| Comment | Basically, snobbery. People used to just write things as they sounded, so there were no official spellings. Once people began to create English dictionaries (late 18th-early 19th centuries), particular spellings were chosen and those became the official ones.
Americans sought to rationalise spellings by making them closer to the way the words sounded (and differentiate the American language from the British), while British authors preferred the French or Latin spellings, as those were seen as more prestigious. That's how we ended up with things like colonel and victuals that are spelled nothing like they sound -- it wasn't tradition, it was a conscious decision to make the spelling conform to the Latin roots in spite of its English pronunciation.
The development of the English language is a fascinating subject. You'll find many short articles online, but if you want a REALLY deep dive, I recommend the History of English podcast. |
|---|