Difference between revisions of "Silent letters"
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===Silent letters in compounds=== | ===Silent letters in compounds=== | ||
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
− | ! Silent <b> !! Silent <p> !! Silent final ''-gn'' !! Silent final ''-mb'' !! Silent final ''-mn'' | + | ! Silent <nowiki><b></nowiki> !! Silent <nowiki><p></nowiki> !! Silent final ''-gn'' !! Silent final ''-mb'' !! Silent final ''-mn'' |
|- | |- | ||
| debt <br> doubt | | debt <br> doubt | ||
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| isle <br> | | isle <br> | ||
|} | |} | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===Silent <nowiki><u></nowiki> === | ||
+ | A silent <nowiki><u></nowiki> followed by another vowel is common in words of French origin, or words with French influence in the spelling. A few such words are listed below. There are also words where it is semi-functional; for example, in ''rogue'' and other words ending in <ue>, it keeps the hard <g> and prevents a soft <g> from occurring; and in words like ''silhouette'', the <nowiki><u></nowiki> or <ou> before another vowel becomes a /w/ sound, just as in French. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {|class="prettytable" | ||
+ | ! Silent ''-u-'' | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3;padding:1em;"> | ||
+ | baguette <br> | ||
+ | biscuit <br> | ||
+ | build <br> | ||
+ | building <br> | ||
+ | built <br> | ||
+ | circuit <br> | ||
+ | disguise <br> | ||
+ | guess <br> | ||
+ | guest <br> | ||
+ | guide <br> | ||
+ | guild <br> | ||
+ | guilt <br> | ||
+ | guilty <br> | ||
+ | guise <br> | ||
+ | guitar <br> | ||
+ | rogue <br> | ||
+ | silhouette <br> | ||
+ | </div> | ||
+ | |} | ||
+ | |||
Revision as of 04:10, 6 February 2023
English pronunciation and spelling are notoriously difficult, for native speakers, and especially for second language learners. This is due to the complex history of the language. English began as a form of Anglo-Saxon, or rather, a group of Old Germanic dialects spoken by the original Germanic invaders of England in the fifth century C.E. It was influenced by Dutch and Norse influences, due to invasion and its proximity to those languages. With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, a large infusion of Old French and Latin roots came into English. Each of these languages had its own spelling and pronunciation schemes, but nonetheless these linguistic influences blended into Middle English, and then Modern English. With the transition into modern English came the Great Vowel Shift, whereby the pronunciation of some English vowels underwent drastic changes. With the Modern English period, English became greatly influenced by Latin, modern French, and Greek. Some spelling patterns, for example, in French and Greek, are not pronunceable in English, so the original Greek or French spelling do not reflect modern English pronunciation. Hence, the spelling patterns of English are rather complex, and many so-called silent letters exist. Below is a breakdown of some common patterns, categorized roughly by the language influences.
1 Anglo-Saxon patterns
1.1 Final -e
In the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, the English vowel system underwent drastic changes, known as the Great Vowel Shift. The vowel qualities, or pronunciation, of long vowels in stressed syllables underwent significant changes, so that the letters <a, e, i, o, u> are pronounced as they are in modern English, and quite differently from how these vowels are pronounced in other languages that use the Latin alphabet, such as Spanish, French, German, and others. For example, 'make' was originally pronounced like /makə/, but after the vowel shift, it is pronounced like /meik/. Then the final <e> or /ə/ was deleted from pronunciation, that is, it became silent. It has been retained in the spelling, because it indicates that the main vowel of the word in the stressed syllable is long, e.g., 'cute' = /kyu:t/ versus 'cut' /kət/. This holds true for words from Anglo-Saxon, and more common words from Latin, such as the following.
Silent final -e |
---|
abate |
1.2 Silent consonants in <gh>, <gn>, and <kn>
Several sound changes occurred in Old and Middle English involving the <g> and <k> in spelling. English used to have a velar fricative sound, the sound /x/ as in German ach or Scottish loch, but this disappeared from English. The spelling was often retained as <g> or <gh>, though the sound either became silent, or occasionally became an /f/ sound as in tough. Occasionally, a <g> was changed to <gh> in the spelling due to Dutch influences, and hence, a silent <h> in <gh> (there is also a silent <h> in some words of French origin, as discussed below).
Initial gh- = /ɡ/ | Silent -gh- | Silent final -gh |
---|---|---|
ghastly |
alight |
although |
The <g> and <k> were also pronounced in combinations like <gn> and <kn>, much like they are pronunced in modern German. However, the initial <g> in <gn> and initial <k> in <kn> was dropped by English speakers, leading to the silent <g> and <k> in <gn> and <kn>.
Silent <g> in initial gn- | Silent <k> in initial kn- |
---|---|
gnarl |
knack |
1.3 Silent <l>
The <l> in some words from Old English or Middle English became silent, particularly after back vowels, probably because this is easier to pronounce.
Silent l- |
---|
balm |
1.4 Silent <t>
The <t> became silent in some consonant clusters in older words, probably for ease of pronunciation.
Silent <t> in -stl- | Silent <t> in -sten | Silent <t> elsewhere |
---|---|---|
apostle |
chasten christen |
often |
1.5 Silent <w>
The <w> has gone silent in a number of words, particularly in the combination wr- in English. Another unrelated phenomenon is the wh- spelling in English, which used to be a separate phoneme in English, the /ʍ/, which was a voiceless equivalent of the voiced /w/ sound in wh- words like which, what, where, why.
Silent <w> |
---|
awry |
1.6 Silent letters in compounds
Occasionally, letters in compound words have gone silent, usually for the sake of easier pronunciation. This actually includes the word island, which was an Old English compound (ig island + land), where the /g/ disappeared, and an <s> was inserted to make it similar to the word isle (which is from the Latin word insula).
- cupboard
- handkerchief
- island (ig + <s> + land)
- thumbtack (where the <b> was silent to begin with)
- threshhold -- which is now often spelled threshold
2 French & Latin patterns
A number of words have come into English from French and Latin. This includes Latin/French words from the beggining of the Middle English period, Latin words that have come into English since the Renaissance, and modern French words. Along with this come different spelling patterns, including French spelling influences, and silent letters that were reinserted to retain the full Latin/French word roots. For example, some writers insisted in reinserting silent letters to show that the word contained a morpheme from French or Latin, to show its original pronunciation after a sound became silent, or to show that the word is related to other words. Hence, we have some alternations between words with silent letters and related words where the sound does surface.
- bomb - bombard
- receipt - reception
- debt - debit
- malign - malignant
- damn - damnation
- doubt - Latin dubitare'
- isle - Latin insula
The following are spelling irregularities due to sound changes and reinserted letters.
Silent <b> | Silent <p> | Silent final -gn | Silent final -mb | Silent final -mn |
---|---|---|---|---|
debt doubt |
coup receipt |
align |
aplomp |
autumn column |
2.1 Silent <c>, <h>, and others
Sound changes rendered the <c> silent in certain cases, particularly in words with -scle (not to be confused with the redundant <c> below). The <h> disappeared in a few French/Latin words, and sometimes in only US or UK English.
Silent <c> | Silent initial h- | Others |
---|---|---|
crepuscle corpuscle muscle |
heir herb (US) |
isle |
2.2 Silent <u>
A silent <u> followed by another vowel is common in words of French origin, or words with French influence in the spelling. A few such words are listed below. There are also words where it is semi-functional; for example, in rogue and other words ending in <ue>, it keeps the hard <g> and prevents a soft <g> from occurring; and in words like silhouette, the <u> or <ou> before another vowel becomes a /w/ sound, just as in French.
Silent -u- |
---|
baguette |
2.3 Redundant <c>
Some websites treat the <c> as silent in some words, where it is really just redundant in combinations of -sc- plus a front vowel, which would make the <c> soft, or sounded like /s/ anyway. Thus, it is more of a redundant <c> than a silent <c>, and it mainly occurs in words from Latin.
Redundant <c> |
---|
abscess |
3 Greek patterns
A number of spelling complexities come from word elements that are borrowed from Greek. Some Greek consonant clusters like ps- were pronounced in Greek, and are pronounced in other languages, but are not pronounced in English. Greek also had a velar fricative sound /x/, which comes into English words as <ch>, but since modern English has no such sound, these words are pronounced as /k/.
Greek <ch> = /k/ |
---|
anchor |
3.1 Greek <pn>, <ps>, <rh>
In Greek, the /p/ was actually pronounced in consontant clusters like <pn> and <ps>, but in English this is not pronounceable. The sequence <rh> was pronounced as a breathy
sound, but in English this is simplifed to a regular <r> sound. These occur mostly in scientific, technical, and academic terms.
Greek <ps> = /s/ | Greek <pn> = /n/ |
---|---|
psalm |
pneuma |
Greek <rh> = <r> |
---|
arrhythmia |
3.2 Other Greek patterns
A few other Greek or Greek-influenced patterns exist, where consonant clusters are simplified.
Word | Cluster & pronunciaiton |
---|---|
cnidarian | <cn> = /n/ |
mnemonic | <mn> = /n/ |
Cthulu | <cth> = /θ/ |