Wikipedia:Manual of Style/National varieties of English

It is intended that this page is not policy, but is a guide to how Wikipedians have interpreted the policy in the Manual of Style. This page is in development.

To read the current policy in full, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English.

Examples where a "local" variety of English can be established

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  • Fact profile: Greg Rusedski was born in Canada, but has now taken British citizenship, sees himself as British and competes at tennis as a Briton.
  • Conclusion: Use standard British English for the article on Greg Rusedski.
  • Fact profile: John Mahoney was born in England, but as a youth, moved to the United States. He now has American citizenship and sees himself as American.
  • Conclusion: Use standard American English for the article on John Mahoney.
  • Fact profile: English-born cricketer, who is notable for his performances for England in the 1932/3 Bodyline series. After retirement he emigrated to Australia, took Australian citizenship and saw himself as Australian.
  • Conclusion: As his notability relates to the period in which he lived in Britain, use standard British English for the article on Harold Larwood.
  • Fact profile: Said Musa is the Prime Minister of Belize. He was born in Belize when it was known as "British Honduras" and was under British rule. He also studied law at Manchester University in England, but returned to Belize the following year. He became a politician in independent Belize and has lived there ever since. Belize usually considers itself a Caribbean nation, rather than a Central American nation.
  • Conclusion: Belize uses British English as its written language (although the more common spoken dialect is Caribbean English), thus the article on Said Musa should be written in British English.

Examples where a "local" variety of English cannot be established

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  • Fact profile: The Fiat Regata is an Italian motor car. It is produced in Italy, where there is no national variety of English, by an Italian company. It is sold in many markets, across which many varieties of English are in use.
  • Conclusion: The article was originally written in British English, therefore the article should retain that dialect.
  • Fact profile: A Scottish-born actor, but has spent much time in America. He now lives in the Bahamas. However, he has retained his British citizenship and is still popularly described as Scottish.
  • Conclusion: Since Connery's notability is international in scope and he has resided in regions associated with at least three different dialects, there is no compelling reason to change it from its current usage of British English.