2007-03-10 11:27:45 · 10 answers · asked by casper 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Thanx Miss_New! I took your advise and looked it up in the dictionary and it IS spelled WITHOUT a "u". So I guess you and the rest of the world aren't so smart after all!!!
2007-03-11 04:52:58 · update #1
i'm not sure.. i used to think it was "fourty" too because "four" is spelled with a "u" so it should be "fourty" instead of "forty". i still don't get that...
2007-03-10 12:11:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Like so many things in English that people call "weird", "irregular", etc. when they don't understand it, this follows a very common and natural pattern for words in Germanic languages.
The vowel change goes back to Old English and beyond - and is caused by the adding of the suffix.
In Old English (and many other Germanic languages) adding of an ending with and i/y type vowel (in this case it was originally -ig, now -y) caused a type of "vowel harmony" (or "metaphony") in which the vowel of the accented syllable became more like that of the suffix. This specific type is called "umlaut" or "i-mutation" --because the vowel of the suffix was an i-type vowel, and the changed vowel would become or move closer to an i-type vowel. In any case, the changed vowel typically become shorter and/or moved toward the front of mouth ("fronting")
German did the same sort of thing. One of the best examples that English speakers may know is the word "Frau" ("woman") which is pronounced "frow", but when it adds the suffix "-lein" to became "Fräulein", pronounced "froyline" (notice the i/y sound in the first syllable!)
This shift in English is also the origin of some of our unusual plural forms: goose > geese; foot > feet; mouse > mice; man > men. Also a result of this change: long > length; hale > health; old > elder.
2007-03-10 20:34:05 · answer #2 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just accept it. The English language is full of oddities and rules with exceptions.
2007-03-10 19:34:22 · answer #3 · answered by maddojo 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think that is really weird too! AND I'm sure it's probably on the list of the most misspelled words.
2007-03-10 19:30:28 · answer #4 · answered by Pinkerton 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
“Four” loses its U when it changes to “forty.”
Fourty is not the correct spelling, but forty is right.
It's just another one of our weird spellings.
2007-03-10 19:35:15 · answer #5 · answered by Tenn Gal 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You become forgetful around that age.
2007-03-10 19:30:05 · answer #6 · answered by BL 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because the english language is crazy
2007-03-10 19:30:18 · answer #7 · answered by Nikki 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because the e and the u get in fights!!!!!
2007-03-10 19:32:52 · answer #8 · answered by Calamity dog 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
fourty the number IS spelled with a "u"!! Duh! Look it up in a dictionary!
2007-03-10 19:30:52 · answer #9 · answered by Miss_New_Cutie 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It isn't
2007-03-10 19:29:54 · answer #10 · answered by ♥H] ッ 6 · 0⤊ 6⤋