Collection of Words with Silent E

What are silent letters?

A silent letter in an alphabetical system of writing is a letter that in a word doesn’t really match any sound in the word’s pronunciation. A silent letter is typically represented with the null sign U+2205 EMPTY SET, in linguistics. A null segment is one that is unpronounced or unwritten. The symbol is similar to the Scandinavian letter as well as other symbols.

The significant number of silent letters is one of the notable characteristics of English spelling. Edward Carney differentiates between distinct types of “silent” letters, each of which presents readers with varying degrees of difficulty. The presence of many different silent letters is one of the most difficult features of English spelling and pronunciation.

Since English has developed from a variety of sources (Latin, Greek, French, German, Old English, and so on), it has had to absorb all of its predecessors’ spelling and pronunciation oddities. As a result, there have been numerous cases where specific letters have become silent. While it may appear that silent letters have no function in a word, this is not entirely true: silent letters can assist to separate two otherwise homophonous words, convey the meaning or origin of a word, or even aid in determining the overall sound of a word.

What is English Orthography?

The system of writing rules used to represent spoken English in written form is known as English orthography, and it allows readers to link the symbols to sound and interpretation. It covers spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation in English.

English spelling, like that of most other world languages, has a high level of standardization. When movable type was introduced to England in the late 15th century, this standardization began to emerge. Unlike other languages, however, practically every phoneme (sound) can be spelled in various ways, and most letters have multiple pronunciations depending on their position in a word and context.

What is a silent E?

Many phrases in English orthography have a silent e (single, final, non-syllabic ‘e’), which is most usually found at the conclusion of a word or morpheme. In late Middle English or Early Modern English, it usually refers to a vowel sound that was once spoken but has now become quiet.

The use of an unpronounced E following another letter (typically a consonant) at the conclusion of a word is known as silent E (also known as magic E). Silent E, as its name implies, is not uttered as a separate vowel sound; rather, it serves to influence the pronunciation of the vowel (and, on rare occasions, the consonant) that comes before it. There are, however, a number of exceptions to this rule, as well as a number of other technical roles that quiet E can do, as we’ll see later.

When is it used?

We strongly advise that you review consonant-vowel-consonant (C-V-C) words before moving on to silent E. This post will provide you with a solid foundation for comprehending how silent E works in English.

If you don’t have time for that, here’s the quick version: The vowel in three-letter words composed of a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant is frequently spoken with a short vowel sound.

Silent E words have the same C-V-C pattern as C-V-C words, but with an E at the end, making them C-V-C-E words. The final -E transforms the short vowel sound into a long vowel sound.

Consider the following scenario:

Hat is spoken with a short A sound, while hate is pronounced with a long A sound.

There is a short I sound in bid, while there is a long I sound in bide.

The short O sound in hop, is different from the long O sound in hope.

When a suffix starting with a vowel is introduced to a word, the silent e is frequently omitted, as in: cope to coping, trade to tradable, tense to tension, prisoner to captivate, plague to plaguing, secure to security, create to creator, and so on. However, like in the case of liveable, this is implemented inconsistently. There is also a difference in practice when it comes to the “-ment” suffix. In American English, judge is frequently shortened to judgement, although in British English, the e is often kept, as in judgement. Other words with a hazy meaning include movement, enticement, and participation, to name a few.

In compound terms like ‘comeback’, a silent e is not frequently dropped.

Examples.

Silent E Words with Long A

bare, cage, cake, came, dare, date, fate, fake, fame, face, fade, lane, late, page, pale, pane , fare, gate, gave, gaze, hare, hate, have, lace, lake, lame, mace, made, mage, make, male, mane, mare, mate, maze, name, nape, nave, pace, race, rage, rare, rate, safe, sage, sale, same, save, take, tale, tame, tape, vane, wage, wake, wave

Silent E Words with Long E

cede, here, meme, mere

Silent E Words with Long I

bike, bite, cite, dice, dime, dive, dine, dire, file, fine, fire, hide, hire, hive, kite, lice, life, like, line, mile, mine, nice, nine, pike, rice, ride, ripe, side, site, tide, time, tine, tire, vile, wide, wile, wine, wipe, wire

Silent E Words with Long O

bone, bore, code, cone, cope, core, dope, dote, doze, home, hope, joke, mode, mope, nope, note, poke, robe, rode, role, rope, rose, rove, sole, tore, vote, woke, wore, wove

Silent E Words with Long U

cube, cure, cute, dude, duke, dune, fume, huge, lube, lure, mule, mute, nuke, puke, pure, rude, rule, sure, tube

Effects of silent Es on words

1. The silent E lengthens the vowel before it. Consider the CVCe words cap vs. cape or mop vs. mope. There are a few three-letter silent e words that have different pronunciations, such as do vs. doe.

2. It softens C and G.

Dance, wage, or stage are some examples.

3. Silent E softens TH

Bathe, soothe, or lithe are some examples.

4. It adds a syllable to words when it appears with an L at the end.

Bundle, basic, or handle are among examples.

5. Silent letters can tell the difference between homophones, such as in/inn, be/bee, and lent/leant. This is a helpful hint for readers who are already familiar with both terms.

6. Silent letters can reveal information about a definition of a word or origin, for example, vineyard suggests vines more than the phonetic ‘vinyard.’

7. Silent letters, such as guest/gest, help demonstrate ‘hard’ consonants.

8. They can assist in the connection of multiple forms of the same word, such as resign/resignation.

Exceptions.

While the silent E rule for vowel pronunciation is very consistent, the previous vowel does not always become long. This is usually the result of a change in spelling through time or an E that was originally voiced becoming silent. Among the most common instances are:

come done are above love some none have give glove gone