British spelling retains the u in certain words due to tradition and a hesitation to make radical changes. The split between American and British spelling began with Noah Webster’s dictionary in 1828. Samuel Johnson was an orthography purist who believed in documenting accepted British spelling. The use of -our endings pays homage to old French pronunciations. Commonwealth countries follow British spelling, while Americans use -o endings. Jefferson used the British spelling of honor in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence.
While the reasons why British spelling retains the u in certain words, such as colour, flavor and honour, may not be very definite, it may speak to a sense of tradition and a hesitation to make radical changes to accepted spelling rules . While many Brits may blame the Americans for hijacking and screwing up the language, in reality, English has undergone numerous changes over the centuries, dictated by different influences. The split that had begun to occur between American spelling, which favored -o endings, and British spelling, which used -our endings, was first apparent with the publication of Noah’s An American Dictionary of the English Language Webster, published 1828.
Samuel Johnson, who published the Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, was an orthography purist. His dictionary was and is regarded as the accepted authority on British spelling. He felt that his purpose was not to advocate spelling reform, but only to document accepted British spelling. He even went so far as to say that the “evolution” of spelling was a corruption of the language, particularly with “American” English. Webster, on the other hand, did not hesitate to support spelling reform and included the “Americanized” spelling with -o endings. Webster believed spelling could be simplified and still remain correct.
Some British scholars as early as the 16th and 17th centuries thought that -o should only be used for words derived from Latin origins, while -our should only be used for French derivations. Although most words ending in -or and -our are of Latin and Old French origin, and both endings were used interchangeably, after the Norman conquest, the spelling switched to strictly -our usage in an attempt to pay homage to the old French pronunciations of the words.
A London court called the Old Bailey ruled in the 17th century that our endings were the correct British spelling. It has become commonly accepted in Britain that in cases where an English suffix or suffixes of Greek or Latin origin are attached, the u is retained. The word neighborhood proves it. The difference comes with the Latin suffixes not attaching loosely to words, such as in vigorous. In these cases, the u can be kept or dropped.
Countries that are or were Commonwealths of England usually follow the common British spelling, with the exception of the United States. Canadians generally use both, while Australians retain the -our endings. American English continues to be criticized by many British English speakers, while many Americans question why Britons retain seemingly old-fashioned aspects of the language. Although many attribute American adaptations of British spelling to the independent spirit of early settlers or perhaps to the growing influences of immigrants around the world, British spelling is documented in early American writing.
One such example is in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson used the British spelling of honor, which was changed to honor from the final draft. Why did he make this change? It may have been an innocent spelling mistake, or perhaps it was just another act of rebellion against the British.
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