is there a rule in the english language that explains why the p is silent in raspberry?

Question

This one is for the english majors.
I understand that it doesn't flow as much to pronounce the p.
and too I understand that there are other random words like salmon where a letter is silent (though they usually seem to have a precedent and rule we know about)
I understand the descriptionist point of view. But I'm not an english major so I don't know the answers here.
Out of the top of my head, I don't see a precedent for the p to be silent in that case. I wonder if the reason people don't pronounce the p is just a simple matter of mispronunciation.
not to be a stickler, just wonder if it is wrong to pronounce it with the p if I prefer to.

Answer 1

I'm amazed that so many people think the ordinary English pronunciation includes both the original /p/ and /b/ sounds. I cannot find a dictionary that even mentions that possibility!
For starters, check the various dictionary entries here:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/raspberry

It may not be best to call what you are referring to a "rule", but it IS a very common feature in language.

It's called "ASSIMILATION". This refers to ANY situation where a sound is changed to be more pronounceable with, sound more like or even become identical to a nearby sound.

Classic examples, that are so early they changed the SPELLING, are some Latin prefixes.

IN- actually two different prefixes - meaning "not" and "in(to)" (but both behave the same way as far as sound changes)

Works fine for "incredible", but when the root word starts with an M or L, the /n/ is difficult to pronounce, so it changed to match the following sound.

immediate
illegal

In the case of a root starting with P it changes to become a RELATED sound -/m/

impossible
import(ant), implode

Compare the behavior of Latin prefix "COM-/CON-/CO-", based on what the following consonant sound is:
commune, compare, contest, colloquial
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/luschnig/EWO/24.htm

Answer 2

Okay, the reason it's not pronounced, per se, is because the sound after it, /b/ is the voiced form of the same exact sound. Now what does this mean?
In Phonetics, we find that for many sounds (technically all, but we're not having that convo now), there are 2 forms: Voiced and Voiceless. The first one is called thusly because your voice vibrates when you make these sounds.

Try this test say SSSSSSSSSSS while touching your throat, then try ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ while touching your throat. You should feel a vibration when you make the second sound. Now, in English two sounds of different voicing can't maintain separate voicing when next to each other.
So the verb prescriBe turns into prescriPtion. There are a bunch of endings which show one letter but that letter is actually pronounced according to the voicing of an adjacent letter.
So look at , don't you noticed a /t/ type sound at the end.
Or which has a /z/ sound at the end even though it has an spelling.

Now in this case, Raspberry, the s sounding like a /z/ shows me that the /p/ isn't really pronounced, but rather the /b/ which is the voiced form anyway.
You don't say rassperry do you? No you say razzberry, so you see that.

Answer 3

I was surprised to learn that some people do pronounce the 'p' in 'raspberry' - I don't hear it in British English.

The reason it is not pronounced is that [p] and [b] are the unvoiced and voiced counterparts of the same sort of sound - what linguists call a bilabial plosive, meaning a 'stop' consonant made by putting both lips together. As the mouth formation is the same for both sounds, the first (unvoiced) sound merges into the second (voiced) sound. Also, because of the voiced consonant [b]. the /s/ is pronounced [z]. I've just checked the pronunciation given in several bilingual and English only dictionaries, and not one of them suggests pronouncing the word [ra:spbəri] - all agree with [ra:zbəri].

Answer 4

Raspberry Pronunciation

Answer 5

Yes and no. On the one hand, if we make up a compound like "clasp buckle", we will not end up saying it as "clazbuckle". So you might think "razberry" is an exception. However, the point is precisely that raspberry is not really a compound, and as compounds erode into simple words, their pronunciation adapts to that of simple words (not just in English, but in any language). And it is certainly a rule for simple words of English that only certain sequences are allowed. And certainly -spb- is not one of these.

Answer 6

I was unaware that there were parts of the English speaking world where the ¨p¨ in RASPBERRY is pronounced!

I would have said that the correct(most accepted)pronunciation was ¨razz - berry¨(the ¨razz¨ rhyming with ¨jazz¨.

I´d be interested to know in what part of the world people say ¨rasP¨berry.

You ask about it´s being ¨wrong¨ to pronounce the ¨p´. My dear,it is not a moral issue. Before reading what others have said here I would merely have encouraged you NOT to pronounce it.

Answer 7

wayne T,
pneumonia: You are correct that the p is silent in English, but it's pronounced in Greek, the language where this word originated from. BTW, it's not "pneumonia", in Greek it would be pronounced more like "p-nev-mon-i-a"

I don't know why people say "sammon" for salmon. I always pronounce the "el"[this is to show that it's not I, first person singular.] sound. No one, as of yet, has told me I'm wrong.

I pronounce the p in raspberry. It is because of the heavy b sound that the p is voiced in the throat.

Answer 8

Furphy It's a portable water-container. and Hemidemisemiquaver A musical timing of 1/64.

Answer 9

It's just the same as not saying both t's in little, or both p's in copper, or the p/b separately in cupboard. The p and the b are, for all intents and purposes, the same sound.

My dictionary does not list both letters as pronounced separately.

Answer 10

Ok, so the singer Prince doesn't pronounce the "P", but that doesn't mean that the "P" is silent... it's still pronounced, but it's a slight pronunciation... place the emphasis on the rasp part... saying it like this.... RASP- BERRY...it kind of rolls off the tongue this way !