If the origin is French and the British have adapted it, why would they claim America corrupted the so-called English version if it wasn't theirs to begin with? And why must a simple word like jail appear as goal, misspelled?
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As a note, goal and gaol are not the same word—so neither is a misspelling of the other. That would be similar to saying that only one of to, two, and too is spelled correctly, and that the others are misspellings.– Jason BassfordCommented Feb 19, 2019 at 8:08
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Hi Goldie. Your question as stated is a bit unclear and opinion-based. Who is the "they" that is claiming the 'corruption' - do you have a reference for that?– Mark BeadlesCommented Feb 22, 2019 at 15:56
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1 Answer
Like many words in British English Gaol entered the language as part of the aftermath of the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Gaol in British English is derived from the Anglo-Norman French word "Gayole" rather than the Old French " Jailoe".
Origin Middle English: based on Latin cavea (see cage). The word came into English in two forms, jaiole from Old French and gayole from Anglo-Norman French gaole (surviving in the spelling gaol), originally pronounced with a hard g, as in goat.
But in Britain you will see both forms used "jail" and "gaol" very few people would claim an Amerucan corruption of the word.
