Why forty not fourty

Then the French invaded and took over, and you had a two language culture; the rulers spoke French, and the ruled spoke German. As time passed, they developed a single language, and not always with perfect consistency. The language was still in early development when the "new world" was discovered, which made even more problems. As uniform spellings were more or less agreed on, there were some exceptions between the different sides of the Atlantic, which is why Americans spell many words without a 'u' such as "color" and "honor", while the English use "colour" and "honour".

If this explains why there are inconsistencies between two English speaking countries, surely it will suffice to explain the inconsistency between "four" and "forty". Stew54 Answer has 33 votes. Stew54 18 year member replies Answer has 33 votes. Currently voted the best answer. I think the Yahoo answer is a little misleading in that it suggests there is a difference between the spelling of forty on either side of the Atlantic, as there is with colo u r and hono u r.

It's also a little simplistic to suggest that before the Norman invasion what people spoke in England was something like German. Old English, or Anglo Saxon, would be no easier for a modern German to read than a modern Englishman or American you might be able to have a better try at it if you speak a Nordic language. In Old English four, fourteen and forty all came from the same root - feower meaning four. When you add the equivalent of "ty" to this which would have been "tig" in old English, meaning "group of ten" that slightly changes the way the preceding vowel is pronounced.

Forty actually deviates from a pattern if you think about it. What about related terms? On the other hand, fourth refers to four , so it is spelled with a U. Forty is unique, but how did it get that way? Avoid being fooled by remembering that forty does not have a U. Real-time suggestions, wherever you write.

How to Spell Forty or Fourty? Shundalyn Allen. In texts from that period the OED notes the following spellings:. The winner, of course, is forty , nearly the last of the bunch. The logical Middle English relic fourty , hiding most of the way down that long list, lasted until the 18th century, when for reasons unknown it fell out of use.

Sometimes that's just how it goes in English. Oxford University Press. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Usage Notes Is it 'Forty'? Or 'Fourty'? This is usage. What to Know Forty is the proper spelling of the number in all English variants despite the fact that four contains a u. More Words At Play.

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms.