Tim Murphy wrote:
One of those birds is on the US list. Google gives 3640 hits for
Sulphur-bellied flycatcher, 58 for Sulfur-bellied flycatcher.
Splendid work Tim! This gives the lie to the earlier assertion by Jim
that 'Sulfur' rather than 'Sulphur' will make database searching an
easier proposition, avoiding any confusion regarding spelling: "... This
was not an Americanisation but a compromise to ensure that in future
searchable data bases would not be complicated by spelling variants
...". There are only two variants, and constructing a search string to
include both is as easy as falling off a log.
But this also ignores the voluminous literature that already exists,
with a form of spelling that few if any writers/readers seem to have
great difficulty understanding. English (as with many other languages)
is full of anachronisms. I'm learning Portuguese at the moment, and it
seems to have nearly as many oddities of spelling as English -
frustrating, but character building!! I see no particular reason to
root out all English inconsistencies to give us a phonetically
consistent, vanilla-flavo[u]red and debased version of the language -
where would the character and fun be then?
There is no significant confusion in the literature about the spelling
'Sulphur' as evidenced by the Google search ration of 3640:58 - and what
confusion there is has been introduced by the 'Sulfur' spelling (just
1.6% of all cases in that example)!! Please - no more reductionsism for
its own sake.
I promise to post something particularly pertinent to birds/birding next
time.
:-)
--
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Lawrie Conole
Senior Ecologist
Ornithology & Terrestrial Ecology
Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
Flora and Fauna Consultants
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Internet: http://www.ecologyaustralia.com.au/
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