Once you understand the rules, most languages that use phonetic alphabets are rather simple to read and pronounce. Simply put, you speak what you see. Some languages, such as English and French, do, nevertheless, utilize a lot of silent letters. This is a list of letters that have been written but not spoken. These letters are frequently left over from when the term was pronounced differently than it is now. Silent letters can be mastered by understanding the laws of the language and remembering typical silent letter words. You can seek up the pronunciation or ask a native speaker if you’re still unsure whether a letter in a word is silent.
Silent letters can be found in a lot of words. Roughly 60% of words in English have a silent letter in them, according to Ursula Dubosarsky, author of The Word Snoop (Dubosarsky 2008). Continue reading to learn about the many sorts of silent letters and how they affect pronunciation and language development in English.
A silent letter in an alphabetic writing system is a letter that in a word does not match to any sound in the word’s pronunciation.
A silent letter—a term used informally in English pronunciation—is a letter or letter combination of the alphabet that is frequently not uttered in a word. The b in subtle, the c in scissors, the g in design, the t in listen, and the gh in thinking are all examples.
There are several letters that are spelled but not pronounced in many English words. These letters are unpronounceable but visible and are referred to as silent letters. They are common in the English language and can be difficult for a new learner to understand. Why, in the first place, do we require such letters in a word? That’s an excellent question, and the answers are varied: When it comes to the word etymology, a digraph can vary. Some silent letter words are from a different language. We’ll only look at which letters in words should be silent for the time being, and we’ll look at some silent letter rules to help us detect when specific letters should be silent.
When ‘d’ is before ‘ge’ at the end of a word, it is generally silent;
e.g. bridge and dodge.
abjudge, acknowledge, adjudge, badge, begrudge, bludge(slang), bodge(Brit), bridge, brow ridge, Budge(surname), budge, cadge, Cambridge(a city), cartridge, cledge, Coleridge(surname), Coolidge(surname), disacknowledge, dislodge, dodge, drawbridge, dredge, drudge, edge, fadge(archaic), featheredge, fidge, fledge, Flintridge(a city), flybridge, footbridge, foreknowledge, forjudge or forejudge, frankpledge, fridge, fudge, gadge or gadgie, grudge, hardedge, hedge, hodgepodge, impledge, judge, kedge, kentledge, kludge, knowledge, Langridge, ledge, lodge.
When ‘d’ is before ‘g’ in the same syllable, it is generally silent e.g. badger and dodger.
abridgable, abridgeable, abridged, abridgedly, abridgement, abridger, abridgment, acknowledgeable, acknowledgeably, acknowledged, acknowledgedly, acknowledgement, acknowledgment, adjudgement, adjudgment, badger, badgerer, begrudging, begrudgingly, bludgeon, bludgeoner, bludger, bodgie(slang), bridge deck, bridgeable, bridgeboard, bridgehead, bridgeless, bridgework, browridge, budger, budgerigar, budgetary, budgeter, budgie, cadger, cadgy, codger, cudgel, cudgeller, curmudgeon.
A silent letter in an alphabetic writing system is a letter that in a word does not match to any sound in the word’s pronunciation.
A silent letter—a term used informally in English pronunciation—is a letter or letter combination of the alphabet that is frequently not uttered in a word. The b in subtle, the c in scissors, the g in design, the t in listen, and the gh in thinking are all examples.
Silent letters can be found in a lot of words. “Roughly 60% of words in English have a silent letter in them,” according to Ursula Dubosarsky, author of The Word Snoop (Dubosarsky 2008). Continue reading to learn about the many sorts of silent letters and how they effect pronunciation and language development in English.
Silent Letters Come in a Variety of Forms
A Survey of English Spelling author Edward Carney divides silent letters into two categories: auxiliary and dummy. He divides the two groupings into the following categories.
Auxiliary Letters
Auxiliary letters are part of a set of letters that spell a sound that isn’t represented by a single letter. As an example,
There’s /th/ thing /th/ there /sh/ share /zh/ treasure /ng/ song.” “
Dummy Letters
“There are two types of dummy letters: inactive letters and empty letters.
Inert letters are letters that are sometimes heard and sometimes not heard in a word segment. As an example,
resignation (g is not heard)
withdrawal (g is heard)
heinous (g is not heard)
(There is a g heard).”
“Like auxiliary letters and inactive letters, empty letters have no purpose. The letter u in the word gauge, for example, is blank. Silent consonants can be found in the following words:
d: bridge, ledge, edge c: indict ch: yacht
g: sign, design, assign, foreign
h: spaghetti, rhinoceros
knuckle, knee, knit, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob, knob
m: mnemonic n: autumn, column l: calf, talk, could, should, would m: mnemonic
p: raspberry, receipt
t: castle, whistle
w: “answer,” “wrap,” “wring,” “wring,” “wring,” “wring,” “wring,” “wring,” “wring,” “wring,” “w (Carney 1994).
Silent letters are more difficult to predict than empty letters in new words. “There are no standards that we can apply to words with empty letters[;] you just have to use them and remember their spelling,” Strausser and Paniza, authors of Painless English for Speakers of Other Languages, say. (Strausser and Paniza 2007, for example).
In the spelling sequences mb and bt, the letter b is always silent in the word-final position: comb, numb, bomb, limb, debt…
In the spelling sequence dj: adjective, adjunct, neighboring…, the letter d is always silent.
In the spelling sequence gm or gn, the letter g is silent: phlegm, gnarl, champagne, sign, gnat, gnaw…
In the spelling sequence gh and in the word-final position: ghost, ghetto, aghast, ghastly, ah, eh, oh… h is silent in the spelling sequence gh and in the word-final position: ghost, ghetto, aghast, ghastly, ah, eh, oh…
In the word-initial spelling sequence kn, the letter k is always silent: kneel, knee, knob, knight, knave, knowledge, knife, knock,” (Sadanand and colleagues, 2004).
