A Brief Review of American and British English- Spelling
Created | Updated Oct 12, 2005
Noah Webster
Some 200 years ago, Noah Webster published A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language which led to the authorative An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. He was the first to recognize truly American words that did not have their root from British English. He urged needlessly confusing words to be altered (Plough became Plow, for instance) and many silent letters to be dropped. This led to the American differentials from classic English.1 It is likely that if the British as a people were to rewrite their dictionary, as Noah Webster had the chance to do, and did, they would change a few words, for better accuracy.
Why English is so Odd
An important factor to the difference of English words and their spellings is the simple quirkiness of the language and the printing press. When English was laid out for the first time to be properly spelled, there were some odd choices made by today's standards, or more correctly, the choices were made before the evolution was done, this is in the same way that an ape would keep the name ape after evolving to humans. See The Great Vowel Shift.
-U
The general American view of British English is completely revolving around the letter "u". For instance, in American English, something that you like best is your favorite, but in British English, it reads as favourite. Such is the case with "colour" and "colour", "labour" and "labor" and "humour" and "humor". They are not particularly uncomfortable words to read, as both sides probably understand them and move on, much in the same way that one would dismiss a typographical error. The British view of American english is the absence of the "u" in those words. This is always a stern reminder of what nationality a writer is from.
-RE, -ER
An American attempt to be easier to read has apparently backfired with a new era of fancy buildings. For instance, in many taller, wider American Buildings, it might proclaim the building as "centre" instead of the accustomed American "center" or replacing the American "Theater" with "Theatre". This is a subtle attempt to appear fancy or important. These words look like a typo to Americans.
-YZE, -YSE
A one letter difference from the two, in American society words traditionally ending in -YSE, like analyse were altered for easier pronounciation/clarity. Hence, analyse in British English became analyze in American English.
-IZE, -ISE
In the United States, many adjectives and nouns were able to be used as verbs when adding the standard -ize ending, in British English, to standardize a noun or adjective, you must add an -ise ending. This rule is loosely followed though, as in American English, the term that should be surprize is surprise, and in British dictionaries, the -ize ending is shown as the ending and -ise as an alternative.
-F, -PH
Usually found in the middle of words like sulphur and sulfur, this is perhaps the most easily detected of the changes. The two spellings are consistant with the same sound as well.
Redundancies
Like many words of French origin, tyre was shortened to a more distinguishable "tire". Other words of this origin usually have unnessecary letters, and most were dropped in the American English adaptation.
-E
With a word like programme, the inovators of the language took off a letter from British English to make it more clear and easy to spell. Luckily for American illiterate British and vice versa, these words are still quite similar.
-AE, -E
In American English, words like gynecology turn into gynaecology in British. The use of the ae is supposed to (In most languages) produce a very specific sound, but in the British English, e is often used. Other examples of this include American anesthesia to British anaesthesia, and American archeology to British archaeology.
-UE
In British words like catalogue, which was changed into catalog in American English, there is a somewhat excessive -ue at the end. These two vowels do not serve any particular purpose and were eliminated. Analog and analogue is another classic example.
-IER, -ER
In examples like hauler, in American English, the British version would cause an American some difficulty pronouncing it, as they would try to add another sound to an already crowded area.
Translation
AMERICAN ----------- BRITISH
American on left, British to right
aluminum ---------------- aluminium
analog -------------------- analogue
anesthesia -------------- anaesthesia
archeology -------------- archaeology
bylaw ---------------------- bye-law
catalog -------------------- catalogue
center --------------------- centre
color ----------------------- colour
defense ------------------- defence
dialog ---------------------- dialogue
draft ------------------------ draught
encyclopedia ----------- encyclopaedia
favorite -------------------- favourite
gray ------------------------ grey
gynecology -------------- gynaecology
hauler --------------------- haulier
honor ---------------------- honour
humor --------------------- humour
jewelry -------------------- jewellery
license -------------------- licence
maneuver ---------------- manoeuvre
meter --------------------- metre
mold ---------------------- mould
hemoglobin ------------- haemoglobin
mustache --------------- moustache
omelet -------------------- omelette
practice ------------------ practise
program ------------------ programme
routing -------------------- routeing
specialty ---------------- speciality
story ---------------------- storey (In a building)
sulfur ---------------------- sulphur
tire ------------------------- tyre
vise ------------------------ vice (A tool)
diarrhea ------------------ diarrhoea
DISCLAIMER
It's important to remember that many of these rules don't apply to all situations, and all F's in a word should not be replaced by "PH"s while visting the UK, or vice versa. For more information on why the spellings are as they are, which is weird, see A964578. English is odd, in some words, the e at the end will go away, in some it will stay, in some words there will be no vowels. English is an indecisive language.
1Although many words like tung and wimmen, in place of tongue and women, respectively, were not met with much enthusiasm.
