Why do the English spell some words with a "u"?

Question

such as "rumour", "favourite", "neighbour", colour"....

Answer 1

It's all to do with the way the English language evolved from Latin and French.

Most of the words ending in -our were borrowed from French. After William the Conqueror invaded England 1066, there were stronger links between England and continental Europe. These words (like colour etc.) were 'borrowed' from French and spelt with -our endings in Anglo-French to more closely represent the original French pronunciation.

There used to be a bit of inconsistency in words being spelt -our or -or, but that was standardised when Dr. Johnson produced the first dictionary in 1755, using -our throughout.

So, basically the modern English language developed with the words having "u" in them like 'colour', 'neighbour' etc. and it was the Americans who subsequently chose to deviate from that spelling and drop ths "u"s.

Answer 2

!!!

I think the question should be 'why do Americans spell it without the 'u'?!!'

Think about it....it's the English language....created and spoken by the English....and now the Americans are 'Americanising' it.


I guess it's the development of languages...Americans being the dominant nation will have more influence on the development of the English language, and so in the future even the English will be spelling words like the Americans....Color, Favorite, Center, etc

Answer 3

Because we speak English and spell in accordance with the English dictionary.

Answer 4

because they invented the english language so they can do whatever the hell they want with it. americans can't even speak english, so they make fun of british people for spelling words in funny ways that americans can't spell correctly anyway.

Answer 5

Thank you! I had this computer once and it spelled color colour and so I started spelling it that way and people told me that I was mis-spelling it.

Now I know I am not crazy. You have solved the great mystery.

Answer 6

cuz thats the right English,why do we the Americans spell it without the "u"? i spell mine using a "u" and a lot of people tell me that im spelling it wrong,i spell "mom" as "mum"..realize-realise,organize-organise and those with the "or" i spell it as "our" like color-colour,i learnt it like that in Africa until i came here and realised that the U.S spells it differently but oh well....

Answer 7

Guess americans are lazy and remove the U from those words hahaha....I write british english :)

Answer 8

That's the way the English language is. Sometimes it is complicated.

Answer 9

British English, i think.

Answer 10

thats the english for ya