In words like Tsunami, Pneumonia etc, T & P are silent. Then what is the purpose of these letters?

Answer 1

They are there to make spelling bees more interesting and challenging.

Actually, they come from foreign languages.

A tsunami is another name for a tidal wave. These immense waves are not caused by the tides but by seismic disturbances below the ocean floor. The Japanese word means "harbor wave" from tsu "harbor" + nami "wave", presumably from the cataclysmic effect that it can have on ships anchored "safely" in habor.

http://www.takeourword.com/Issue086.html

The "pants opening" meaning is first recorded in 1844 in a book about military ordnance: "Open in front, with a Fly and Five buttons." The fly on a tent dates from 1810. Fly in these senses, and the verb, derive from *pleu- "to flow" (flying is a bit like flowing by using wings). Other words from that root are pulmonary, pneumonia, Pluto ("overflowing with riches"), flow, flee, fletcher, fledgling, fleet, flotilla, and flutter.

http://www.takeourword.com/TOW127/page2.html

Answer 2

English spelling often reflects the history of the word, not the pronunciation.

"Pneumonia" is Greek, and the "p" was and is pronounced by everybody except the English.

The word "debt" used to be spelled "det(te)", the way it was pronounced. Renaissance scholars realized that the original Latin word is "deb(i)tum" and decided to write the "b".

Words such as "knee" and "knife" are Germanic words, and the corresponding German and Dutch words are still pronounced with "k".

In the word "ghost" the "h" is superfluous, and probably influenced by Flemish printers who used to print Protestant Bibles for the English when it was forbidden to do so in England.

Answer 3

The word Tsunami does NOT have a silent T!!!

It's a Japanese word, and 'tsu' is most definitely pronounced with the 't' intact!! Take the end of 'cats' .. remove the 'ca' .. and add 'ooh!' (like the exclamation!) Then you have the 'tsu' sound ... incidentally, 'na' does NOT rhyme with 'car'!!! It rhymes with the 'ha' in the name 'hanna' (unless you're one of those Americans who pronounce it 'Hyanna'!!) 'Mi' sounds like 'me' (as in 'I'!)

Pneumonia is from Latin, and the 'p' WAS originally pronounced ... it still IS pronounced in the French version of the word! It's just one of those 'English' quirks that WE no longer pronounce it ... call it 'laziness'!!
; )

Answer 4

A lot of words like that have latin origins. But, I never studied Latin, so I'm not sure why this is.