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Spelling the names of British organisations in U.S. English document?
Thread poster: Mark Sanderson
Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 10:41
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English to Hindi
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Explanation Aug 4, 2016

Sheila Wilson wrote:

Balasubramaniam L. wrote:

It is like asking whether in another country should you change the spelling of your name to suit the speaking convenience of the host country people. The spelling of your name remains as it is wherever you go.

That's a simplistic view of what would be nice. It wasn't until I left the UK and began teaching adults in France that I learnt that, to them, Bach's first name is Jean rather than Johann, and Leonardo da Vinci is Léonard de Vince (if I've got that right).


If the name is being translated, then that is a different issue altogether. You will of course use what is commonly used in the source language. For example, the "India" of English becomes "Bharat" (written in devnagari, ie भारत) in the Hindi document.

But here we are talking about how the actual English name of an organisation is written in another dialect of English. In such cases, I think there can be no confusion that we should follow how the organisation itself spells its name in English, even if that doesn't confirm with the accepted spelling rules of the target English dialect.

Things can get more complicated in unrelated languages, but in the case of two barely varying dialects of English (or dialects of any other language), there should hardly be any confusion regarding this matter.
 
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
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Thailand
Local time: 12:11
English to Thai
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Arbitration Oct 13, 2016

Mark Sanderson wrote:

Hello,

I’m currently working on a document which refers to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and uses the British English spelling of ‘centre’. However, the client has requested U.S. English. Does this mean that I need to change the name to ‘Center’ so that it is applicable to a U.S. audience? Or, do I leave it as it is because ‘centre’ is the official name which is used on the organisation’s website here: http://www.hkiac.org/about-us



International arbitration treaties demand context based wording. UK or US English shall convey same meanings if discussed in respective culture, won't it?

Soonthon L.
 
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Spelling the names of British organisations in U.S. English document?







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