What is the reason for Americans altering the English language?

Question

Like why do they say ZEE instead of ZED

and why do they spell words like favourite, favour, honour, colour, labour, centre, litre etc. differently

(and omg the spell checker went nuts when I made this question)

Answer 1

I don't know about your first one.  ZEE?  I don't understand.  However, regarding the words favorite, favor, honor, color, labor, center, liter, etc., I couldn't give you a specific reason.  I actually lapse into spelling color "colour' quite often.  Maybe it's because we want to differentiate ourselves from the British mode of spelling and speaking.  Words like "schedule" and "aluminum" are pronounced much differently here. Also, American English is littered with words from different languages and cultures.  Added to this, a lot of ethnicities here have been mutilating American English, not even bothering to spell anything correctly.  Largely in urban areas, but it's getting real bad.  I understand what you are saying, but, the real problem is the further hacking of American English, with people saying, "Where u at?"  "Tap dat".  The list goes on.

Answer 2

We're not altering anything.  Not to worry.  Your precious language is still yours.  We just spell some things differently, that's all.  

It's odd though.  When some Americans say that they speak English, some of the English are quick to point out that we don't speak "proper" English, and therefore speak American.  And then when we Americans say that we speak American, many of the English are quick to point out "you speak English.  It's our language, and you adopted it.  So recognize where you got it from."  We can't win.

Answer 3

Oh blimey, I say guv'nah, I think the alterations have been bloody good, dontcha know?

Seriously?  Langages alter all the time.  Look at the differences in how it spoken in London, or in York, or oot Zummerzet way, where my ancestors came from.

I recall reading somewhere that as long ago as Colonial times, proper British were observing that Americans were spelling those words like 'colour' differently-- 'not like gentlemen.'

As I say, all languages change and evolve, both in spelling and usage.  Aside from standard British spelling, don't you think Australian English is much more of a departure than American?  And have you ever tried reading Chaucer in the original? That's a far deeper difference in the 300 years from Chaucer to Shakespeare than in the 350 years since, in any of English's variations!

We also never say that someone is 'in hospital', but 'in the hospital'. However, we do say 'in jail'. We say someone is 'in college', but never, or rarely, 'in university'.    

PS: regarding a couple of the above comments: I listen to a bunch of old radio shows, and it seems like up through the 1930s and '40s, 'flat' was a common American usage for an apartment.  Not sure why it fell out of use.  I think there were a couple other 'Britishisms' I heard used as standard American, sorry, can't recall right now, but I remember it striking me at the time.

Answer 4

Language is not a static thing; it is a living being.  It grows, and changes according to how the people use it to get about their lives.

Answer 5

Whoever said Americans speak or spell good English?

Americans speak Engish but we have also been seperated from the mother tongue for over two hundred years and languages evolve. Also, American Engish (for lack of a better term) is the result of the influence by other languages combining with the Queen's English.

It goes way beyond just spelling. We don't even use the same words that people in England do. We call it an apartment, you call it a flat. You never hear us referring to a guy as a bloke or a girl as a bird.

Also rememer that by a margin of one vote, English beat out German as our national language.  

Answer 6

Americans like to streamline things generally, including making words easier to spell or shorter.

Language doesn't really get changed so much as it evolves with time.

You could ask why Italians don't speak Latin.