Talk:Dentin

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[edit] Spelling: Dentin vs Dentine

Recently, Storkk went through and made the spelling of "dentin" consistant, and Preacherdoc reverted the edit, saying both spellings are accepted and correct. Although both spellings are correct, according to Wikipedia's Manual of Style, the same spelling should be used throughout the article. Particularly, the guidelines mentioned are that:

Articles should use the same dialect throughout.
If an article's subject has a strong tie to a specific region/dialect, it should use that dialect.
Where varieties of English differ over a certain word or phrase, try to find an alternative that is common to both.
If no such words can be agreed upon, and there is no strong tie to a specific dialect, the dialect of the first significant contributor (not a stub) should be used.

I do not believe that the subject of this article has a "strong tie to a specific region/dialect" nor can the article use an alternative word since the subject of the article is the word in question. Thus, I think we should use "dentin" since 1) it is the name of the article currently, 2) was the first spelling used in the first version of the article (though still a stub), 3) was kept in subsequent edits when a large portion of the current content was written and when the stub template was removed. To adhere to this, I reverted the article to the previous version where the spelling was made consistant. - Dozenist talk 00:00, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Dozenist, thanks for your edit. I prefer the spelling "dentine". I must say, there is quite a precedent for this spelling, with many, many words ending similarly (like, say, iodine, morphine, submarine, endocrine). I don't see why we should start spelling these "iodin" and "morphin", and so on. Still, if you feel that strongly, I will certainly confin myself to your divin doctrin, and toe the lin. Preacherdoc 21:11, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

I am obviously not just being creative with spelling and conjuring up my own way of spelling "dentin," and the reasons to keep this spelling I have outlined from Wikipedia's Manual of Style, again NOT my own reasons. - Dozenist talk 21:21, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

I know they are not your reasons; I just don't really think that they are good reasons. The only way, I find, to deal with the ridiculous nature of the spelling differences in our common language is with humour. Otherwise people just get upset. I must say I do find it slightly offensive when people insist that my spelling is incorrect, to the point of actually changing it. My way of dealing with this is to laugh at it. I don't personally find it troublesome to read articles where there are mixed North American and Commonwealth spellings, and I feel this is one, comparatively even-handed, way of pleasing most people, in the understanding that we cannot please them all.Preacherdoc 10:09, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't really care, but the article should stick with one spelling. Also, your analogy is somewhat wrong. Morphine, etc are extracted chemicals... For living tissue, we have Chitin, Lignin, Prostaglandin, etc. The article should, I think, stick with the spelling of the title. --Storkk 11:24, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Preacherdoc, you may "toe the lin", and "confin" yourself to Dozenist's "divin doctrin", but once I get my hæmoglobine count up, and give myself an insuline shot, I might disagree with you. Your "submarine" example is fatuous: please use attach your reply with a pin(e). Also, when I sin(e), please wave your skin(e), to the din(e) of the tin(e)-whistle. I think you can't win(e). How is "submarine" at all related to the current discussion? It's not like "Dentin ( / Dentine)" is an adjective. As I said above, I really don't care what spelling the article uses, but it should use one spelling, and that should be the same as the article's title. If you care so strongly, move the article to "Dentine" and 'fix' the spelling. --Storkk 23:49, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Ok, ok, kids. I think we are all on the same page again, and we can focus more on the content of the article (which is sorely lacking) rather than the spelling of a single word. - Dozenist talk 00:34, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Storkk, since you asked on my talk page, here is my reply. The thesis of my bachelor degree was on comparative dental anatomy, and I spent many, many hours studying the histology of teeth. As a result, I am stuck with a firm preference for the spelling dentine (and a pronunciation rhyming with "morphine"). Nonetheless, I am prepared to accept that the US-English spelling is dentin.

All of that said, I do find it slightly irritating when people correct my spelling (even when no offence is intended). It isn't wrong, just different from yours. There is no logic to the situation, whatsoever, on either side of the Pond, which has been noted since at least the time of Mark Twain (and his humorous essay, IIRC, "Suggestions for the Improvement of the English Language"). I also make a point of not correcting American spellings into British spellings, since I recognise (or even recognize) that Wikipedia is neither American nor British (note that I did not change any of the spellings in the article, nor the title).

If you feel strongly that one spelling requires to be used throughout this article, then that's fine, and good luck to you. I don't object to this idea, although I do not share it.

As mentioned above, my response to being corrected is to poke a little fun so that we can perhaps laugh a little at how silly we are all being. I assure you (both) I meant no disrespect.

Dozenist is right though; the article is weak, and, currently, shorter than this debate.

One last remark. I don't know how it is on your side, but over here, we frequently use submarine as a noun, although I accept it started off life as an adjective. In fact, we used to have these four lads from Liverpool who claimed to live in a yellow one.Preacherdoc 20:44, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

I also did not mean to offend by my remarks. I really, truly, don't care one whit whether the article refers to dentine or dentin. What I do care (and care strongly) about, is that it is internally consistent. If whoever reverted my edits in the beginning--which started this discussion--had also moved the article to "Dentine", I would not have objected at all (regardless of whether or not it would have been in line with the guidelines). I, unlike you, cannot claim ANY dentistry knowledge whatsoever... I can, however claim some linguistics knowledge, and must admit that I was slightly incensed by your reply: In both BE and AE, "-in" and "-ine" endings abound. This precipitated my arguably WP:NPA-violating comments. In summary, this message is: a) an apology for the above comments (though you have not asked for one); b) a clarification of my pov; and c) a notice that I think the whole discussion totally useless as long as the article is consistent. If I offended you, please accept my humble appo-logies (with full intent to reference Black Adder). In friendship and comradeship-in-arms ( ;-) ) --Storkk 01:59, 4 September 2006 (UTC)