I have found both terminations in verbs like optimiz(s)e, prioritiz(s)e, criticis(z)e.
Which (or when, or where) is the academically correct form ?
optimiSe or optimiZe ?
September 11th, 2006 by horia
24 Responses to “optimiSe or optimiZe ?”
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Teaching English to Preschoolers with iPhones
We (i.e. the creators of Pain in The English) developed a series of iPhone apps to teach preschool kids how to recognize letters and words. (My wife developed the characters and I did the coding.) Our own 4-year old daughter has been enjoying them. They are now available on Apple's App Store. You can search for "bitskis" on your iPhone, or visit the official website at bitskis.com.
If you have kids and own an iPhone, please check it out. It's $2.
"OptimiZe" is American spelling– "optimiSe" is British spelling (also Canadian). The academically correct version depends on who your audience is.
If you are located in a country that adopts British spelling, it is generally considered acceptable to use either "ize" or "ise" as long as you are consistent throughout the document.
It should be noted however, that if you are writing for a local audience in such a country, then the "ise" termination is usually preferred.
In standard American English one would be expected NEVER to use one of the ize-verbs.
Even Brit English has a handul of "-ize", doesn't it? IIRC "realize" is one. But the whole issue is so murky that when I write for a European audience I make a policy of "-ise". To try to do otherwize :) therein lies the path to insanity.
Aubrey, is that a typo? -ize IS the American version. Why would you never use it in American English?
I agree. Seeing these words end in -ise is strange and alien to me. Here in America they end in -ize.
I have been trying to institutionalise Canadian spelling for all our clients, and thus encouraged "optimISE". However, because our agency also does a lot of "Search engine optimization" (official spelling of this new marketing strategy), I have had to switch to "IZE" for the sake of maintaining consistency within a text.
However, this means no consistency within my spelling standards in general. And that is harder to accept.
Ad, are your clients Canadian or international? If they're Canadian, then will they use "-ise" when they search the web? If so, then "-ise" would be better optimized for search engines, wouldn't it? If, on the other hand, your clients are international, then why would you want to use Canadian spelling in the first place? You could always use both versions splayed out all over your website. The search engines would index both. That would look really wacky!
That's the rub, you see. It's a Canadian company, but because it's also a crown corporation, we should be using Canadian spelling standards. The clients are, naturally, international. As we don't use "optimization" in marketing texts, I use the "ise" for client stuff, and "ize" for internal and administrative stuff.
At least my inconsistency is…well, consistent.
From the Canadian Writer's Handbook: "Where alternatives exist, either is correct. But be consistent. In this book . . . we use the ize ending because we believe it to be the dominant form."
I have worked for Canadian newspapers, government agencies and NGOs, and in each place, ize was preferred. Even in Europe, where I now live and work for numerous international organizations, ize is used much more frequently than ise.
'Ize' is, believe it or not, an influence FROM the Middle English types, and bestowed on the Americans! The Oxford English Dictionary has adopted 'ize' as a standard suffix for pretty much all of the words mentioned so far; realize, visualize, organize, optimize. Nope, folks, the 'ize' ending was introduced along with the French loan words of the 13/14/15th centuries – you can thank your good pal . The use of 'ise' has always been a recessive form of the word in the UK and elsewhere, whereas 'ize' is the dominant form globally, and is not American in origin after all.
Personally, I'd rather we took the Germanic root, or Latin.
I don't know which spelling is academically correct or if either is somehow more academically correc than the other. What I do know is that if I am reading a text and I see such verbs spelled with -ise, I assume the author is either Canadian or British. If I see the -ize spelling, I assume the author to be American. (Question: which do they use is Australia or New Zealand? Or South Africa or Jamaica for that matter? My gut tells me that they use -ise all over the English speaking world except for in America where it's -ize. Is this true?)
thanks
In Australia we use -ise, and most grammar schools are quite strict. Many old-fashioned university lecturers will take a dim-view of -ize from a thinly-veiled anti-americanisation perspective. We tend to hold onto our British heritage to demonstrate that we 'know' what we're writing, and don't just let Microsoft spell-check dictate auto-correct -ize!
Ah but alas, TJ, Microsoft too is the creation of a native English speaker…
Porsche,
The suffix ize or even ise or whatever is a weak sister of correct, clear usage.
Some such uses are accepted, but others are considered somewhere between tacky and illiterate.
Finalize was condemned by the Arkansas Gazette (now bought up by the Arkansas Gazette and absorbed out of existence). Old-fashioned writers and editors would write "put into final form" or "complete" or some other longer but more accurate word.
I think a little history lesson might be in order here. Jimmy is on the right track. The -ize ending was universal in ALL English until very recently, only about a hundred years ago. -ize isn't some rampant Americanism. It is the British (and Commonwealth) who diverged from the norm, influenced by the French spellings. That's why there is still resistance to -ise in the UK especially in academic circles.
I think a little history lesson might be in order here. Jimmy is on the right track. The -ize ending was universal in ALL English until very recently, only about a hundred years ago. -ize isn't some rampant Americanism. It is the British (and Commonwealth) who diverged from the norm, influenced by the French spellings. That's why there is still resistance to -ise in the UK especially in academic circles.
A very interesting discussion and what's been said is mostly true. In Britain we do use both ise and ize, and yes ize appears before ise in the OED. I'm also aware that the US spelling uses ize and it's the older form of English, however, I don't know when ise came into use, all I do know is that's how I was taught at school. The reason for both spellings, as I understand it, is the suffix being derived via French -iser from latin -izare and Greek -izein.
I have to say I prefer ise and in my job as proof reader we have that as our house-style. However, we are sometimes forced by some American client companies to use not only ize but all the other American spellings too, even though their products are for the European market which I find extremely irritating – are they trying to sell a product or America?
Was it Churchill who said: "We are are two countries separated by one language" or words to that effect? But to quote the French Vive la diffence!
I always write -ise, with me being English.
Apparently -ize is acceptable here, yet I have actually never seen a case when it has been accepted when seen.
-ize for Americans, -ise for everyone else is the norm…
Belize realise that it's optimise. They don't intellectualize it or dramatize it, they just socialize it.
English language, that compendium of 3 or 4 continental European languages, is constantly evolving & wonderfully adaptive. That boringly inevitable Englishman (or woman) who bobs up uninvited from across the bar or the bus or the table to "correct" Americans, Canadians or Australians, is not the "keeper" of the English language, nor has he (she) ever been. It is simply a case of looking it up in the Macquarie dictionary which says both “ize” and “ise” are perfectly ok.
Nobody outside England (& few inside England) care two hoots what the self-appointed "keepers of the old English language" think … it's an evolving language and the time to update the Oxford "Dick&Mary" is well past due!
How would you say it out loud? If a 'z' sound comes out of my face then I spell it IZE. (which seems to always be the case). ISE sounds wrong and so, in my book, is wrong.
But I always say: If people didn't make up words we wouldn't have any.
"However, we are sometimes forced by some American client companies to use … American spellings, even though their products are for the European market …"
That's rather arrogant of them isn't it. I wonder how they would like it if France labelled all their products destined for the USA in French only. It shows a complete lack of respect.
I’m surprise no one is looking at the Greek root of this. The last letter of the Greek alphabet is the letter s. So, the usage of the letter s instead of the letter z is of Greek origin.
Actually, I take my previous comment back. The last letter of the Greek alphabet is not the letter s.