Chapter 3: American English and British English Today - Spelling

Question 1

List some common spelling differences between UK English and US English.

Answer 1

• UK vs US
• our vs or
• re vs er
• ise vs ize
• ll vs l (traveling)
• ence vs ense (defense, offense, license)
• judgement vs judgment
• grey vs gray
• tyre vs tire
• axe vs ax
• woollen vs woolen
  NB. some are systematic differences, whilst some are isolated.

Question 2

Why does ‘travelled’ become ‘traveled’ in US English, but ‘occurred’ stays ‘occurred’. Give other examples.

Answer 2

• More emphasis is put on the second syllable of ‘occurred’, so the double letter stays. Same for ‘propelled’
• Examples of changes = modeled, canceled, marveled.
  NB UK inconsistencies = mentioned, happened.

Question 3

What are the 4 reasons why US spelling tends to differ to UK spelling?

Answer 3

1) US tends to be simplified e.g., woollen vs woolen, tyre vs tire
2) US tends to be more regular e.g., UK = humour > humorous; defence > defensive
3) US tends to be closer to the pronunciation and/or closer to the etymology of a word e.g., color is from Latin and Old French
4) Isolated examples are also motivated e.g., gray has the same spelling pattern as more words (lay, say, may, day etc.)