Old English spellings in our modern Bay Islands English

If you grew up in the Bay Islands, you’ve probably noticed something funny about the way we write English. Our place names still carry the old British spellings: French Harbour, not French Harbor; oftentimes we use colour, favour, honour... all those words that hang on to the “u” the way our grandparents did.

People sometimes ask why we write it that way when the United States doesn’t. The answer goes back a couple of hundred years, and it has more to do with identity and reform than anything else.

The short version is:

Our English roots are older than the American spelling reforms.

The English that reached the Bay Islands came through Britain and other British-influenced Caribbean communities long before American spelling became dominant. So the spellings we inherited like harbour, colour, flavour, neighbour, follow the traditional British system. These spellings weren’t “old-fashioned” at the time. They were simply the English of the period. And because our islands kept strong ties to that older form of English, specially from our hymnals at propestant churches, many of those spellings stayed in place.

The full version is:

American English didn’t just “drift” away from British spelling on its own. It changed on purpose, and one man played a major role. In the early 1800s, an American educator named Noah Webster decided the United States needed its own identity, separate from Britain. One way he tried to do that was through language. He believed spelling should be:

• simpler

• more logical

• closer to how words actually sound

So in his dictionary, he dropped the “u” from colour, honour, favour, and similar words. He also changed centre to center, defence to defense, and preferred -ize endings instead of -ise. Americans accepted those changes over time, mostly because Webster’s dictionary became the standard in schools and printing.

There’s a popular rumor that Americans shortened words because telegrams were charged by the letter as well. With modernization and importation our English in the Bay Islands has seen a large influence from Americans who vacatio in great majorities to the islands.

The simpler truth is this: American English was deliberately redesigned. The Bay Islands’ English wasn’t.

Our region didn’t go through a major spelling reform, and we weren’t part of the movement that shaped modern American English. So our place names, and many of the spellings older islanders still use, kept their British form. They’re a reminder of the English that was brought here generations ago.

Today, you’ll see both versions around the islands, especially with so many American visitors and businesses. But those “ou” spellings aren’t mistakes. They’re pieces of history that stayed put.