A History of English Language

A history of the english language 348
materially upon a sameness of things or objects with which the people of the two countries
are conversant. But in no two portions of the earth, remote from each other, can such
identity be found. Even physical objects must be different. But the principal differences
between the people of this country and of all others, arise from different forms of
government, different laws, institutions and customs… the institutions in this country
which are new and peculiar, give rise to new terms, unknown to the people of
England…No person in this country will be satisfied with the English definitions of the
words congress, senate and assembly, court, &c. for although these are words used in
England, yet they are applied in this country to express ideas which they do not express
in that country.” It is not possible to dismiss this statement as an advertisement calculated
to promote the sale of his book in competition with the English dictionaries of Johnson
and others. He had held such a view long before the idea of a dictionary had taken shape
in his mind. Webster was a patriot who carried his sentiment from questions of political
and social organization over into matters of language. By stressing American usage and
American pronunciation, by adopting a number of distinctive spellings, and especially by
introducing quotations from American authors alongside those from English literature, he
contrived in large measure to justify the title of his work. If, after a century and a half,
some are inclined to doubt the existence of anything so distinctive as an American
language, his efforts, nevertheless, have left a permanent mark on the language of this
country.
247. Webster’s Influence on American Spelling.
It is a matter of common observation that American spelling often differs in small ways
from that customary in England. 18 We write honor, color, and a score of words without
the u of English honour, colour, etc. We sometimes employ one consonant where the
English write two: traveler—traveller, wagon—waggon, etc. We write er instead of re in
a number of words like fiber, center, theater. We prefer an s in words like defense,
offense, and write ax, plow, tire, story, and czar, for axe, plough, tyre, storey, and tsar.
The differences often pass unnoticed, partly because a number of English spellings are
still current in America, partly because some of the American innovations are now
common in England, and in general because certain alternatives are permissible in both
countries. Although some of the differences have grown up since Webster’s day, the
majority of the distinctively American spellings are due to his advocacy of them and the
incorporation of them in his dictionary.
Spelling reform was one of the innumerable things that Franklin took an interest in. In
1768 he devised A Scheme for a New Alphabet and a Reformed
18
For an excellent discussion of English and American spellings see H.L.Mencken, The American
Language (4th ed., New York, 1936), chap. 8.