why do american people spell differently to people living in europe?

Question

example;americans spell nite but other countries spell night

Answer 1

Very simple, they don't speak english, but a dialect

Answer 2

A good answer to that would be that we Americans, over the course of time, have developed our own language. We speak "English" but in a far different form; thus our different spellings and pronunciations. A better term for what we speak would be American.

As far as "nite" goes; we really need to stop with the "chat-speak" in our lives. It really says alot about how lazy we are. How much trouble is it to make those few extra keystrokes and use proper grammar?

Answer 3

I'm Canadian, and Americans seem to spell differently than we do in a lot of the same ways they spell differently than the English. For instance, I would spell 'neighbour' with a "u"... while Americans tend to spell it 'neighbor', which just looks wrong to me. The same goes for "colour", "honour", "favour" and so on...

However, I really don't think they spell "night" as "nite". The latter spelling is just computer slang, lots of people who speak English do that.

Answer 4

All languages have been evolving since they exist. When you separate geographically people speaking the same language, they start evolving in a different way. They speak about different things and try to make easier the usual words and expressions. It happens the same with all the languages. English is not special for this. With Spanish for example, it happens not only in South America and Spain but also in different countries in South America. In Europe there are languages with dialects that vary from one valley to another and they could even don't understand what people say in the valley besides.

Answer 5

Because we're not European?

Back in the day, before the English Language had a real standardized spelling system, "creative spelling" or phonetic spelling was the norm. Try reading Shakespere, or Chaucer in their original spellings. English spelling, just as word-usage and grammar, has evolved over time.

By the time that the standardization of spelling in the form of "Dictionarys" was introduced, (around 1604 or 1755, depending on whom you believe) the American Colonies had already formed much of their own "creative spelling". It was Noah Webster in 1828 who standardized American spellings with his Dictionary.

Answer 6

I'm American and I spell the word night the same as europeans.

Answer 7

Because the great American lexicographer Noah Webster was making an effort to simplify and regularize spelling, and to make it phonetically correct for both general and American usage.

Answer 8

I thought it was spelled night? In english class, thats the way I was taught to spell it.

Answer 9

labour or labor is a good example. What you just did was only an alternative spelling used to look fancy. It's like spelling ëasy" as "E.Z." It's only short hand.

Answer 10

Uh, no we don't.

You're talking about silly chatspeakers and kids who get lazy online and don't bother to spell things correctly, not all Americans.

We do (unfortunately) spell things like color without the 'u'

Answer 11

In response to your specific example, "nite" vs "night" is simply laziness or communicative brevity. "night" is obviously correct, regardless of regionality.