Why do Americans spell words different than the English?

Question

like (American) realized & realised (English)
color & colour
I can't think of anymore examples, but I know there are tons(it's late here and I am tired).
at what point did the American-English language change proper spelling? was it to be rebelous againts the Brits during Revolutionary times? does anyone know?

yeah and a rubber is an eraser (giggles), but when its the same word and same pronounciation, but different spelling. where does that come from?

Answer 1

Yes, Noah Webster (not "Miriam" --there is no such person!) had quite a bit to do with American spellings, but it's a bit more involved than that, as I'll try to explain.

First, note that VERY few differences between British and American spellings have much at all to do with pronunciation differences. Nor does the influence of other nationalities in America play much of a part. (In fact, it is more common for BRITISH English to reflect foreign spellings, esp. the French, where American English moved away from it... as with "colour" [see below].)

A few key points on Webser's work:

1) English spelling was not quite as fixed in 1800 as many think, and some of the American (esp Webster's) choices were between variant spellings... the British simply ended up making different choices

Thus Webster's work was simply trying to bring some standards to an almost "anything goes" situation, as well as to simplify difficult spellings. (In fact, Webster proposed many MORE spelling simplifcationsthat were not picked up). This make all the more sense when you find that Webster's MAIN concern was as a TEACHER. He began his work providing materials for students in American elementary schools. His first works, before the dictionary, were a grammar a reader and a spelling book -- all teaching tools. Changing the spelling of some words to better match how they were pronounced by his day was a reasonable part of his overall program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster#Speller_and_Dictionary

2) there were many 18th century advocates of spelling, and some of Webster's proposed changes were argued for in England as well, but those advocates could not overcome the preferences of the social elite in Britain.

Actually, SOME of Webster's changes were accepted by the British (perhaps at other's suggestion not his own), e.g., "music" instead of the older "musick".

3) there are some cases in which the AMERICAN spelling was the older one -- either the one current around 1800 or an attempt to move back to an EARLIER spelling-- and the BRITISH later changed it. One prominent example -- the ending "-ize" is more original (and more consistent with the Greek origin of the suffix); many British chose "-ise" apparently in part to differentiate themselves from America! (though OED and others have preferred the American spelling)


On the best-known change advocated by Webster -- of "-our" to "-or":

The u, of course, does not affect the pronunciation at all. That was Webster's reason for omitting it. In fact, the u in most if not all of the -our words is derived from French (forms ending in -eur, e.g., honneur, valeur) or were influened by Norman forms. Thus these are MIDDLE English words (after the Norman Conquest) and not OLD English. But note that the Latin ORIGINAL of "colour" is, in fact, "color". Not such a crazy innovation!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/color




For a list of differences see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_reform#Successes_in_spelling_simplification

Answer 2

Some words customs etc were not remembered clearly after the colonization. Example Appalachian music is base on old English folk tunes but is clearly different musically. As well popular use makes a word right or wrong. That is why they change the dictionary periodically. Example American color English colour it became popular in early America and became correct after a period of time. Besides you know the quote: England and America forever divided by the same language.

Answer 3

If I had to venture a guess I would say because language changes over time. Due to the outside influences of language we have here in the states because of so much immigration, our language has morphed a lot into what it is today. Britain has less of that so it hasn't changed as much as ours has. Fish and chips has been fish and chips for decades. Since when did we start calling them french fries? (In case you were wondering... brits call chips 'crisps'.) I could imagine that might effect the spelling of things as well. Tires for tyres and gray for grey. We pronounce it differently so we spell it differently. All languages change over time. So it would make sense that ours would at least be somewhat different than the british.

That would be my guess anyway.

Answer 4

Be mindful that America (North) was composed of English, French, Germans, Dutch, Irish and some smaller groups. By the time Webster compiled his dictionary the common use words had already been integrated into the everyday use. Words in the beginning were spelled phonically anyhow, so Webster took the most common of what was in use.

Answer 5

American English has had a great deal of influence on it from other languages, most specifically frfom German, French, Spanish, and Italian. As a result, the language has adjusted as a result of the outside influence.

For example, color comes from the Spanish spelling of the word. Also, the Spanish word for realize is realizado, which could easily account for the Z instead of the S.

Many of these words had been spelled differently in American English even before Mirriam Webster put it in his dictionary.

Answer 6

not sure why. in canada they dont use american enlgish it is odd to go over the border and have to write differently to be correct.

....but I have a funny story
Im from south africa so I use english english not american enlgish. well my older sister had just gone into grade 9 and one day in class she asked out loud HEY DOES ANYBODY HAVE A RUBBER????

hahahahahaha poor thing. We hadnt learnt the slang words for condoms...ah that was great

Answer 7

You can either blame or thank Miriam Webster for that.
When the first Dictionary of American English was created, it was decided that the spellings of words, especially those of French or Latin origin, be spelled more phonetically. Thus, "colour" became "color". Also, a lot of Frankish words that contained "f" were changed to "s" because that is the sound "f" has in that dialect. "Silly" used to actually be spelled "filly", but pronounced the same way.

Answer 8

Because North American spelling is more logical.

Answer 9

yeah you could use the word, homonyms, to replace the last sentence, where a word has the same pronounciation but with a different spelling and meaning.

Answer 10

When Noah Webster compiled his American dictionary in 1806 he not only wanted to eradicate inconsistencies in English spelling, but also make it clear that Aerican English had its own standard.