National varieties of English Wikipedia:Manual of Style

1 national varieties of english

1.1 opportunities commonality
1.2 consistency within articles
1.3 strong national ties topic
1.4 retaining existing variety

national varieties of english



mos:engvar

the english wikipedia prefers no major national variety of language on other. these varieties (for example american english or british english) differ in number of ways, including vocabulary (elevator vs. lift), spelling (center vs. centre), date formatting ( april 13 vs. 13 april ), , grammar (see § plurals, below). following subsections describe how determine appropriate variety article. (the accepted style of punctuation covered in § punctuation, below.)

articles such english plurals , comparison of american , british english provide information on differences between these major varieties of language.

opportunities commonality

mos:commonality

prefer vocabulary common varieties of english. insisting on single term or single usage correct option not serve purposes of international encyclopedia.

universally used terms preferable less distributed terms, in article titles. example, glasses preferred national varieties spectacles (british english) , eyeglasses (american english); ten million preferable 1 crore (indian english).
if 1 variant spelling appears in article title, make redirect page accommodate other variants, artefact , artifact, variants can used in searches , in linking.
terms differ between varieties of english, or have divergent meanings, may glossed prevent confusion, example, trunk (american english) or boot (british english) of car ....
use commonly understood word or phrase in preference 1 has different meaning because of national differences (rather alternate, use alternative or alternating depending on sense intended).
when more 1 variant spelling word exists within national variety of english, commonly used current variant should preferred. not apply in cases less common spelling has specific usage in specialized context e.g. connexion in methodist connexionalism.

consistency within articles

mos:artcon

while wikipedia not prefer national variety of english, within given article conventions of 1 particular variety should followed consistently. exceptions are:

quotations, titles of works (books, films, etc.): quote these given in source (but see § typographic conformity, below);
proper names: use subject s own spelling e.g., joint project of united states department of defense , australian defence force;
passages explicitly discussing variety of english;
urls: changing spelling of part of external link s url break link.

strong national ties topic



mos:ties

an article on topic has strong ties particular english-speaking nation should use (formal, not colloquial) english of nation. example:

in article modern writer, choice use variety of english in subject wrote, if writings quoted. example, article j. r. r. tolkien follows use of british english oxford spelling. in article supranational or international organization, choice use variety of english used body.

this guideline should not used claim national ownership of article; see wikipedia:ownership of articles.

retaining existing variety



mos:retain

when english variety s consistent usage has been established in article, maintain in absence of consensus contrary. few exceptions (e.g., when topic has strong national ties or term/spelling carries less ambiguity), there no valid reason such change.

when no english variety has been established , discussion not resolve issue, use variety found in first post-stub revision introduced identifiable variety. established variety in given article can documented placing appropriate varieties of english template on talk page.

an article should not edited or renamed switch 1 variety of english another. {{subst:uw-lang}} template may placed on editor s talk page explain this.

cite error: there <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on page, references not show without {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see page).