what is the point in silent letters?

Question

gnat--knife--gnome--knot and do they allways preseed an n.

Answer 1

Reasons for 'silent' letters
distinguishing whole from hole, plum from plumb, hour from our, etc
showing long vowels rid/ride, 'hard' consonants guest/gest
connecting different forms of the same word resign/resignation.

Causes of 'silent' letters
historical change: the sound has dropped out of the word over time but the spelling has not changed: light, hope, knot
addition of letters: the letter was added to make the spelling more 'French' or 'Latin': debt, victual, island
difficult sound combinations: The sound combination difficult to say: handkerchief, sandwich
borrowings: the word was originally borrowed from another language, complete with spelling: champagne, khaki, myrrh




Many people are perhaps not aware of the astonishing fact that nearly every letter of the English alphabet is silent in some word. (Silent letters are also sometimes called mute letters.) The following list was compiled with the help of Ellis, Plea for Phonetic Spelling, 1848.

a is silent in head, bread, deaf, meant
b is silent in debt, lamb, bomb, tomb
c is silent in muscle, blackguard, yacht, indict
d is silent in Wednesday, handkerchief, handbag
e is silent in pirate, more, have, give
f is silent in stiff, cuff, scoff
g is silent in gnaw, gnome, phlegm, straight
h is silent in honour, heir, ghost, night
i is silent in business, fashion, cushion
k is silent in know, knee, knock, blackguard
l is silent in talk, folk, salmon, colonel
m is silent in mnemonic
n is silent in hymn
o is silent in leopard, jeopardy
p is silent in psalm, pneumatic, cupboard, receipt
q(u) is silent in lacquer
r is silent in myrrh, catarrh
s is silent in isle, aisle, viscount, mess
t is silent in often, thistle, fasten, mortgage
u is silent in build, guild, plague
w is silent in whole, write, sword
y is silent in prayer, mayor
z is silent in rendezvous

Answer 2

When standard spellings became important, like when movable type revolutionized western publishing in the 1400s, English was pronounced much differently, and the letters weren't silent.

Then something happened called the Great Vowel Shift. English pronounciation moved much closer to what it is today, but the spelling didn't change.

The letters still aren't silent in other related languages like Dutch and German. This explanation applies to the silent k and g you mention, as well as silent e.

It doesn't apply to the silent p in psychology. Words from Latin and Greek are seldom pronounced the way a Latin or Greek speaker would have. And yes, Greeks actually pronounced the p in psychology. They also pronounced the 'ph' in pharmacy as a p sound with a lot of breath, pretty much like a p followed by an h.

Answer 3

tension of habit, i assume. they simply fossilize that way. they normally mirror a letter that was once reported. yet human beings shop writing it even after it turns right into a silent letter, by way of fact knowledgeable human beings get this unusual concept that the old spellings are the single actual way & all and sundry who writes them in any different case could desire to be an ignoramus. It does not help that, traditionally, type differences come into play right here... it was once that the only knowledgeable human beings have been the elite & the elite likes to make issues harder than mandatory with a view to coach off. Silent letters can supply an perception into the meaning or foundation of a word, e.g. winery shows vines extra advantageous than the phonetic *vinyard might. now and returned, spurious letters are consciously inserted in spelling. The in debt & doubt replaced into inserted to duplicate Latin cognates like debit & dubitable. those attitudes are nonetheless preserved to a pair quantity, whether persons do no longer unavoidably carry those ideals. case in point, think of two human beings correcting one yet another's spelling. they could the two think of that the spelling rules in English are dumb, yet each does not prefer to look uneducated to the different -- or to all and sundry else -- so as that they insist upon using primary spellings. for this reason, taken mutually as a team, the two human beings exhibit those attitudes, even however the persons do no longer.

Answer 4

Psychic.. theres more. Good queswtion dont know the answer ansd I always look at what the word would look like if it didnt have the silent letter in front of it. But there are some letters with silent letters after them as well. I cant think just now but am sure of it.

Answer 5

Also silent 'p' as in swimming. Well mine are anyway.

I don't really know. After all, you can have a silent fart but that, at least has the same function as a loud fart inasmuch as they can both smell just as bad as each other.

It's a funny old world isn't it.

Answer 6

Hears a silent letter
Dear






Yours OK

Answer 7

There's no point. I think these words come from Norse. They would have been pronounced differently hundreds of years ago, so they appear strange today.
EDIT: WORDS SUCH AS 'PSYCHOLOGY' OF COURSE DERIVE FROM CLASSICAL GREEK. IN FACT, THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS MADE UP FROM MANY OTHER LANGUAGES, PARTICULARLY FRENCH. TRY AND READ THE CANTABURY TALES BY CHAUCER IN THE ORIGINAL MIDDLE ENGLISH AND YOU'LL SEE HOW FLUID THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS.

Answer 8

I tend to feel sorry for them and give them voice....
Until you have a go of it yourself with the likes of ganomes and kanives you'll never truly kano the joy of calling yustin -ennin-arden - Justine hennan hardean

Answer 9

To define it from an alternative meaning? Works with Knot and Not any way.

Answer 10

just to make life difficult