felafel v falafel

[jancsika]

According to yesterday’s 7-by-7 the game, the former is common whereas the latter gets the italic treatment. I had always seen is spelled “falafel” and indeed, if you click on the definition for “felafel”, it says: "(less common) alternative spelling of falafel". Also, if you google “felafel” it immediately pops up with “did you mean “falafel?”.

Candidates for reclassification? I think so....

[mkenuk]

I know the word from the time I spent working in the Middle East; I'd nearly always seen it spelled falafel in English menus, but I have seen both spellings.
To be honest, I'm surprised that either version is common in Chi.

Could I ask, just out of curiosity, which of the three spellings of hummus, humous or houmos is common?

Just my opinion but, unless there is a generally agreed spelling of words transliterated from languages which don't use Roman script (eg kimono, geisha and sushi from Japanese) then all variants should be 'rare'.

[pat]

I'm familiar with the word from seeing it but had never heard it spoken. I'd always thought it would be pronounced FA-ler-FELL but I recently heard it pronounced fer-LAY-ful.  You live and learn.

[anonsi]

Definitely no r when people say it over here. More like fuh-LAH-full.

Of those mentioned, falafel and hummus are common to me. I've not seen the other spelling variations.

[pat]

Definitely no r when people say it over here. More like fuh-LAH-full.

Yes, perhaps I should have said fuh-LAY-ful. I forgot about Americans' rhoticity!

[rogue_mother]

I forgot about Americans' rhoticity!

Pronouncing 'r' when it is there and not pronouncing it when it isn't there in the spelling -- what a concept!

Anonsi is correct about how we pronounce felafel over here. And to answer MK's question, hummus is the preferred spelling on this side of the Atlantic.

[TRex]

Never heard it pronounced any way other than fah-LAH-fel — and I've spent a fair amount of time around Middle Eastern people. I've never seen the first spelling, only the second.

[Alan W]

This issue was raised again recently.

There's no doubt that falafel is the more commonly used spelling throughout the English-speaking world - by a factor of 10 or thereabouts.

As it happens, the place where the felafel spelling is used most often is here in Australia, which might explain how the words came to be classified the way they are. Perhaps the Australian use of this variant is influenced by its use in the title of John Birmingham's 1994 novel about share house life, He Died with a Felafel in his Hand, and the subsequent film of the same name. But even in Australia the falafel spelling is in a clear majority.

So felafel should certainly be treated as rare in future. But should falafel become common? The word probably isn't used quite as often as the names of some other popular snack foods - kebab, taco, sushi - but I think it's well enough known to warrant common status. So that's what it will be from now on.