Words with Silent P- A Compilation

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 are silent consonants?

Silent consonants must be distinguished from a number of other consonant letters that are not pronounced correctly. Consonant letters that combine with a neighbouring letter to generate a sound that neither would make alone or to remove ambiguity about how the other letter should be pronounced are an important subset of these. The indicated sound will be a vowel if the other letter is a vowel; otherwise, it will be a consonant.

The letters “h,” “w,” and “y,” as in oh, cow, and toy, are examples of consonant letters that join with a vowel for these purposes and cannot be termed silent.

A consonant which is written as part of the spelling of a word without being pronounced is referred to as a “silent consonant” in the English spelling system.

If that’s the case, it’s not a feature unique to English, despite the fact that the English spelling system is infamous for it.

Numerous English words contain ‘silent letters,’ which are letters that are not uttered. Consider the distinctions between the words, ‘laughter’ and ‘daughter.’ You’ll notice that the word ‘laughter’ has a ‘f’ sound, but the word ‘daughter’ does not.

A silent letter is one that is written but not spoken. There are no common guidelines or recommendations for identifying a quiet consonant. In most circumstances, we must learn both the pronunciation and the meaning of the word. Let’s look at which letters can become silent and see if there are any trends.

What is a silent P?

When a ‘p’ precedes an ‘s,’ the ‘p’ is hushed, making a popping sound at the front of the mouth. The majority of these words with silent ‘p’s have something to do with the mind or mental medicine: psychology, psychiatry, psyche, psychological, psychotic, or pseudopsychiatry.

It is virtually always medical when the letter p or ‘ps’ begins a term. Due to its Greek origins, this is the case. The word ‘pneumonia,’ which is caused by a severe cold, has a silent p.

Finally, a silent p in the middle of a word, such as ‘receipt,’ can be found from time to time. Although some say that the p is there to soften the sound, there is no ‘p’ sound in the second syllable in English.

Study of origin.

Words starting with “ps-,” “pt-,” or “pn-“ are usually pronounced without the /p/. (see 90. The Greek Impact on English Vocabulary). Combinations with psych- (psychology, psychic), pseudo- (pseudonym, pseudopod), psalm, pterodactyl, and pneumatic are some examples.

Other important words include reception (/r’si:t/), coup (/ku:/), and corps (/k:/), the last two of which are French borrowings.

When is it used?

When the letter ‘p’ appears before the letter ‘n’ at the start of a word, it is usually silent, just like in pneumatic and pneumonia.

When the letter ‘p’ appears before the letter’s’ at the start of a word, it is usually silent, as in psalm and pseudo.

When the letter ‘p’ appears before the letter ‘t’ at the start of a word, it is usually silent, as in ptarmigan and ptomaine.

e.g.- corps, coup, cupboard, raspberry.

Examples.

In a number of technical phrases, such as pneumonia and pneumatic, the letter P is silent before the letter n. It’s also silent before s in a variety of nouns like psalm, psyche, and psychology. In corps, coup, and receipt, it boldly states nothing. It somehow persuades m to join it in deception in some pronunciations of comptroller; the two imitate n.

Coup, pneumonia, corps, cupboard, psalm, raspberry, receipt, Pseudo, Psychotherapy, Psychiatrist, Psychic, Psychotic, psychology, pterodactyl, pseud, pneumatic, etc.

Exceptions.

Although a “PN”, “PS”, or “PT” bond exists, the P is not silent if the bonds occur in a distinct syllable, such as capsize, flipside, upside, upset, heptagon, September, septenary, captain, caption, capture, rapture, and so on. The P isn’t silent if there’s a “PS” or “PT” bond at the end of a word or syllable because these bonds can be an ending consonant blend. Plural nouns with a root word ending in P, such as cups, maps, and laps, as well as those with a “PS” or “PT” blend ending, such as lapse, corpse, accept, except, concept, kept, rapt, disturb, interrupt, corrupt, slept, and so on, are examples.