I am concerned because feature X will be different from in Civ IV

[Savoir10]

Everywhere else in the English speaking world. Civilisation is spelled with an S not a Z. So the whole concept of Civilization is based on an error.

 

[Thormodr]

Everywhere else in the English speaking world. Civilisation is spelled with an S not a Z. So the whole concept of Civilization is based on an error.

Both S and Z are correct. There is no error. In fact, the very forums you are posting on spells it with a Z.

 

[Dale]

Both S and Z are correct. There is no error. In fact, the very forums you are posting on spells it with a Z.

When only one country in the world officially spells it with a Z, doesn't it indicate something to you?

 

[Savoir10]

We are still having a bit of fun here, aren't we? Or did I miss a memo?

 

[White Elk]

"Features are as features do." ~ Borest Fump

 

[Culture Bomb]

Actually, feature Y is a great idea in theory, but it's sure to be badly implemented the first time, as the human will be able to manipulate it much better than the AI, just like features K and L in Civ III. However I have great hopes that it will work properly in Civ VI

 

[mattigus]

When only one country in the world officially spells it with a Z, doesn't it indicate something to you?

When the people who make Civ happen to reside in that one country, then you realize it makes sense.

 

[azzaman333]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I'm coming to realize that restricting the features to just 26 things was a really dumb decision.

There's less than 26 features in Civ V, since we already know at the very least feature X and Z won't be in it.

 

[dannythefool]

I hope they bring back feature theta and feature omega. They haven't been in a game in this genre for years for some weird reason.

 

[ferenginar]

Everywhere else in the English speaking world. Civilisation is spelled with an S not a Z. So the whole concept of Civilization is based on an error.

Civilisation should have an s not a z, but Civilization is a game, not real life, which is why it has a z, to differentiate it, to say that it offers a view of historical development not the reality of it.

 

[Michigamer]

Whatever. I am singularly focused on making sure everyone knows I want civilization X and civilization W in the game. W is for worthy! NEED MOAR X!

 

[Birdjaguar]

Moderator Action: Locked until one of you explains to a civ 5 mod why it should be opened again.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Birdjaguar]

S versus Z:

Civilisation should have an s not a z, but Civilization is a game, not real life, which is why it has a z, to differentiate it, to say that it offers a view of historical development not the reality of it.

Civilization is an American game so it gets an American spelling. Not a hard concept really. It's a myth the -ize is an Americanization anyway.

Word Origin & History

civil
late 14c., from L. civilis "relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen," hence "popular, affable, courteous;" alternative adj. derivation of civis "townsman" (see city). The sense of "polite" was in the L., from the courteous manners of citizens, as opposed to those of soldiers. But Eng. did not pick up this nuance of the word until late 16c. "Courteous is thus more commonly said of superiors, civil of inferiors, since it implies or suggests the possibility of incivility or rudeness" [OED]. Civil case (as opposed to criminal) is recorded from 1610s. Civil liberty is from 1788.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/civil

Anyway, civil is from the Latin Civilis as noted. -ize is from the greek suffix meaning cause to be or conform to or resemble.

-ise is the French spelling which became popular after the French conquest of England.

Thomas Nashe in the late 16th century proposed spelling reform -ize to fix the surplus of monosyllabic words in English.

Really, -ise has only caught on in British English again as a reaction to American spelling reform.

In essence, both spellings are correct. Since Civil has its roots in Latin you can spell it civilization with a z or an s. The OED strongly cautions spellers not to use s if the word is from Greek origin. For example, organisation would be incorrect since the "organ" has Greek roots originally. Organization would be correct according to the OED.

Sorry for the lengthy post. I studied English linguistics in university and I find the subject fascinating.

Some articles on the subject:

Spelling

Are spellings like 'privatize' and 'organize' Americanisms?

No, not really. British spelling has always recognized the existence of variant spellings using the suffix -ize/-ise. When American spelling was standardized during the 19th century (mainly through the efforts of the great American lexicographer Noah Webster), the consistent use of -ize was one of the conventions that became established. However, since then, the -ise spellings have become more popular in Britain (and in other English-speaking countries such as Australia), perhaps partly as a reaction against the American custom. Spellings such as organisation would have struck many older British writers as rather French-looking. The Oxford English Dictionary favoured -ize, partly on the linguistic basis that the suffix derives from the Greek suffix -izo, and this was also the style of Encyclopaedia Britannica (even before it was American-owned) and formerly of the Times newspaper.

The main advantage of the modern -ise habit? Lazy spellers do not have to remember that there are several important words which cannot properly be spelt with -ize. These include words which are not formed by the addition of the -ize prefix to a stem, but by some other root which happens to end in the same syllable, such as -vise (as in televise), -cise (as in incise), and -prise (as in comprise).

The American system resulted in the creeping of z into some other words where it did not originally belong. Writers of American English should be aware of some spellings that are regarded as incorrect in the UK, notably analyze.

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/ize?view=uk

Greek spellings
[edit] -ise, -ize
See also: Oxford spelling

American spelling accepts only -ize endings in most cases, such as organize, realize, and recognize.[50] British usage accepts both -ize and -ise (organize/organise, realize/realise, recognize/recognise).[50] British English using -ize is known as Oxford spelling, and is used in publications of the Oxford University Press, most notably the Oxford English Dictionary, as well as other authoritative British sources. The OED lists the -ise form separately, as "a frequent spelling of -IZE..."[51] It firmly deprecates usage of "-ise" for words of Greek origin, stating, "[T]he suffix..., whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek -ιζειν, Latin -izāre; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the special French spelling in -iser should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once etymological and phonetic." It maintains "... some have used the spelling -ise in English, as in French, for all these words, and some prefer -ise in words formed in French or English from Latin elements, retaining -ize for those of Greek composition."[52] Noah Webster rejected -ise for the same reasons.[53] However other references, including Fowler's Modern English Usage, now give prominence to the -ise suffix over -ize.[54] The Cambridge University Press, older established but more forward-looking than the Oxford institution[55][56], has long favoured -ise.[54] Perhaps as a reaction to the ascendancy of American spelling, the -ize spelling is now rarely used in the UK mass media and newspapers, to the extent that it is often incorrectly regarded as an Americanism.[50] The ratio between -ise and -ize stands at 3:2 in the British National Corpus.[57] The -ise form is standard in leading publications such as The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Economist. The Oxford spelling (which can be indicated by the registered IANA language tag en-GB-oed), and thus -ize, is used in many British-based academic publications, such as Nature, the Biochemical Journal and The Times Literary Supplement. In Australia and New Zealand -ise spellings strongly prevail; the Australian Macquarie Dictionary, among other sources, gives the -ise spelling first. The -ise form is preferred in Australian English at a ratio of about 3:1 according to the Macquarie Dictionary. Conversely, Canadian usage is essentially like American.[58] Worldwide, -ize endings prevail in scientific writing and are commonly used by many international organisations, such as the ISO and the WHO. The European Union uses ise in its English language publications, though the EU may, even on a single page, show "organized" but "publicise" as well. "Synthesize" is used in international chemical journals.

The same pattern applies to derivatives and inflections such as colonisation/colonization.

Some verbs ending in -ize or -ise do not derive from Greek -ιζειν, and their endings are therefore not interchangeable; some verbs take the -z- form exclusively, for instance capsize, seize (except in the legal phrase to be seised of/to stand seised to), size and prize (only in the "appraise" sense), whereas others take only -s-: advertise, advise, apprise, arise, chastise, circumcise, incise, excise, comprise, compromise, demise, despise, devise, disguise, exercise, franchise, improvise, merchandise, revise, supervise, surmise, surprise, and televise. Finally, the verb prise (meaning to force or lever) is spelled prize in the US[59] and prise everywhere else[60], including Canada[61], although in North American English it is commonly replaced by pry, a back-formation from or alteration of prise.[62]

-ize
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

[edit] English
[edit] Alternative spellings

* -ise

[edit] Etymology

From Ancient Greek -ιζειν (izein) via Latin -izare. Also see notes.
[edit] Suffix

-ize

1. Used to form verbs from nouns or adjectives, the verbs having the sense of "to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective".

[edit] Usage notes

The suffix -ise seems to be prevalent in Commonwealth countries except Canada (especially in Australia and New Zealand), with -ize found especially in scientific or academic contexts.

The suffix -ize, although commonly misconstrued as an Americanism, has always been a part of the English language. It was formerly used by The Times and other publications and is and always has been used by both Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Oxford English Dictionary. The use of -ise in place of -ize in the United Kingdom, and later elsewhere, came about in the 19th century under French influence; at the same time, through the efforts of Noah Webster and others, the -ize became standard in American English for words where both endings were previously accepted. The steady shift in the opposite direction for Commonwealth countries even after the 19th century may have been to distinguish themselves from American English.

The line between -ize and -ise depends on etymology; for instance, verbs ending in -vise, -tise, -cise, and -prise do not derive from Greek -ιζειν and therefore are never spelled with -ize. One notable and oft-cited exception is analyse, where the -yze ending is found normally only in the U.S. and Canada. Another exception is recognize, which is spelled with -ize in the U.S. and elsewhere despite not having the -ιζειν suffix etymologically.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ize

'ise' vs 'ize'

Posted by James Briggs on March 14, 2002

The following comes from 'Mind the Gaff. The Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English'. by (Prof) RL Trask. Pengiun Books 2001. By the way, he's an American working at the University of Sussex in England.

I was given the book for Christmas and thought this section particularly worth reproducing.
.........................................................................................................................................................................................
-ize, -ise
There are two groups of words here, and these should not be confused.

The first group consists of words which are always spelled with -ise in all varieties of English. The most frequent verbs in this group are advertise, advise, apprise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, despise, devise, disguise, excise, exercise, improvise, supervise, surmise, surprise and televise, to which we may add the nouns demise, enterprise, franchise and merchandise, some of which are occasionally used as verbs. These words do not contain the Greek suffix -ize and may never be spelled with -ize. British writers attempting to use American spelling sometimes slip up here and write, for example, *advertize, which is never acceptable.

The second, and much larger, group consists of verbs containing the Greek suffix -ize. Among these are realize, civilize, ostracize, jeopardize, organize and trivialize; there are far too many to list here, and new ones are coined almost at will, like hospitalize, finalize and prioritize. These words must be spelled with -ize in American English. In British English, the spelling with -ize is traditional, and is still preferred in many conservative quarters, for example at the Oxford University Press. But the newer spelling in -ise is now widespread in Britain and is preferred in other quarters. British writers may use whichever spelling they prefer, unless they are writing for a publishing house which insists upon one or the other.

Whichever spelling you prefer, you must, of course, be consistent, and use it exclusively, not only with the verbs but with their derived nouns like realization and civilization.

There is a complication with the verb exorcize, exorcise. Historically, this word contains the suffix -ize, and so it should be spelled exorcize in the style that uses -ize. However, many people no longer perceive this as containing the suffix, and so it is sometimes spelled exorcise even in the style with -ize.

Note also the unusual word capsize, which is spelled -ize in all varieties.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/13/messages/785.html

Main Entry: -ize
Function: verb suffix
Etymology: Middle French -iser, from Late Latin -izare, from Greek -izein

1 a (1) : cause to be or conform to or resemble <systemize> <Americanize> : cause to be formed into <unionize> (2) : subject to a (specified) action <plagiarize> (3) : impregnate or treat or combine with <aluminize> b : treat like <idolize> c : treat according to the method of <bowdlerize>
2 a : become : become like <crystallize> b : be productive in or of <hypothesize> : engage in a (specified) activity <philosophize> c : adopt or spread the manner of activity or the teaching of <Platonize>
usage The suffix -ize has been productive in English since the time of Thomas Nashe (1567&#8211;1601), who claimed credit for introducing it into English to remedy the surplus of monosyllabic words. Almost any noun or adjective can be made into a verb by adding -ize <hospitalize> <familiarize>; many technical terms are coined this way <oxidize> as well as verbs of ethnic derivation <Americanize> and verbs derived from proper names <bowdlerize> <mesmerize>. Nashe noted in 1591 that his -ize coinages were being criticized, and to this day new words ending in -ize <finalize> <prioritize> are sure to draw critical fire.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-ize