UESPWiki:Spelling

The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995

This page provides information about the standards using for spelling and capitalization used on UESPWiki. It covers some of the general guidelines used to determine the appropriate spelling and also provides a compilation of some of the most commonly misspelled words.

Contents 1 General 1.1 Books 1.2 Quotes 1.3 Proper Names 2 Specific Words

[edit] General

UESPWiki is written using American English. Although contributions written in International (a.k.a. British) English are still welcome, ideally those contributions will later be revised to match the site standards; American spellings should not be replaced by International spellings. Consistency is particularly important in an electronic medium such as the wiki: a search done for the word "armor" will miss any pages that instead use "armour". American English has been chosen because the Elder Scrolls games are made by an American company and are initially released in US versions. Redirect pages (e.g., Oblivion:Armour) can be created using UK spellings for particularly common words.

The Elder Scrolls games use many unique words and names. The spelling of all Elder Scrolls words should match the spelling used in the game, even if that differs from the common English spelling. When there is a discrepancy, the spelling seen by the player in the game (e.g., in dialogues, books, and inventories) should be used in preference to any spelling seen only in the construction set (e.g., in internal identifiers and scripts). Cases where multiple spellings of a word are known to exist are all listed later on this page.

Capitalization should in general follow regular English rules. A few notable points are:

• In sentences, the first word and any proper nouns should be capitalized.
• In titles and subtitles, all words should be capitalized except for minor words that are not at the start of the title (prepositions such as "of", "from"; conjunctions such as "and", "or"; articles such as "a", "the"; etc.).
• Any proper nouns from the game should be capitalized (e.g. Foyada Mamaea).
• Any titles from the game (such as quest titles) should match the capitalization used in the game, even if that differs from standard capitalization.

[edit] Books

The text of books is taken verbatim from the games. Typographical or grammatical errors in the text should not be fixed, unless the correction is absolutely necessary to understand the book. Any such changes should be documented (for example in a note in the introduction to the book).

[edit] Quotes

Any text directly quoted from the game should be copied verbatim, as with Books. Typographical or grammatical errors in the text should not be fixed, unless the correction is absolutely necessary to understand the quote. The Sic template can be used to emphasize that the error comes from the original in-game text. The word "sic" means "so" or "thus" in Latin, and is often used in newspapers or journals to indicate that a spelling or grammatical error was present in a passage of cited text and was not introduced in the paper's own article.

[edit] Proper Names

There are several cases where the names of specific items or places contain typographical errors. For example, Oblivion has a "Thieve's Dagger"; the NPC Istirus Brolus lives in "Istrius Brolus' House". The spelling of proper names should never be changed; the wiki should exactly match the spelling as used in game.

[edit] Specific Words

This section provides a listing of words that are commonly misspelled on the wiki. This is not intended to be a comprehensive spelling guide: editors should use a standard dictionary to determine the appropriate spelling of common english words or use the Tamriel Dictionary for words specific to the Elder Scrolls games.

• Ald'ruhn, Ald-ruhn: The apostrophe spelling is used in all dialog and on the paper map for this major city in Morrowind, but the cell names, and thus all scripts and console commands which refer to it, all use the hyphenated spelling. (Also, in some cases, the 'r' is capitalized.) This site has chosen to use the name that is used in the dialog: "Ald'ruhn", while the other spellings redirect to it.
• armor: The US spelling should be used, not the UK spelling (armour).
• Assurnabitashpi, Ashurnabitashpi: This is a rare instance of an obscure location in Morrowind which is spelled two different ways on the interior and exterior cells. (Proving that even the developers have trouble with those Ashlander names.) Either spelling is acceptable, but the first spelling is the one used for the page on this site, while the second redirects to it.
• atronachs: The plural form of "atronach" is "atronachs", without an 'e'. When describing a specific atronach type, e.g. "Flame Atronach", the word is always capitalized. Otherwise it is not.
• Boethiah, Boethia: The former spelling is used in Daggerfall and Morrowind, while the latter is only used in Oblivion.
• Cyrodiil, Cyrodilic: As a noun, the name of the province is always spelled with two 'i's. As an adjective, the single 'i' spelling, "Cyrodilic," is more common and therefore is preferable on the wiki, but the double 'i' spelling, "Cyrodiilic," is also acceptable.
• Daedra, Daedroth, Daedroths: In traditional usage, "Daedra" is the plural form of "Daedroth". However, that usage appears to be archaic, and differs from the common usage in both Morrowind and Oblivion. When referring in general to any of the creatures from the planes of Oblivion, "Daedra" is used as both the singular and plural form. For example, "One randomly-generated Daedra is found in the room" or "There are many Daedra in the area". This also applies to compound names incorporating the word "Daedra"; for example "Spider Daedra" is used in both the singular and plural. When referring to the one species of reptilian creature, "Daedroth" is the singular form and "Daedroths" is the plural form.
• Dialogue, Dialog: "Dialog" is primarily a US spelling, but is also acceptable in international English. Either spelling is acceptable on the site. There should be no need to correct either spelling of this word, except to provide consistency within a single article.
• Fighters Guild: The non-possessive form should be used, e.g. "Fighters Guild" but not "Fighter's Guild" or "Fighters' Guild". In Morrowind, the term "Guild of Fighters" is used to refer to the guildhall locations, but "Fighters Guild" is still used to refer to the faction itself.
• Gottlesfont: This obscure location in Oblivion is mainly notable for the fact that the game spells its name both "Gottlefont" and "Gottlesfont"; a decision has been made to use "Gottlesfont" on this site.
• gray, grey: both spellings are acceptable, and the game tends to use both spellings almost equally. In a proper name, the spelling should always match the game's spelling of that name (therefore Greyland but Grayrock Cave).
• Hand-to-hand: This skill exists in both Morrowind and Oblivion, but Morrowind spells it "Hand-to-hand", and Oblivion spells it "Hand to Hand". The spellings used on this site depend on which game is being discussed.
• jewelry: This word is never spelled "jewelery"; "jewellery" is a UK spelling, but the US form "jewelry" should be used on the wiki.
• leveled, leveling: The US spelling should be used instead of the UK spelling (with a double 'l').
• liches: The plural form of "lich" is "liches", with an 'e'.
• Mages Guild: The non-possessive form should be used, e.g. "Mages Guild" but not "Mage's Guild" or "Mages' Guild". In Morrowind, the term "Guild of Mages" is used to refer to the guildhall locations, but "Mages Guild" is still used to refer to the faction itself.
• Magic, Magicka: Both spellings are used in Oblivion, but the meaning is slightly different. "Magicka" refers to the energy needed to cast spells, thus the effect names Absorb Magicka, Fortify Magicka, and Restore Magicka. "Magic" refers to damage or other detrimental (non-elemental) effects that can occur as the result of a spell, thus the effect names Resist Magic or Weakness to Magic. In Morrowind, the "Magicka" spelling is used for all these cases.
• Methredhel: Methredhel's name is misspelled without the second h in one of Armande Christophe's dialogs, but is spelled consistently with two h's everywhere else. Aside from quoting his dialog, it should be spelled with two h's.
• Night Eye: This spell effect exists in both Morrowind and Oblivion, but Morrowind spells it as shown, Oblivion spells the effect with a hyphen: "Night-Eye", and various items enchanted with the effect use a third spelling "Nighteye". The name used for the effect in each game is given precedence, so the pages describing this effect exist at Morrowind:Night Eye and Oblivion:Night-Eye.
• NPCs, NPC's: The term "NPC" (Non-Player Character) is used as a noun. Thus, the proper plural form of "NPC" is "NPCs", not "NPC's". "NPC's" is the possessive form, and should only be used if you are talking about something that belongs to an NPC. Additionally, the proper article to use in the singular is "an NPC", not "a NPC".
• Orc, Orsimer: While "Orsimer" is the proper word to use when referring to this race, it is only seen in very rare instances in the games (mostly in a few books). Almost all dialog references, including from members of the race, use the word "Orc". Thus, this is the preferred spelling on the site.
• paralyze, paralysis, Cure Paralyzation: The "Paralyze" spell effect exists in Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion. Morrowind and Oblivion additionally feature spell effects that Cure and Resist Paralysis. However, in Morrowind, the cure spell effect is called "Cure Paralyzation", even though both the other related spell effects use the word "Paralysis". "Paralyzation" is an acceptable word according to both Collins English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster. Since the game uses that variation in this particular case, the one effect in Morrowind is referred to as "Cure Paralyzation" on the site.
• Savior's Hide, Saviour's Hide: The Oblivion item Saviour's Hide should be spelled with a "u"; see the Saviour's Hide article for details. The Morrowind item, however, Cuirass of the Savior's Hide, should be spelled without a "u". Most other uses of "Savior" in the Elder Scrolls are also without a "u" (e.g., Tears of the Savior).
• Soul Trap: This spell effect exists in Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion. Both Daggerfall and Oblivion spell it this way, but Morrowind spells it as one word: "Soultrap". The spelling used on this site depends on which game is being discussed.
• Summerset / Summurset Isle: This province of Tamriel is generally spelled with "Summerset", but in its first appearance in Arena, and also in Daggerfall, it was spelled "Summurset" instead. Thus on Arena or Daggerfall pages, the "Summurset" spelling should be used, but everywhere else, use "Summerset".
• Thieves Guild: The non-possessive form should be used, e.g. "Thieves Guild" but not "Thieve's Guild" or "Thieves' Guild".
• Uderfrykte Matron, Udyrfrykte: In the game of Morrowind, this creature's name should be spelled "Udyrfrykte"; this is also closer to the Norwegian source words. However, in Oblivion, the creature is spelled "Uderfrykte Matron", and therefore "Uderfrykte" should be used.
• Vaermina: This Daedric Prince's name is spelled both "Vaermina" and "Vaernima" in various books and other sources. Overall, "Vaermina" is the more common spelling and therefore is preferred on the wiki except when quoting specific sources that use "Vaernima".
• venin: When referring to the ingredient dropped by Spider Daedra, the correct spelling is "venin" not "venom". (For those who are wondering, "venin" is a valid English word, defined by Collins English Dictionary as "any of the poisonous constituents of animal venoms".)
• wiki: The word "wiki" is not a proper noun and therefore should not be capitalized when used on its own (however, it is capitalized in the name "UESPWiki", simply as a function of the name of the site being a proper noun).