Dwarf or Dwarve, Dwarfen or Dwarven?

[City Builder]

So I keep seeing people write things differently. I'm not sure if it's just a difference between U.K. spelling and American spelling or if there is a difference that is deeper.

Dwarf of Dwarve?

Dwarfen or Dwarven?

Is there a difference really?

 

[Xerkis]

:rofl:

I "try" to always spell it the way the game is titled. . . Drafes.... i mean Dwarf . . . Drafts .. . . oh never mind.

 

[jedi72it]

I once saw even a..


"DORFFFFFFFSSSSSSSSSS!!!"

lol

 

[StephenT]

Before the 1930s:

One dwarf
Two dwarfs
Dwarfen

After Tolkien wrote 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings':

One dwarf
Two dwarves
Dwarven.

Yes, Tolkien invented the 'one dwarf, two dwarves' spelling, to make it work the same way as 'one elf, two elves'.

'Dorf' is a comic misspelling of 'dwarf' used by players of Dwarf Fortress.

 

[Ferizo]

Or we could just call them "Midgets" or "Little People".

Though I'm guessing StephenT got it right just there. Honestly though I personally think Dwarf/Dwarves/Dwarven seem like the more sensible way to write it (exactly in the same sense as we name Elves).
If you were to reverse the process for Elves it would become Elfs which looks so wrong to me, but that might be due to certain conditioning.

 

[deadmeat1471]

I like to think of Dorf not as an misspelled word but as a bastardized club footed mutant of Dwarf.

 

[jedi72it]

Before the 1930s:

One dwarf
Two dwarfs
Dwarfen

After Tolkien wrote 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings':

One dwarf
Two dwarves
Dwarven.

Yes, Tolkien invented the 'one dwarf, two dwarves' spelling, to make it work the same way as 'one elf, two elves'.

'Dorf' is a comic misspelling of 'dwarf' used by players of Dwarf Fortress.

Actually, i saw that written 3 or even 4 years ago in the general chat on LOTRO
i don't know if DF was already out....anyway, nice to know about Tolkien, he was a great linguist.

 

[deadmeat1471]

Actually, i saw that written 3 or even 4 years ago in the general chat on LOTRO
i don't know if DF was already out....anyway, nice to know about Tolkien, he was a great linguist.

DF has been out alot longer than LOTRO.
*I would hazard a guess at about 8 years now?

I knew I played it first when it came out, when I was in school, I am now 25 and very far from school!

 

[jedi72it]

DF has been out alot longer than LOTRO.
*I would hazard a guess at about 8 years now?

I knew I played it first when it came out, when I was in school, I am now 25 and very far from school!

I see, he was then roleplaying his preferred dorf

 

[Grombeard]

Wait, dwarf/dwarves is written the way it is to match it up with those wimpy treehuggers? :blink:

Give me some mead to help me get over this...

 

[Casiru]

Dorf has been used forever as a 'not-so-serious' spelling, I remember using it a few times back on Everquest (which was a loooong time ago).

Personally I use Dwarven since Dwarfen doesn't really roll off the tongue.

 

[Razqua]

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't DF been in Alpha/Beta for close to 10 years now?

 

[EckyThump]

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't DF been in Alpha/Beta for close to 10 years now?

10 years if you count from when Toady started. The first public alpha release was 6 years ago.

 

[Maria Theresa]

I'm a big Tolkien fan and only recognise Dwarf, dwarves and Dwarven as appropriate words. Every other spelling is wrong and should be punishable by law!

And dorf is just plain insulting!

 

[City Builder]

I'm a big Tolkien fan and only recognise Dwarf, dwarves and Dwarven as appropriate words. Every other spelling is wrong and should be punishable by law!

And dorf is just plain insulting!

Yup, I would never call my brother like "Dude, you're such a dwarf". but I might be tempted to tell hims "Dude, you're such a dorf!":rofl:

 

[Pandadan]

I first encountered the spelling "dorf" as a comical misspelling used by players in the Myth: The Fallen Lords demo. The full game released in 1997, so this was '96 or '97, a couple years before EQ.

I find "dwarf" and "dwarves" to roll off the tongue (like "staff" and "staves", "hoof" and "hooves") but that might just be because the evil Prof. Tolkien indoctrinated me at a young age.

 

[Illanair]

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't DF been in Alpha/Beta for close to 10 years now?

That ties in with how nightmarishly complex Toady has decided to make the game and the fact that he alone works on it (mostly). An admirable approach, though I personally really wish that he'd hire some UI people to give it a modern interface (see Stonesense) and then continue on the inner workings. It'd make it more approachable to new people thus higher potential for donations :3

 

[deadmeat1471]

That ties in with how nightmarishly complex Toady has decided to make the game and the fact that he alone works on it (mostly). An admirable approach, though I personally really wish that he'd hire some UI people to give it a modern interface (see Stonesense) and then continue on the inner workings. It'd make it more approachable to new people thus higher potential for donations :3

 

[Illanair]

Not everyone enjoys ASCII - I don't mind the concept personally but I have to use a bitmap theme to fix the rectangular tiles.

 

[deadmeat1471]

Not everyone enjoys ASCII - I don't mind the concept personally but I have to use a bitmap theme to fix the rectangular tiles.

See my previous post.
Calls the Inquisitors.