We have a honour roll in the town hall and honour is spelt honovr. Dose anyone know why?

Answer 1

Public inscriptions use the traditional Latin alphabet that doesn't include letters like k, u, w, y as it was used 2,000 years ago. So, it is customary to represent the letter u by a v which comes closest.

Answer 2

Even as recently as some 140 years ago, old English sometimes used the letter v instead of u.There are still buildings in our town built by the Britishon which the word 'house' is spelt 'hovse', and these are considered to be heritage buildings!
The same argument for use of v applies to the word 'honovr' which is the British old spelling for 'honour'.

Answer 3

Yes, the first answerer is correct. "Honour" is the traditional, or "British" way of spelling what we Americans spell as "Honor." The "v" was often used for a "u." It's just old fashioned, not incorrect.

Answer 4

Next time you go to a cemetery, notice the headstones. They use v as u. I read three of your answers and they are mostly what I would have answered. Good question. I wondered this for years but when I was young I didn't think to ask anyone.

Answer 5

I'm guessing it's carved in stone. The Latin consonantal u was often written as v.