hold.

Words beginning with a common prefix (such as un-, dis- or re-) are often written without a hyphen.

In contrast, a hyphen is generally used with prefixes such as neo- and ex-.

Hyphenate all words formed by a prefix + word beginning with a capital letter.

But note that transatlantic is normally written as a single word.

1.4.3 Hyphens in compound adjectives

Hyphenate qualifiers formed with two or more adjectives, with an adverb and an adjective or with an adjective and noun/gerund.

However, do not hyphenate compound adjectival forms in which the first element is an adverb ending in either -ly or in -y.

Additionally, do not hyphenate compound adjectival forms in which the first element is a comparative or superlative.

1.4.5 Hyphens and double consonants or vowels

Hyphenation should generally be used in order to avoid double consonants or vowels.

But note that certain high-frequency terms are no longer hyphenated (unless they are part of an established name).

1.4.6 Hyphens and multiple compounds

When a noun is qualified by more than one hyphenated compound, write these as follows.