Lots of people ask why silent letters still exist, or why they aren't eliminated from words.
Linguists explain that our current spelling is a consequence of the language spoken in the Middle Ages. At the time, for example, the ‘k’ and the ‘gh’ of “knight” were both pronounced! But our pronunciation is continually changing, so the sound of a word is wandering away from the spelling. They run at different paces!
So, if there is trouble with just one word, what would happen if we make the effort for all of them?
Our current spelling is a compromise to save the vast diversity in pronouncing English. As a standard, we don’t read by sounding out words, but by instant recognition of an alphabet and a certain pattern of letters.
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But where do the silent letters come from?
There is no impartial logic to silent letters in English. It is said that the first dictionary makers picked the most popular spelling rather than the most logical.
Also, we have collected words from all over the world, and our spellings often point to the language of origin, even if we no longer pronounce the words that way.
For example, the word “physical” has “ph”, not “f”, because it comes from Greek. The sound, back then, was a breathy ‘p’, not an ‘f’ sound, which reflects the ancient Greek pronunciation. The same thing happens to the “p” in “psyche”, which is not silent. The Greek word begins with the letter “psi” which combines p plus s.
English adopted the Roman alphabet as a non-Romance language. Then, it had a huge vowel diversification, having five vowels for writing but fifteen for speaking!
Additionally, English spelling was practically just standardized; it gradually became regularized between 1475 and 1630, which is not that long ago if we refer to a linguistic history context.
Some people say that letters that can’t naturally be pronounced in their position are silent. For example, the k in ‘knee’ or in ‘know’. But according to the origin of lots of words, they can be pronounced.
This means silent letters were originally pronounced. Over time, people stopped saying them and the letters just didn't get removed from spelling. Therefore, figuring out where silent letters came from depends on the letter you want to choose and also on the individual word.
What are they useful for?
Silent letters have a key role as pronunciation marks. It is important to highlight where or when short and long vowels are to be pronounced. Silent letters can do this job.
There are combinations that may sound difficult to an English speaker. But they are pronounceable. The thing is, the letters became silent in time. And currently, we kind of need to know which they are by heart. You just need to get used to them!
Let’s get to work!
Below, we will summarize some silent letters with some easy-to-remember examples, as they are in well-known words.
Let’s begin with some consonant combinations: If they are positioned at the beginning of the word, the letter gets silenced. For example:
Gn: the g is silent, like in gnostic, but the g in agnostic is pronounced.
Kn: the k is silent, like in knee, know, knife, knight.
Ps: the p is silent, like in psychology or psychics.
Pt: the p is silent, like in pterodactyl.
Ts: the t is silent, like in a tsunami.
Also, here are some examples of other positions within the word:
Final bt: the b is silent, like in debt or doubt.
Final gn: the g is silent, like in reign or design or align.
Final mb: the b is silent, like in comb or bomb.
The ABC of Silent Letters
The letter A is silent in a few words ending in -ally, like logically.
The letter B in crumb, dumb, lamb, numb, thumb, tomb, and debt.
For letter C we have words like fascinate and muscle. It is also silent before the letters K and Q, like in stock, block, and acquaintance.
Most words with E at the end, like in table or stable.
Champagne for letter G, and echo, hour, and honor for the H.
The L also has a few, like folk, half, and salmon.
The letter N is silent in autumn, column, damn, and hymn.
The O in sophomore and when paired with fellow vowels E and U, like in people and jeopardy.
For P we have corps, cupboard, raspberry, coup, pneumonia, and pseudo.
The S gets silenced in aisle and island.
Then the T in depot, listen, wrestle, often.
For the U we have built, guilt, guitar.
W silences are quite a few: answers, who, whole, wrong, write.
Additionally, initial X is pronounced as z, like in xylophone or xenophobia.
Don’t try to reason, that’s the way they are!
Letters You Always Pronounce
Finally, are there examples of never-silent letters? Despite the sense of randomness regarding English pronunciation, we can say that Q and V are never silent. R depends on the pronunciation, but it’s rarely silent.
Let us fini-shhh!
Spelling is not relevant when we are having a conversation. But if we are reading out loud, spelling systems in any language must contain a pattern that helps with pronunciation for English speakers and learners.
Nonetheless, that is not the primary purpose of spelling. The way words are spelled in the English language is a visual representation, and silent letters are a big part of this. They are essential to recognize written words!
Although silent letters are in speech, leaving them all out will be a total disaster for the recognition of written words. It would cause too much trouble to just remove them.