Why is four spelt with an ‘ou’ but forty with only an ‘o’? The answer lies deep within Proto-Indo-European, the language from which European language arose. Four is from the Old English feower, meaning, of course, four. Forty, however, is from OE feowertig, which comes from feower and tig, meaning a group of ten. Fourteen, on the first hand, is from OE feowertyne, from feower and tyne, which I assume means ten. Feower was twisted via Middle English into Four. The w was turned into a u spelling feouer, which is phonetically similar to four. Feowertig was twisted as well, bit the addition of tig made it twisted slightly differently. We don’t know exactly why it doesn’t have an ‘ou’, but it doesn’t. Isn’t English weird?
What Would Turtle Do
The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit. -W. Somerset Maugham
