Avoiding spelling mistakes

Washington

Spelling names in English can be a challenge for non-native writers of the language. Google search is out friend, and even if the name seems familiar, or we feel fairly confident how to spell it, it can be worth a second or so to check it on Google. In a thesis or academic research paper, spelling proper names right becomes especially important because we want to convince our readers that we should be taken seriously. Spelling mistakes can give the impression that a writer is careless, or did not spend much time on the project.  Sometimes in Thai English, we see the name Washington written as Wasington. Washington is a common name in America, where it can refer to George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States. It may also be a reference to the state of Washington on the West Coast of the United States or Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. When we write the place name Washington, D.C., it is important to include the full stops after the letters D and C because those letters are abbreviated. The full name of the place is Washington, District of Columbia. In informal writing, we may see the place name written as Washington DC, but in formal writing, such as theses or academic research papers, it is always best to be as respectful as possible of rules of usage. Beyond George Washington and the place names, there are many other famous people with the name Washington, including the African-American actor Denzel Washington, singer Dinah Washington, and civil rights pioneer Booker T. Washington (1856–1915). So how to make sure we spell correctly a name that appears so frequently in English writing? If we invent a sentence, we may remember not to make the common mistake:

• After the Battle of Valley Forge, George Washington went to wash his laundry.

By having the words wash and Washington in the same phrase, we may recall that they begin with the same four letters. Leaving out the letter h may be a result of a flawed approach to spelling often seen in Thai English, of spelling a word how we think it may be pronounced. This involves an element of guesswork, since our idea of a word’s pronunciation may not be correct standard English. There are a number of words in English starting with the letters wash, all having to do with the verb to wash. Some examples follow:

washerwoman

washbasin

washboard

washcloth

washhouses

washables

washbowl

washday

washout

washrag

washroom

washtub

washup

By contrast, there are apparently no words in English that start with the letters wasi. Once again we see that if we can link one word to other words that resemble it, spelling becomes much easier. The more words we know, the easier it becomes to see if a spelling looks strange or unusual. Building a large vocabulary of English words can take some time, and requires a lot of reading. Until we have this vocabulary, the safest bet is to rely on Google search to check names like Washington, whether or not we think we know how to spell them correctly.

Mozart 

Even people who are not fans of classical music have heard of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who lived in the 1700s. Even native speakers of English sometimes spell his name wrong as Motzart, and in Thai English, the incorrect spelling Mosart also appears. These mistakes are surely due to the way the writer may think the Austrian musician’s name should sound. In the Kingdom, the confusion seems to be based on the different ways that the letter z may sound when pronounced. Sometimes it sounds like the letter s and sometimes like the letters ts. In familiar English words such as frozen or ozone or cozy, the letter z is pronounced to sound like the z in Zen Buddhism, and not like the letters ts. So in the case of Mozart, looking for words we already know as clues to how to pronounce and spell a name can lead to misunderstandings. By spelling Mozart’s name wrong as Mosart, the writer is assuming that the letter z should sound like the letter s, when in this case it does not. It sounds more like the letters ts, which would explain another common error, of spelling the name wrong as Motzart. Part of the difficulty is that Mozart was not born in England or America, so his name is not English. It follows rules of pronunciation in the German language, not English. As noted, in German the consonant z should sound like the letters ts in English in such words as the following:

acts

ants

arts

bats

bets

bits

cats

cuts

dots

eats

fats

fits

gets

hats

hits

jets

kits

lets

lots

mats

nets

oats

opts

pats

pets

pits

pots

puts

rats

rots

sets

sits

vats

wits

If we feel comfortable pronouncing the word oats, then this should make it easier for us to remember how the name Mozart should sound. It should be something like M-oats-art. In German, the letter z almost never sounds like a letter s in English, but it does not seem reasonable to expect non-native writers of English to remember details of pronunciation about other foreign languages. We can try instead to remember an invented sentence that is based on pronunciation rather than spelling:

Mozart liked to eat oats because it helped his art.

Recall that M-oats-art is more or less how the name should sound, so having a sentence with these sounds in it may remind us of how the name should be written. There are no common words in English that start with the letters moz, although there is a famous Italian cheese called mozzarella that is often found on pizzas; it is traditionally made from Italian buffalo milk. Trying to get involved with yet another foreign language, Italian, and its pronunciation is too complex for non-native writers of English. The vowels in English, German, and Italian can sound different. Even so, the word mozzarella is pronounced something like mots, not too far from the correct pronunciation of the name Mozart. As with Washington or any other proper name, being familiar with the word can help, but better to rely on Google search than to risk following false leads.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)