founder Noah Webster
Those differences can be largely attributed to Merriam Webster founder Noah Webster, who proposed spelling reforms in the United States starting in the late 1700s. Some of his reforms included changing “centre” to “center” and “draught” to “draft.”

Most spelling reforms attempt to improve phonemic representation, but some attempt genuine phonetic spelling, usually by changing the basic English alphabet or making a new one. All spelling reforms aim for greater regularity in spelling.

Spelling reforms have been proposed for various languages over the years; these have ranged from modest attempts to eliminate particular irregularities (such as SR1 or Initial Teaching Alphabet) through more far-reaching reforms (such as Cut Spelling) to attempts to introduce a full phonemic orthography, like the …

In the United States, following the publication of Webster’s dictionary in the early 19th century, American English became more standardized, exclusively using the -er spelling. In addition, spelling of some words have been changed from -re to -er in both varieties.

Research suggests that this is because “decoding” English is much harder than in a language with a more consistent spelling system like Italian. It is understandable why some people see that English’s spelling system is to blame for literacy difficulties.

The main difference is that British English keeps the spelling of words it has absorbed from other languages, mainly French and German. Whilst American English spellings are based mostly on how the word sounds when it is spoken.

Reform proposals vary in terms of the depth of the linguistic changes and by the ways they are implemented. In terms of writing systems, most spelling reform proposals are moderate; they use the traditional English alphabet, try to maintain the familiar shapes of words, and try to maintain common conventions (such as silent e ).

For centuries, there has been a movement to reform the spelling of English. It seeks to change English spelling so that it is more consistent, matches pronunciation better, and follows the alphabetic principle. Common motives for spelling reform include quicker, cheaper learning, thus making English more useful for international communication.

By the 1870s, the philological societies of Great Britain and America chose to consider the matter. After the “International Convention for the Amendment of English Orthography” that was held in Philadelphia in August 1876, societies were founded such as the English Spelling Reform Association and American Spelling Reform Association.

In 1898, the American National Education Association adopted its own list of 12 words to be used in all writings: tho, altho, thoro, thorofare, thru, thruout, catalog, decalog, demagog, pedagog, prolog, program. The Simplified Spelling Board was founded in the United States in 1906.