For a while now I have been wondering whether learnt or learned was the correct spelling, so with true googlish (this is not in the dictionary, so is it acceptable to use?) enthusiasm I searched and found some interesting stuff. It seems both learnt and learned are alternative spellings of the past participle of the verb. British English uses the irregular learnt, while American English uses the regular form; learned.
Some other verbs of the type -ed & -t: burnt / burned, spelt / spelled, dreamt / dreamed, leapt / leaped, spilt / spilled.
There are verbs where the opposite is true such as dived (British) and dove (U.S.).
New Zealand English which was established by colonists during the 19th century, had it's strongest influences coming from southern England, Scottish English and Māori, according to Wikipedia.
Applying to Education: Although both forms are correct, perhaps we should be using the British variation. What do you think and teach?
Hi Shaun, I got to your blog via the Images4Education group and I really like it (your blog I mean). Some really interesting stuff. I am particularly interested in English spelling and the teaching and learning of it, see The Spelling Blog at http://thespellingblog.blogspot.com . But I really didn't know anything about New Zealand English spelling. Is it always the same as Australian? Do you know of any words you and we Brits spell differently?
ReplyDeleteBest of luck in your new career! Johanna
Thanks Johanna, I am glad you like my style, it sometime feels a bit mixed up. I love your blog, it's the first I have found about spelling.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can determine Australian English also follows the British English form as well.
Kia ora Shaun!
ReplyDeleteI think that spelling is a hoot! Way back in the days of Will Shakespeare and John Donne there were no dictionaries as such. These literary guys wrote their words which ever way they wanted. If they spelled it differently on one page from the way they spelt it the next, no one gave a hoot.
No one dove into a dictionary to check because there was none. So no one could say, "you spelt it wrongly".
I favour spelt, learnt, burnt and spilt. But leapt and leaped, and dreamt and dreamed got me wondering as I actually pronounce these forms differently.
Leapt is the past (passed?) tense of leap, and I say 'lept'. Leaped is also the past tense of leap, and I say 'leept'. Similarly with dreamt 'drempt' and dreamed 'dreemd'. Funny isn't it?
Roof and roofs, hoof and hoofs, both cause some debate in NZ, for the plurals are hooves and rooves in NZ both when said and written. In Britain these latter plurals with a 'v' are not used and not found in most English dictionaries.
And you're right about Googled and other derivatives of Google not being around yet - in time they'll find their way into the dictionary, no doubt.
Catchya later
from Middle-earth
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