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Despite the various English dialects spoken from country to country and within different regions of the same country, there are only slight regional variations in English orthography, the two most notable variations being British and American spelling. Many of the differences between American and British or Commonwealth English date back to a time before spelling standards were developed. For instance, some spellings seen as "American" today were once commonly used in Britain, and some spellings seen as "British" were once commonly used in the United States.

A "British standard" began to emerge following the 1755 publication of Samuel Johnson's ''A Dictionary of the English Language'', and an "American standard" started following the work of Noah Webster and, in particular, his '' An American Dictionary of the English Language'', first published in 1828. Webster's efforts at spelling reform were effective in his native country, resulting in certain well-known patterns of spelling differences between the American and British varieties of English. However, English-language spelling reform has rarely been adopted otherwise. As a result, modern English orthography varies only minimally between countries and is far from phonemic in any country.

Historical origins

In the early 18th century, English spelling was inconsistent. These differences became noticeable after the publication of influential dictionaries. Today's British English spellings mostly follow Johnson's ''A Dictionary of the English Language'' (1755), while many American English spellings follow Webster's ''An American Dictionary of the English Language'' ("ADEL", "Webster's Dictionary", 1828).

Webster was a proponent of English spelling reform for reasons both philological and nationalistic. In ''A Companion to the American Revolution'' (2008), John Algeo notes: "it is often assumed that characteristically American spellings were invented by Noah Webster. He was very influential in popularizing certain spellings in the United States, but he did not originate them. Rather  ..he chose already existing options such as ''center, color'' and ''check'' for the simplicity, analogy or etymology". William Shakespeare's first folios, for example, used spellings such as ''center'' and ''color'' as much as ''centre'' and ''colour''.''-or''
Online Etymology Dictionary. Webster did attempt to introduce some reformed spellings, as did the Simplified Spelling Board in the early 20th century, but most were not adopted. In Britain, the influence of those who preferred the Norman (or Anglo-French) spellings of words proved to be decisive. Later spelling adjustments in the United Kingdom had little effect on today's American spellings and vice versa.

For the most part, the spelling systems of most Commonwealth countries and Ireland closely resemble the British system. In Canada, the spelling system can be said to follow both British and American forms,Clark, 2009. and Canadians are somewhat more tolerant of foreign spellings when compared with other English-speaking nationalities. Australian English mostly follows British spelling norms but has strayed slightly, with some American spellings incorporated as standard.''The Macquarie Dictionary'', Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005. New Zealand English is almost identical to British spelling, except in the word ''fiord'' (instead of ''fjord''. There is an increasing use of macrons in words that originated in Māori and an unambiguous preference for ''-ise'' endings (see below).

Latin-derived spellings (often through Romance)

''-our'', ''-or''

Most words ending in an unstressed ''‑our'' in British English (e.g., ) end in ''‑or'' in American English (). Wherever the vowel is unreduced in pronunciation (e.g., ''devour'', '' contour'', ''flour'', ''hour'', '' paramour'', ''tour'', ''troubadour'', and ''velour''), the spelling is uniform everywhere.

Most words of this kind came from Latin, where the ending was spelled ''‑or''. They were first adopted into English from early Old French, and the ending was spelled ''‑our'', ''‑or'' or ''‑ur''.''Webster's Third,'' p. 24a. After the Norman Conquest, the ending became ''‑our'' to match the later Old French spelling. The ''‑our'' ending was used not only in new English borrowings, but was also applied to the earlier borrowings that had used ''‑or''. However, ''‑or'' was still sometimes found. The first three folios of Shakespeare's plays used both spellings before they were standardised to ''‑our'' in the Fourth Folio of 1685.

After the Renaissance, new borrowings from Latin were taken up with their original ''‑or'' ending, and many words once ending in ''‑our'' (for example, ''chancellour'' and ''governour'') reverted to ''‑or''. A few words of the ''‑our/or'' group do not have a Latin counterpart that ends in ''‑or''; for example, ''armo(u)r'', ''behavio(u)r'', ''harbo(u)r'', ''neighbo(u)r''; also '' arbo(u)r'', meaning "shelter", though senses "tree" and "tool" are always '' arbor'', a false cognate of the other word. The word ''arbor'' would be more accurately spelled ''arber'' or ''arbre'' in the US and the UK, respectively, the latter of which is the French word for "tree". Some 16th- and early 17th-century British scholars indeed insisted that ''‑or'' be used for words from Latin (e.g., ') and ''‑our'' for French loans; however, in many cases, the etymology was not clear, and therefore some scholars advocated ''‑or'' only and others ''‑our'' only.

Webster's 1828 dictionary had only ''-or'' and is given much of the credit for the adoption of this form in the United States. By contrast, Johnson's 1755 (pre-US independence and establishment) dictionary used ''-our'' for all words still so spelled in Britain (like ''colour''), but also for words where the ''u'' has since been dropped: ''ambassadour'', ''emperour'', ''errour'', ''governour'', ''horrour'', ''inferiour'', ''mirrour'', ''perturbatour'', ''superiour'', ''tenour'', ''terrour'', ''tremour''. Johnson, unlike Webster, was not an advocate of spelling reform, but chose the spelling best derived, as he saw it, from among the variations in his sources. He preferred French over Latin spellings because, as he put it, "the French generally supplied us". English speakers who moved to the United States took these preferences with them. In the early 20th century, H. L. Mencken notes that "' appears in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, but it seems to have been put there rather by accident than by design". In Jefferson's original draft it is spelled "honour". In Britain, examples of rarely appear in Old Bailey court records from the 17th and 18th centuries, whereas there are thousands of examples of their ''-our'' counterparts. One notable exception is '. ' and ' were equally frequent in Britain until the 17th century; ''honor'' only exists in the UK now as the spelling of '' Honor Oak'', a district of London, and of the occasional given name Honor.

Derivatives and inflected forms

In derivatives and inflected forms of the ''-our/or'' words, British usage depends on the nature of the suffix used. The ''u'' is kept before English suffixes that are freely attachable to English words (for example in ) and suffixes of Greek or Latin origin that have been adopted into English (for example in ). However, before Latin suffixes that are not freely attachable to English words, the ''u'':
* may be dropped, for example in '' honorary'', ''honorific'', ''humorist'', '' humorous'', '' invigorate'', '' laborious'', and '' vigorous'';
* may be either dropped or kept, for example in ''colo(u)ration'' and ''colo(u)rize ''or'' colourise''; or
* may be kept, for example in '.

In American usage, derivatives and inflected forms are built by simply adding the suffix in all cases (for example, ', ' etc.) since the ''u'' is absent to begin with.

Exceptions

American usage, in most cases, keeps the ''u'' in the word '' glamour'', which comes from Scots, not Latin or French. ' is sometimes used in imitation of the spelling reform of other ''-our'' words to ''-or''. Nevertheless, the adjective '' glamorous'' often drops the first "u". ' is a somewhat common variant of ' in the US. The British spelling is very common for ' (and ') in the formal language of wedding invitations in the US. The name of the has a ''u'' in it because the spacecraft was named after British Captain James Cook's ship, . The (former) special car on Amtrak's ''Coast Starlight'' train is known as the Pacific Parlour car, not ''Pacific Parlor''. Proper names such as ''Pearl Harbor'' or ''Sydney Harbour'' are usually spelled according to their native-variety spelling vocabulary.

The name of the herb '' savory'' is spelled thus everywhere, although the related adjective ''savo(u)ry'', like ''savo(u)r'', has a ''u'' in the UK. ''Honor'' (the name) and ''arbor'' (the tool) have ''-or'' in Britain, as mentioned above, as does the word ''pallor''. As a general noun, ''rigour'' has a ''u'' in the UK; the medical term ''rigor'' (sometimes ) does not, such as in ''rigor mortis'', which is Latin. Derivations of ''rigour''/''rigor'' such as ''rigorous'', however, are typically spelled without a ''u'', even in the UK. Words with the ending ''-irior'', ''-erior'' or similar are spelled thus everywhere. ''Junior'' and ''senior'' were borrowed directly from Latin in the 13th century (as adjectives for father-son namesakes), and have never had ''-our'' forms anywhere.

The word ''armour'' was once somewhat common in American usage but has disappeared except in some brand names such as Under Armour.

The agent suffix ''-or'' (''separator'', ''elevator'', ''translator'', ''animator'', etc.) is spelled thus both in American and British English.

Commonwealth usage

Commonwealth countries normally follow British usage. Canadian English most commonly uses the ''-our'' ending and ''-our-'' in derivatives and inflected forms. However, owing to the close historic, economic, and cultural relationship with the United States, ''-or'' endings are also sometimes used. Throughout the late 19th and early to mid-20th century, most Canadian newspapers chose to use the American usage of ''-or'' endings, originally to save time and money in the era of manual movable type. However, in the 1990s, the majority of Canadian newspapers officially updated their spelling policies to the British usage of ''-our''. This coincided with a renewed interest in Canadian English, and the release of the updated '' Gage Canadian Dictionary'' in 1997 and the first ''Canadian Oxford Dictionary'' in 1998. Historically, most libraries and educational institutions in Canada have supported the use of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' rather than the American ''Webster's Dictionary''. Today, the use of a distinctive set of Canadian English spellings is viewed by many Canadians as one of the unique aspects of Canadian culture (especially when compared to the United States).

In Australia, ''-or'' endings enjoyed some use throughout the 19th century and in the early 20th century. Like Canada, though, most major Australian newspapers have switched from "''-or''" endings to "''-our''" endings. The "''-our''" spelling is taught in schools nationwide as part of the Australian curriculum. The most notable countrywide use of the ''-or'' ending is for one of the country's major political parties, the , which was originally called "the Australian Labour Party" (name adopted in 1908), but was frequently referred to as both "Labour" and "Labor". The "Labor" spelling was adopted from 1912 onward due to the influence of the and King O'Malley. On top of that, some place names in South Australia such as Victor Harbor, Franklin Harbor or Outer Harbor are usually spelled with the -or spellings. Aside from that, ''-our'' is now almost universal in Australia but the ''-or'' endings remain a minority variant. New Zealand English, while sharing some words and syntax with Australian English, follows British usage.

''-re'', ''-er''

In British English, some words from French, Latin or Greek end with a consonant followed by an unstressed ''-re'' (pronounced ). In modern American English, most of these words have the ending ''-er''. The difference is most common for words ending in ''-bre'' or ''-tre'': British spellings all have ''-er'' in American spelling.

In Britain, both ''-re'' and ''-er'' spellings were common before Johnson's 1755 dictionary was published. Following this, ''-re'' became the most common usage in Britain. In the United States, following the publication of ''Webster's Dictionary'' in the early 19th century, American English became more standardized, exclusively using the ''-er'' spelling.

In addition, spelling of some words have been changed from ''-re'' to ''-er'' in both varieties. These include ''amber'', ''blister'', ''cadaver'', '' chamber,'' '' chapter'', ''charter'', ''cider'', ''coffer'', ''coriander'', ''cover'', ''cucumber'', ''cylinder'', ''December'', ''diaper'', ''disaster'', '' enter'', ''fever'', '' filter'', ''gender'', ''leper'', '' letter'', ''lobster'', ''master'', ''member'', ''meter (measuring instrument)'', '' minister'', ''monster'', ''murder'', ''November'', ''number'', ''October'', '' offer'', ''order'', ''oyster'', '' powder'', '' proper'', ''render'', '' semester'', ''September'', ''sequester'', ''sinister'', '' sober'', ''surrender'', '' tender'', ''tiger'', and water. Words using the '' -meter'' suffix (from Ancient Greek - μέτρον ''métron'', via French '' -mètre'') normally had the ''-re'' spelling from earliest use in English but were superseded by ''-er''. Examples include ''thermometer'' and ''barometer''.

The ''e'' preceding the ''r'' is kept in American-inflected forms of nouns and verbs, for example, , which are respectively in British English. According to the ''OED'', ' is a ''"word ... of 3 syllables (in careful pronunciation)"'' (i.e., ), yet there is no vowel in the spelling corresponding to the second syllable (). The OED third edition (revised entry of June 2016) allows either two or three syllables. On the Oxford Dictionaries Online website, the three-syllable version is listed only as the American pronunciation of ''centering''. The ''e'' is dropped for other derivations, for example, ''central'', ''fibrous'', ''spectral''. However, the existence of related words without ''e'' before the ''r'' is not proof for the existence of an ''-re'' British spelling: for example, ''entry'' and ''entrance'' come from ''enter'', which has not been spelled ''entre'' for centuries.

The difference relates only to root words; ''-er'' rather than ''-re'' is universal as a suffix for agentive (''reader'', ''user'', ''winner'') and comparative (''louder'', ''nicer'') forms. One outcome is the British distinction of ''meter'' for a measuring instrument from ' for the unit of length. However, while "" is often spelled as ''-re'', pentameter, hexameter, etc. are always ''-er''.

Exceptions

Many other words have ''-er'' in British English. These include Germanic words, such as ''anger'', ''mother'', ''timber'' and ''water'', and such Romance-derived words as ''danger'', ''quarter'' and ''river''.

The ending ''-cre'', as in ''acre'',Although ''acre'' was spelled ''æcer'' in Old English and ''aker'' in Middle English, the ''acre'' spelling of Middle French was introduced in the 15th century. Similarly, ''loover'' was respelled in the 17th century by influence of the unrelated Louvre. (See ''OED'', s.v. ''acre'' and ''louvre'') '' lucre'', ''massacre'', and '' mediocre'', is used in both British and American English to show that the ''c'' is pronounced rather than . The spellings ''euchre'' and ''ogre'' are also the same in both British and American English.

''Fire'' and its associated adjective '' fiery'' are the same in both British and American English, although the noun was spelled ''fier'' in Old and Middle English.

' is the prevailing American spelling used to refer to both the dramatic arts and buildings where stage performances and screenings of films take place (i.e., ""); for example, a national newspaper such as ''The New York Times'' would use ' in its entertainment section. However, the spelling ''theatre'' appears in the names of many New York City theatres on Broadway (cf. Broadway theatre) and elsewhere in the United States. In 2003, the American National Theatre was referred to by ''The New York Times'' as the "American National ", but the organization uses "re" in the spelling of its name. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. has the more common American spelling ' in its references to the Eisenhower Theater, part of the Kennedy Center. Some cinemas outside New York also use the ''theatre'' spelling. (The word "theater" in American English is a place where both stage performances and screenings of films take place, but in British English a "theatre" is where stage performances take place but not film screenings – these take place in a cinema, or "picture theatre" in Australia.)

In the United States, the spelling ''theatre'' is sometimes used when referring to the art form of theatre, while the building itself, as noted above, generally is spelled ''theater''. For example, the University of Wisconsin–Madison has a "Department of ''Theatre'' and Drama", which offers courses that lead to the "Bachelor of Arts in ''Theatre''", and whose professed aim is "to prepare our graduate students for successful 21st Century careers in the ''theatre'' both as practitioners and scholars".

Some placenames in the United States use '' Centre'' in their names. Examples include the villages of Newton Centre and Rockville Centre, the city of Centreville, Centre County and Centre College. Sometimes, these places were named before spelling changes but more often the spelling serves as an affectation. Proper names are usually spelled according to their native-variety spelling vocabulary; so, for instance, although ''Peter'' is the usual form of the male given name, as a surname both the spellings ''Peter'' and ''Petre'' (the latter notably borne by a British lord) are found.

For British ', the American practice varies: the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' prefers the ''-re'' spelling, but ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' prefers the ''-er'' spelling.

More recent French loanwords keep the ''-re'' spelling in American English. These are not exceptions when a French-style pronunciation is used ( rather than ), as with ''double entendre'', ''genre'' and '' oeuvre''. However, the unstressed pronunciation of an ''-er'' ending is used with some words, including '' cadre'', '' macabre'', '' maître d''', Notre Dame, ''piastre'', and ''timbre''.

Commonwealth usage

The ''-re'' endings are mostly standard throughout the Commonwealth. The ''-er'' spellings are recognized as minor variants in Canada, partly due to United States influence. They are sometimes used in proper names (such as Toronto's controversially named Centerpoint Mall).

''-ce'', ''-se''

For '' advice''/''advise'' and '' device''/'' devise'', American English and British English both keep the noun–verb distinction both graphically and phonetically (where the pronunciation is - for the noun and - for the verb). For ''licence/license'' or '' practice/ practise'', British English also keeps the noun–verb distinction graphically (although phonetically the two words in each pair are homophones with - pronunciation). On the other hand, American English uses ''license'' and '' practice'' for both nouns and verbs (with - pronunciation in both cases too).

American English has kept the Anglo-French spelling for ''defense'' and '' offense'', which are '' defence'' and '' offence'' in British English. Likewise, there are the American '' pretense'' and British '' pretence''; but derivatives such as ''defensive'', '' offensive'', and ''pretension

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