I know many English words have spellings that were narrowed down from a board range of random spellings, but I was wondering particularly about "often". Thanks!
2006-07-28 02:30:18 · 11 answers · asked by dp 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
First of all, for centuries the standard pronunciation has NOT pronounced the "t". This is NOT "laziness" or ignorance, as I will explain below.
Now pronouncing the t has become popular in some parts, almost certainly as a hypercorrection based on the word's spelling. That is, people SEE the "t" and think we therefore MUST pronounce it. This is so widespread it probably will soon be considered an acceptable alternative (if it is not already). But here's my argument for why it is silent (and I would prefer it remain so).
The stem word is "oft" --in which the t is pronounced. But when the ending "en" is added, the t sound is lost (though it remains in the spelling).
It may help you to notice that "often" is not at all unusual. . . well, except that people keep trying to "put back the t" in pronuciation when they do NOT do so in all the other cases.
You see, there are, in fact, MANY examples of this shift in English in which t becomes silent when followed by an -en or -le.
Note especially - soft (pronounced) vs. soften (silent). Compare: list -> listen; glisten; fast [as in 'held fast/secure'] -> fasten; haste -> hasten; chaste -> chasten; nest -> nestle; castle; mistletoe; whistle; wrest -> wrestle; trestle; gristle; thistle
But all of these words KEEP the "t" in their spelling. This can be helpful in showing their CONNECTION with the non-suffixed forms. (Note that written language is not JUST about showing us how to pronounce things. The more basic purpose is to COMMUNICATE words and ideas. Sometimes "historical spellings" in English show us things that a purely phonetic spelling would not.)
So WHY is the t silent? It's a simple thing, very common in spoken language (hardly unique to English!) Changing a word's accent or adding a prefix or suffix to a word sometimes creates new sound-clusters that are difficult or awkward, at least for the sound patterns of that language. What frequently and naturally happens is that at least one of the sounds is either changed or omitted.... or the sounds can even change their order!
Examples (note that when the consonant sounds actually CHANGE the spelling is more likely to be changed to reflect that):
--sound lost: often, soften, etc.; Wednesday
--sound changes: "in-" becomes "im-" before "possible", "ir-" before "responsible", "il-" before "legal"
--change in order ("metathesis"): "iron" [spoken 'i-urn', unlike "ironic" = /i-ron-ic/]; "comfortable" [pronounced /cumf-ter-bl/ or /cumf-tu-bl/]
2006-07-28 04:58:28 · answer #1 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Often comes from Old English, so it is one of the few English words that were there from the beginning of the development of the language. As for the silent T, it is only silent in some dialects. Due to, essentially, laziness on the part of people pronouncing it, the T was lost in the 15th century, along with D in handsome and the P in raspberry, and other such sounds. In later centuries, some people started pronouncing it again, and so in some dialects/accents the T is pronounced now, and in some it is not.
2006-07-28 09:35:18 · answer #2 · answered by Sappho 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are absolutely correct. The T is not pronounced.
The same people who pronounce the T in often usually mispronounce "Wednesday" by pronouncing the D and making it more than 2 syllables!
2006-07-28 10:57:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's derived from the Middle English word "oft."
The "T" is pronounced. (OFF'tin) You may be pronouncing it wrong? Your native dialect may just cause you to say "Off'in." People in Columbus, Ohio that I know pronounce "Wash" like "Worsh," so it's no big deal how you pronounce "often."
Don't worry about people like sejaybebo69...
2006-07-28 09:35:12 · answer #4 · answered by jthreattix 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A silent T? I always pronounce it. Just me?
2006-07-28 09:33:02 · answer #5 · answered by parachute 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sorry but when i pronounce the word often the T is not silent... have i been saying it wrong all these years ??
2006-07-28 09:33:11 · answer #6 · answered by ROSIE 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it really is not a silent t... people just do not pronounce it like they should. I guess you could call lazy pronunciation.
2006-07-28 09:36:39 · answer #7 · answered by C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its pronounced like this:
like the words "off" and "ten" together....
some people say often like "offen" when they're just rushing their words...
2006-07-28 15:43:42 · answer #8 · answered by nenadcal 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the T isn't silent
2006-07-28 09:34:10 · answer #9 · answered by nicoler79 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your question reminds me of my english teacher's slap for pronouncing with intonation on 'T' instead of its silence
2006-07-28 09:35:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋