How Do You Spell Shar Pei... or is it Shar-Pei, Sharpei, Char Pay or Sharpey???

There is a lot of confusion over how you spell "Shar Pei". Aside from getting the basic spelling right, is it one word or two? If two words, does it have a hyphen or not? Is it capitalized? If Capitalized, which letters? Is it lower case, Sentence case, or Title Case? The following variations have all been seen in one form or another:

A search on Google revealed that the primary spellings are all variations of "shar pei" or "shar-pei" with about 160,000 pages found. Sharpei as one word was the next most frequent spelling at about 60,000 pages returned. Unfortuantely, Google doesn't distinguish between capitalization, hyphens or spaces.

Another issue is, once you've got the correct spelling for the singular form, what is the plural form of the word? Do you add an "s" on the end or not? Is it Pei or Peis or Pei's?

To help answer these questions, we turned to our "Panel of Experts" (our Shar Pei Forum Members) how they spell it. In a recent unscientific poll on our Forums, 36 of our Members voted as follows:

Wikipedia

The Online Wikipedia Dictionary was no help. When the article was first accessed on August 7th, 2004, it showed it spelled both as Shar Pei and Shar-Pei within the same description. Yet a day later, all of the hyphens had been removed. Since visitors are able to freely edit entries in Wikipedia at will, it's content is highly suspect. Here is the way the article appeared on August 7th, 2004, complete with some misspellings:

Shar Pei is a breed of dog whose distinctive feature is deep wrinkles. The name itself translates to "Sand Skin," not because of their colors, but because of their texture. As young puppies, they have few wrinkles, but as they mature, more wrinkles appear. Later, as they age, they lose some of their wrinkles. They were not recognized by the American Kennel Club until 1991.

The Shar-Pei were originally bead (sic) as Chinese fighting dogs, and were at one point close to extinction, when they were credited in the Guniness (sic) Book of Word Records, as 'The rerest (sic) dog in the world'. Since then, however, the Shar Pei have begun to thrive in many parts of the world as an excellent family dog, due to their loving and devoted nature.

Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com has it "Shar-Pei" but then goes on to show the plural form with a hyphen, a space, and an ending "s" Very curious: "Shar-·Peis"

Shar-Pei   ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (shärp)
n. pl. Shar-·Peis Any of a Chinese breed of medium-sized dog having loose wrinkled skin, a short rough coat, and a blue-black mouth and tongue. Also called Chinese Shar-Pei.

---

[Chinese (Mandarin) sh pí, sand fur  : sh, sand + pí, fur.]

Merriam Webster

Merriam Webster has it lower case with a hyphen "shar-pei" and the plural with an "s" as "shar-peis":

Main Entry: shar-pei
Pronunciation: "shä-'pA, "shär-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural shar-peis
Etymology: Chinese (Guangdong) sà sand + péi fur
: any of an ancient breed of dogs originating in China that have loose wrinkled skin especially when young, a short bristly coat, blue-black tongue, and wide blunt muzzle

Encyclopedia Britannica Online

Encyclopedia Britannica Online has it as "Shar-pei" and "Shar-peis." Interestingly, it goes on to cite differences between MLA Style (Modern Language Association), APA Style (American Psychological Association), and its own Britannica Style:

Shar-pei

Ancient breed of dog that originated in China.

Shar-peis are notable for their loose, wrinkled skin, especially when young. They have a short bristly coat, wide blunt muzzle, blue-black tongue, and unusual black gums.

---

MLA style:
"Shar-pei." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 2004.  Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
8 Aug. 2004  <http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=403723>.

APA style:
Shar-pei. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 8, 2004, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
<http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=403723>

Britannica style:
"shar-pei" Britannica Concise Encyclopedia  from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
<http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=403723>
[Accessed August 8, 2004].

Shar-Pei Books at Amazon

A search at Amazon.com showed that most of the books there have it spelled in the form of Title Case with a hyphen; "Shar-Pei".

The American Kennel Club

Finally, The American Kennal Club has it spelled as "Shar-Pei." The full article doesn't shed any light on the plural form:

The Chinese Shar-Pei is regal, alert, intelligent, and dignified. He may appear independent, snobbish, and standoffish with strangers. But is extremely devoted to his family.

The Chinese Shar-Pei has been described as "people dogs," preferring the companionship of humans to that of other dogs.

So what do you think? Share your opinion about this, and other Shar-Pei issues at The Shar Pei Information Message Boards and Discussion Forums.