File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_1999/postcolonial.9905, message 135


Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 18:18:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bram Dov Abramson <bram-AT-tao.ca>
Subject: gandee


> From: "Hock, Zarina" <ZHock-AT-ncte.org>
> Given that Mohandas K. Gandhi was surely one of the greatest figures in
> human history, why is it that the name  GANDHI  is rarely spelled correctly
> in the West ? (Leela Gandhi is the Mahatma's  great-granddaughter, and even
> if she weren't, the name, a common one in Gujarat, is always spelled the way
> it is in this message).

   AltaVista Search Service
   Ask AltaVistaTM a question.  Or enter a few words in [English.....]
   gandhi_____________________________________________
   
   AltaVista found 50490 Web pages for you. 


   Ask AltaVistaTM a question.  Or enter a few words in [English.....]
   ghandi____________________________________________
   
   AltaVista found 8368 Web pages for you. 


   Ask AltaVistaTM a question.  Or enter a few words in [English.....]
   gandi_____________________________________________
   
   AltaVista found 817 Web pages for you. 

total occurrences in English for 25 May 1999
Gandhi: 50490 occurrences
Ghandi+Gandi: 9185 occurrences

possible conclusions

in English gandhi is predominant; ghandi and gandi are rare.

in English gandhi is not predominant, but Internet content producers are
vastly superior spellers than the non-Internet-using majority

altavista adjusts to make written English seem more Gandhi-aware than
it truly is.

Bram (unable to resist)



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