This post discusses several factors responsible for variations in spelling, with examples.
For much of the history of the English language, spelling was more an art than a science; because of lapses in literacy, there was no standard orthography. Even now, well into the twenty-first century, thanks to ignorance and laziness (and some intentional slangy sabotage), misspelling is rampant, so many people are unaware, for example, that alot is not an acceptable synonym for many or that definitely, not defiantly, is what you write when you mean “most assuredly.”
Some valid reasons for alternate spellings exist, however. One annoying but hopelessly entrenched cause of spelling variations can be blamed on American lexicographer and spelling reformer Noah Webster, who advocated diverging from English orthography in favor of a uniquely American (but frustratingly inconsistent) spelling system. Fortunately, many of his suggestions failed to catch on, but others prevailed, so that now we have such international discrepancies as defense/defence, honor/honour, meter/metre, and realize/realise. (See this post for a more detailed discussion with more examples.)
Often, writers in the United States are unclear on the distinction, so that we see, for example, judgement instead of judgment, or grey when gray is correct. This kind of thing can get confusing when, for example, an exception is made for glamour but not glamorous and glamorize, or when woolen is spelled as such but woolly takes a different form because of the adverbial inflectional ending. Another complicating factor is when the British English spellings centre and theatre are employed in signage for venues in the United States.
It’s easy enough, though distracting, for someone raised to read American English to understand written British English, and vice versa. But many international businesses publish materials reflecting both systems to distribute to various global audiences as appropriate, and book publishers have been known to change from one to the other when creating new editions of already published books. (I know this because I’ve been the one responsible for making or checking the changes in both contexts.) However, it’s nearly impossible to catalog (or is it catalogue?) the distinctions (though one can try).
Spelling can also vary based on context. For example, antennae and antennas are both correct, but the appropriate spelling depends on the subject matter (anatomical and technical, respectively), and the plural of appendix can be treated appendixes or appendices. (See this post for more examples.)
Another type of variation is one based on informal usage: Donut as a variation of doughnut and thru as a truncation of through are valid in certain contexts, but careful writers will use the standard spellings in formal writing. The same goes for yes/yeah and no/nope; in each case, the second alternative has its place, but that place is only when slang is appropriate, as in dialogue. And nonstandard spellings like lite and nite are acceptable only for playful proper nouns (as in the name of a product or a venue.)
In addition, spelling sherbet with an extra r (sherbert) may reflect the way the word is often pronounced, but that misspelling is just as egregious as the unholy union of alot and the misuse of defiantly. And spelling the term for a short-sleeved pullover top “tee shirt” ignores the fact that it was named for the shape of the garment when laid out flat and should therefore be styled T-shirt.
Sometimes, older spellings of words persist, as when both analog and analogue or omelet and omelette are variably employed; in such cases (actually, in all cases) let the dictionary be your guide. (See this post for a list of such terms.)
Some spelling “variations” are particularly annoying. I clench my teeth every time I see an American text that writes “grey” instead of “gray” or “axe” instead of “ax”. Why would you do that? Day, pay, ray, stay, EVERYTHING is spelled honestly and phonetically. So since gray is readily available and even preferred for an American, why would one purposely choose to be obtuse? Likewise axe. Is there ANY reason to tag an E on there? Are you being paid by the letter or do you just seek to taxe our patience? If the laste, whye stoppe therre?
The word “axe” also brings up confusion with “axle”, “axel”, and “Axel”.
How is that for a “triple Axel” ?
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away, bay, cay, day, flay, gay, hay, jay, lay, may, nay, pay, ray, say, slay, spray, stay, sway, tray, way, X-ray, yay, and Fay Wray all function just fine without any “e”.
These “words” should all rhyme with “velour” —
arbour, ardour, armour, candour, favour, glamour, harbour, honour, labour, neighbour, odour, parlour, savour, and vapour.
What do you mean? Are you saying that they should all be pronounced /vəˈlo͝or/ , with the second syllable stressed and the odd vowel sound because of the o-u-r ending, instead of ˈ/ärbər/, and all the rest, with first-syllabus stress and normal schwa?
Venqax, you need to learn what “to rhyme” means.
We have the word “velour” which is pronounced vel-loor, at least in American English.
Then by analogy, those other word that end in “our” should be pronounced like these: col-loor, fav-voor, har-boor, hon-noor, and par-loor.
I once read an article about all of the variability in spelling in English, especially before (about) the year 1750. That article said something interesting about Sir Walter Raleigh. It said this about his name: Many letters and documents with his signature have been collected and preserved (of course), and on only two of them did he spell his own surname “Raleigh”. There are many other variations on that.
Over the centuries, historians have settled on “Raleigh” for his name and for that of the city in North Carolina.
Truth or fantasy? I cannot tell you if this about Missouri is a joke or not. There, I was told that the town of Rolla, Missouri, was first settled by people from Raleigh, North Carolina, but they did not know how to spell “Raleigh” correctly.
Another way of expressing it is “truth or crap?” !!
I like the Brit spelling for grey, so I use it. Grey is a slightly lighter shade than gray. Maybe. Who knows, who cares? Pedants?
I’m not necessarily in favor of adding “extra” letters, so I don’t go with glamour, colour, etc. But I expect to see it in European publications, and the word “axe” doesn’t make me blink or flinch. It’s very handy for Scrabble and WWF.
Doesn’t matter to me if you write centre or center, theatre or theater; I’m used to seeing both, here in the States.
As for thru, altho, nope, nite, and whatever else, I don’t expext to see them in professional writing, but IMO they’re fine for texts and personal emails. Donut seems OK in any situation. Make mine chocolate please.
The parents of Tarzan of the Apes were Lord and Lady Greystoke.
That is British for you.
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the “Tarzan” novels, and for years he lived in a part of Los Angeles that became named “Tarzana” for him!
The letter combinations “ae” and “oe” are just about dead in American English, and probably in Canadian English, too. We do not find them to be necessary in these words: ameba, anesthesiology, cesium, demon, fairy, Faroes (w.o. the “ae”), hematology, Yeager or Jagger (as opposed to Jaeger), maneuver, pediatrics, pedophile,
Yeager, Jagger, etc., all come from the Anglo-Saxon and German for “hunter”, although in modern German it is spelled with an umlauted “a” instead of “ae”.
Of course, Mick Jagger is Mick Jagger even in England!
These remain as proper names: Caesar, Jaeger, Oedipus, Roentgen, and in the unit of radioactivity that is called the roentgen. (A version of this, for human exposure, is called the rem.)
There is a city in South Korea that used to be called Taegu, but in English is it is spelled “Daegu”, and Pusan has become “Busan”.
Two big battles in South Korea during 1950 were the “Battle of Taegu” and the “Battle of the Pusan Perimeter”, and those spellings are mostly retained. We also had the amphibious landing at Inchon (bay and city), but sometimes this is spelled “Incheon” for no particular reason.
Also in American English, and probably in Canadian English, the words “aether” and “aethereal” have been replaced by “ether” and “ethereal”, where this kind of ether is not to be confused with the organic chemicals called “ethers”.
Proper names with “ae” and “oe” that go back to ancient times:
Aesop, Aeneas, Aegean, Aeolian, Aeon, Caesar, Oedipus.
“Oerlikon” is one that came from Switzerland or Sweden much more recently.
Modern words that keep the “ae” because they really need it:
aerial, aerobic, anaerobic, aerodynamics, aeronaut, aeronautics, aeronautical, aerostatics,
Sometimes, the “ae” has been replaced, such as in aerofoil –> airfoil, and aerovane –> windvane or airvane. and
anaemometer –> anemometer.
Another ancient word, with Greek roots, that starts with a diphthong: Aegis. This is also a scarce diplomatic word that did not come from French: “This problem in Djibouti comes under the aegis of the Secretary General and the Ambassador from France.”
(This means that it is in their domain to handle.)
“The aerospace defense of the United States and Canada falls under the aegis of the commander of NORAD in Colorado Springs.”
Also spelled AEGIS, this is a shipboard air & missile defense system developed by the United States and installed on scores of its warships, and also allowed for its high-level allies: Japan, South Korea, Spain, Norway, and Australia, so far.
Thus far, other high allies have decided that AEGIS is too expensive: the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, etc.
If you want high quality and performance, you have to pay for it.