I recently asked for a researcher to review a survey I had written. She edited it so that it said, "Does your jurisdiction enquire about physical or mental health conditions..."
I changed it to inquire, then hesitated, and asked my husband if there is a difference between the 2 words. He said he thought so, but I can't find anything to indicate that.
I see that the OED 1 says that the distinction in British English is more modern than not. And Fowlers/Gowers (2nd ed. 1965, 1st 1926) writes: "There is a tendency, which deserves encouragement, to differentiate enquir(e)(y) and inquir(e)(y) by using en- as a formal word for ask and in- for an investigation, e.g. They enquired when the Court of Inquiry was to sit." I, myself, don't have a problem with the distinction.
[This message was edited by jheem on Thu Feb 19th, 2004 at 7:58.]
So, the difference is "enquire" asks for a formal investigation? Yet, do you Brits ever use "inquire"? Given that explanation, I was correct to change it to "inquire" since it wasn't a formal investigation, right?
No, Fowler means 'enquire' is a formal word for 'ask'. You enquire what the time is, or when the next train will be. To inquire is to make a formal investigation, as into an accident or scandal.
No, Fowler means 'enquire' is a formal word for 'ask'.
Actually, that's what Sir Ernest Gower had to say in 1965, I finally picked up a copy of Fowler's 1st ed. 1926. He has two entries headed "inquire", the first of which points to the entry on formal words, where inquire is glossed as a formal word for ask; the second entry points at the em- / in- entry, but says that in- is better. Under the final, em-/in- entry, is "inquire, inquiry: The OED gives the i. the precedence, but says 'The half-latinized e.' (the unlatinized form being enquere) 'still subsists besides i.' Earlier in the same entry, Fowler writes: "Tenacious clinging to the right of private judgement is an English trait that a mere grammarian may not presume to deprecate, & such statements as the OED's The half-latinized enquere still subsists beside inquire will no doubt long remain true. Spelling however is not one of the domains in which private judgement shows to most advantage, & and the general acceptance of the above forms on the authority of the OED (from which the remarks below in inverted commas below are taken, & which recognizes as the criterion not any pedantic canon, but the usage of most writers) would be a sensible & democratic concession to uniformity." I think that the distinction between enquiring and inquiring is quite new.
[This message was edited by jheem on Thu Feb 19th, 2004 at 8:41.]
