Silent and invisible letters in English: Difference between revisions
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'''chéck''' ''verify'' = [[British English|BrE]] '''chéque''' ''money | '''chéck''' ''verify'' = [[British English|BrE]] '''chéque''' ''money | ||
Typical | Typical silent letters are '''b''' finally after '''m''' or before final '''t''' (-m'''b''' | ||
-b'''t'''); '''g''' or '''k''' initially before '''n''' (g'''n'''-, k'''n'''-); '''gh''' finally or before final '''t''' ( -gh -gh'''t'''); '''l''' after '''à''' and before final '''f''' or '''m''' (-l'''f''' -l'''m'''); '''n''' finally after '''m''' (-'''m'''n). | -b'''t'''); '''g''' or '''k''' initially before '''n''' (g'''n'''-, k'''n'''-); '''gh''' finally or before final '''t''' ( -gh -gh'''t'''); '''l''' after '''à''' and before final '''f''' or '''m''' (-l'''f''' -l'''m'''); '''n''' finally after '''m''' (-'''m'''n). | ||
Revision as of 19:00, 10 July 2009
Silent letters constitute a notorious phenomenon in English: in wréstle, for example, only four out of the seven letters are actually sounded (*résl), and there can be strings of them in place names, exemplified by the trio Léicester, Glóucester, Worcester (*Léster *Glóster *Wùster). (The accents show stress and pronunciation, see English phonemes.)
But redundant letters can serve to distinguish between words that sound the same:
knôw knowledge = nô negative
knót tie = nót negative
wráp parcel = ráp knock, talk
wrîte read = rîght correct = rîte ritual
chéck verify = BrE chéque money
Typical silent letters are b finally after m or before final t (-mb -bt); g or k initially before n (gn-, kn-); gh finally or before final t ( -gh -ght); l after à and before final f or m (-lf -lm); n finally after m (-mn).