If that's the rationale behind the American preference for the spelling of 'theater,' I wonder why the British (and the rest of the world, apparently) cling to it so?
The rest of the world "clings to it" because they are using the older form that is closer to the etymological root. The Greek theatron is what gave us Latin theatrum, English theatre, French théâtre, Spanish theatro, et cetera. But in the 19th century, American Noah Webster published his Essay on the Necessity, Advantages, and Practicability of Reforming the Orthography of Words Correspondent to the Pronunciation, in which he advocated simplified spelling. (It's also why defence, honour, travelled, etc. have different American spellings.) The British, unsurprisingly, consider Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language more authoritative than any upstart Yank's claims. |
