Features of American Spelling: Historical and Practical Aspects

The main trends in American spelling are observed, in particular, simplified spelling and assimilation of borrowed words. The projects of spelling reforms are divided into two groups: the first was aimed at changing the existing spelling, the second - at the creation of a new spelling based on the phonetic principle. It is shown that the main differences between American and English orthographic norms can be represented in the form of a number of oppositions. It is emphasized that the simplistic approach should be avoided, since some spellings can be used in both versions: AmE - or vs. BrE - our in words like armor , color ; AmE - se vs. BrE - ce in words like defense , license ; AmE - l vs. BrE - ll before word-formative and inflectional suffixes - ed , - ing , - er , - est , - ery , - or , etc.; AmE - ize vs. BrE - ise in words like apologize , capitalize ; AmE in - vs. BrE en - in words such as incase , incrust ; in AmE the “unpronounceable” - e - may be omitted before the suffix - ment in words like abridgment , judgment ; AmE - o - vs. BrE - ou - in words like mold , molt ; AmE - er vs. BrE - re in words like center , luster ; AmE - e vs. BrE - ae , - oe in words like anemia , encyclopedia ; AmE - ction vs. BrE - xion in words like connection , inflection ; in AmE there are also particular simplifications of writing like thru , tho , tonite . It was found that the changes made in the American spelling are mostly partial and in some cases optional; sometimes they are adopted in a limited field of use. The proposed reforms did not have a significant impact on the spelling.

reforms of the American spelling, phonetic spelling, Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, Melville Dewey, Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Isaac Pitman, George Bernard Shaw, Deseret alphabet

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