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).
Words that end in e are mostly silent.
Let’s go over the letter’s purpose now that you’ve gone over a few words in the English language that end in a silent “e.” Although the silent “e” does not create a sound, it has a purpose. The following are the effects of a silent “e” at the end of a word on its pronunciation.
A silent “e” can transform a short vowel into a long vowel. The “e” in code and wine, for example, stops them from being cod and win. They can produce the long sound and utter their names because of the “e.” (It’s for this reason that the silent “e” is sometimes known as the bossy “e.”)
A silent “e” can transform a short vowel into a long vowel. The “e” in code and wine, for example, stops them from being cod and win. They can produce the long sound and utter their names because of the “e.” (It’s for this reason that the silent “e” is sometimes known as the bossy “e.”)
Certain harsher-sounding vowels can likewise be made softer by using a silent “e.” The harsh sounds of “c” and “g” do not appear in the terms grace and age, as they do in the words cat and good.
However, there are a few cases where a silent “e” has no effect on how you pronounce a word.
Because English words do not usually finish in “v,” terms like perceive and above have an “e” that has no effect on how they are pronounced. This criterion also applies to words ending in “u,” such as cue and true.
Singular words do not appear to be multiple because of the silent “e.” Consider the term “moose.” If the “e” was removed, the result would be moos, which appears to be the plural version of moo.
The silent “e” has no influence on pronunciation in several cases. The three-letter words ore and are are examples of this.
The silent b:
There are numerous terms in the English language that smuggle in a ‘b’ where it is otherwise unnecessary.
The silent b, which usually follows a m, is not pronounced as ‘b’ as it would be at the beginning of a word (‘boy’). However, as with most of these examples, it softens and slightly lengthens the word – so, whereas ‘tomb’ would sound like ‘toh-m’ or the name ‘Tom’ if the b were removed, ‘tomb’ is pronounced ‘tooh-m’.
Climb, comb, crumb, debt, thumb, tomb, or womb are some essential examples.
The silent n:
The silent n, like the silent b, usually appears after an’m’ and isn’t pronounced ‘nuh’ like a ‘n’ ordinarily is, but instead softens the word’s final vowel sound a little. Within the mouth, the ‘n’ is silent, but it lengthens these phrases slightly more than if they ended in an’m’: hymn, damn, solemn, condemn, or column.
The words become long vowels, Learn more below
Long Vowels
Long vowels are letters in which the sounds of the letters A, E, I, O, and U correspond to the letter’s spoken name. Typically, they are taught from preschool to first grade. A word with a short vowel is frequently turned into a word with a long vowel by adding a silent letter “e” to the end of the word.
Consider the following scenario:
“Mat” becomes “mate” by adding the letter “e.”
“Win” becomes “wine” by adding a “e.”
“Hope” becomes “hope” by adding the letter “e.”
“Tub” becomes “tube” by adding a “e.”
The letter “e” is an exception, as the rule of adding a silent “e” does not apply.
There are other similar exclusions that can be confusing to children when they first begin. It necessitates the teacher staging the lesson in order to present each rule and exception separately. You, as a parent, can begin assisting at home by working closely with the teacher.
E Words with a Long E
The words in bold contain the long E sound.
To be or not to be, that is the question. That is the issue.
Pete intends to see her again as soon as possible.
On the high beam, the gymnast shines.
The ethics board deemed the actions to be unacceptable.
At the deli, there was quite a scene.
