2007-12-20 18:51:11 · 5 answers · asked by curiousest 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
From Online Etymological Dictionary:
O.E. andswaru, from and- "against" (see ante-) + -swaru "affirmation," from swerian "to swear," reflecting the original sense of "make a sworn statement rebutting a charge."
The consonant cluster -ndsw- was first simplified to -nsw- in Middle English (the source of our current spelling) and then later to -ns- (but the spelling didn't change). It's part of a long process over the last 1000 years of simplifying English consonant clusters (for example "lamb", "know", etc., all the consonants of which used to be pronounced).
2007-12-20 21:36:55 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The spelling system of English was created some hundreds of years ago, back when the pronunciation was different. The pronunciation has changed, but the spelling remained the same.
2007-12-21 03:17:16 · answer #2 · answered by drshorty 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's a contraction of two words "and swear" and at one time the "w" was pronounced. Over time, it became silent because it was easier to pronounce the word that way.
2007-12-21 03:06:17 · answer #3 · answered by RoVale 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
English is a "funeee" language
2007-12-21 04:46:35 · answer #4 · answered by Idealist 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
its just tht w is silent if really intrested go and ask the person who made this word.
2007-12-21 02:54:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋