Edward Bradburn (asker) Mar 28, 2008:

Bern vs. Berne Since my choice was queried by at least one member of the site, here are the reasons why I chose "Berne".

I maybe should have mentioned that by English I meant UK English, which was the specified language for this translation.

Here are some of the references I have used:
* Berne Convention: http://law-ref.org/BERN/index.html
* Spelling on Expedia: (search for UK flights to Bern and you'll see the airport is called Berne, Switzerland (BRN-Belp))
* Weather on BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=4098
* EN Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne - see particularly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Berne#Berne_or_Bern.3F and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Canton_of_Bern, especially these comments: "As an American English speaker who's lived in Bern, I can say that both Bern and Berne are correct English forms. My impression is that Bern (which I use) is relatively more common in American English and Berne likewise in British English." and "I see that Googling the phrase "in Bern Switzerland" turns up many more hits than "in Berne Switzerland," ... though the British Embassy web page uses "Berne," the American Embassy web page uses "Bern.""

Lastly, and crucially, the city calls itself "Berne" on its English web page: http://www.bern.ch/weiche-en.

I am aware that Bern is the "right" name in some languages, but just as I have to spell Genf "Geneva", Zürich "Zurich", München "Munich" and so forth, so I have adopted "Berne" -- after consulting the above resources -- for this particular translation into UK English.

For a US text "Bern" should certainly be considered.

Cheers,

Ed