Previously on my post on differences among British, American, and Australian English, I pointed out some differences viewed from several aspects. I did touch on spelling differences. However, I did not mention all the differences between the major two variants (British and American) in great details. Now I take the liberty to explain the spelling differences in greater details but still in a succinct manner.
| British | American | Explanation of American English |
| 'our' | 'or' | valor, armor |
| 're' | 'er' | center, meter But to show the hard sound of c or g: acre, lucre, massacre, ogre, etc. |
| 'll' | 'l' | Remember that Americans are associated with practicality. Americans add single 'l' to all derivatives in '–ed','-ing', '-er' OR '-or' ending in an 'l' (e.g. cancel-canceled). Also woolen, marvelous (Am.) instead of woollen, marvellous (Brit.) |
| 'l' OR 'll' | 'll' | enroll, enthrall, instill, thralldom |
| 'l' | 'll' | In fulfill, skillful, willful In nouns in –ment: enrollment, enthrallment, fulfillment, installment |
| 'pp' | 'p' | kidnaped (kidnapping, kidnaper), worshiped (worshiping, worshiper) |
| 'tt' | 't' | carbureted, sulfureted |
| 'ae', 'oe', or 'e' | 'e' | The tendency to replace 'ae' and 'oe' in Greek/Latin words by 'e' is more prevalent in the US: e.g. etiology, hemoglobin, esophagus |
| 'ise' OR 'ize' | 'ize' | In verbs and their derivatives that may be spelt '-ise' or '-ize', Americans prefer 'ize. |
Reference: The Wordsworth Concise English Dictionary
The differences between British and American English have to be known. We can use this to make us more confidence when we need it.
ReplyDeleteMark,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by and the nice words.
my reading lect once said bout consistency. according to you,is it a must if u use american english it means u r not allowed to mix with british in conversation?look forward from u soon
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteIt's not a must, but to avoid listeners'/readers' confusion, you'd better stick to one variant only, particularly in a composition or speech. Imagine, for instance, someone speaks bahasa Indonesia and Malay in one occasion. Bahasa Indonesia and Malay may share many similar features but still they do have fundamental and noticable differences. I think that's the best analogy to British and American English I can give you now.