What is the importance of silent letters in English language?
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How did the usage of silent letters came into being? For example : what is the use of 'k' in knife or 'p' in pneumonia ?
silent-letters
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
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How did the usage of silent letters came into being? For example : what is the use of 'k' in knife or 'p' in pneumonia ?
silent-letters
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
New contributor
Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
A lot of them weren't always silent.
– Hot Licks
1 hour ago
Related: english.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/…
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
1
Possible duplicate of Why does English spelling use silent letters?
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
add a comment |
How did the usage of silent letters came into being? For example : what is the use of 'k' in knife or 'p' in pneumonia ?
silent-letters
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
New contributor
Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
How did the usage of silent letters came into being? For example : what is the use of 'k' in knife or 'p' in pneumonia ?
silent-letters
silent-letters
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
New contributor
Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
New contributor
Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
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Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
asked 1 hour ago
ArshiyaArshiya
243
243
New contributor
Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Arshiya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
A lot of them weren't always silent.
– Hot Licks
1 hour ago
Related: english.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/…
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
1
Possible duplicate of Why does English spelling use silent letters?
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
add a comment |
2
A lot of them weren't always silent.
– Hot Licks
1 hour ago
Related: english.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/…
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
1
Possible duplicate of Why does English spelling use silent letters?
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
2
2
A lot of them weren't always silent.
– Hot Licks
1 hour ago
A lot of them weren't always silent.
– Hot Licks
1 hour ago
Related: english.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/…
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
Related: english.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/…
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
1
1
Possible duplicate of Why does English spelling use silent letters?
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
Possible duplicate of Why does English spelling use silent letters?
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
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First, you have to understand that English spelling was not designed for modern English. It was designed for Middle English, a very different language, with very different sounds.
The designers were the first English printers; Caxton started in 1476, in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift marking the end of Middle English and the beginning of Modern English. Then printing standardized spelling; before, everybody speld funettikli, in there oon fasyun. Rather like handwriting still is today.
As far as "silent" letters are concerned, they remain where they were put, for whatever reason, but the sounds have changed in the words while the spelling has not. Sometimes (like the P in pneumonia) it never was pronounced at all, but was just borrowed with the foreign (in this case Greek) spelling of the root. Others, like the K in knife and the G in singer (which doesn't rhyme with finger because finger does have a G), used to be pronounced in older Englishes, but aren't any more.
English speakers don't like English spelling any more than you do. It's awful and takes a lot of time out of education. But we're stuck with it; too much installed base.
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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oldest
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First, you have to understand that English spelling was not designed for modern English. It was designed for Middle English, a very different language, with very different sounds.
The designers were the first English printers; Caxton started in 1476, in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift marking the end of Middle English and the beginning of Modern English. Then printing standardized spelling; before, everybody speld funettikli, in there oon fasyun. Rather like handwriting still is today.
As far as "silent" letters are concerned, they remain where they were put, for whatever reason, but the sounds have changed in the words while the spelling has not. Sometimes (like the P in pneumonia) it never was pronounced at all, but was just borrowed with the foreign (in this case Greek) spelling of the root. Others, like the K in knife and the G in singer (which doesn't rhyme with finger because finger does have a G), used to be pronounced in older Englishes, but aren't any more.
English speakers don't like English spelling any more than you do. It's awful and takes a lot of time out of education. But we're stuck with it; too much installed base.
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
add a comment |
First, you have to understand that English spelling was not designed for modern English. It was designed for Middle English, a very different language, with very different sounds.
The designers were the first English printers; Caxton started in 1476, in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift marking the end of Middle English and the beginning of Modern English. Then printing standardized spelling; before, everybody speld funettikli, in there oon fasyun. Rather like handwriting still is today.
As far as "silent" letters are concerned, they remain where they were put, for whatever reason, but the sounds have changed in the words while the spelling has not. Sometimes (like the P in pneumonia) it never was pronounced at all, but was just borrowed with the foreign (in this case Greek) spelling of the root. Others, like the K in knife and the G in singer (which doesn't rhyme with finger because finger does have a G), used to be pronounced in older Englishes, but aren't any more.
English speakers don't like English spelling any more than you do. It's awful and takes a lot of time out of education. But we're stuck with it; too much installed base.
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
add a comment |
First, you have to understand that English spelling was not designed for modern English. It was designed for Middle English, a very different language, with very different sounds.
The designers were the first English printers; Caxton started in 1476, in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift marking the end of Middle English and the beginning of Modern English. Then printing standardized spelling; before, everybody speld funettikli, in there oon fasyun. Rather like handwriting still is today.
As far as "silent" letters are concerned, they remain where they were put, for whatever reason, but the sounds have changed in the words while the spelling has not. Sometimes (like the P in pneumonia) it never was pronounced at all, but was just borrowed with the foreign (in this case Greek) spelling of the root. Others, like the K in knife and the G in singer (which doesn't rhyme with finger because finger does have a G), used to be pronounced in older Englishes, but aren't any more.
English speakers don't like English spelling any more than you do. It's awful and takes a lot of time out of education. But we're stuck with it; too much installed base.
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
First, you have to understand that English spelling was not designed for modern English. It was designed for Middle English, a very different language, with very different sounds.
The designers were the first English printers; Caxton started in 1476, in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift marking the end of Middle English and the beginning of Modern English. Then printing standardized spelling; before, everybody speld funettikli, in there oon fasyun. Rather like handwriting still is today.
As far as "silent" letters are concerned, they remain where they were put, for whatever reason, but the sounds have changed in the words while the spelling has not. Sometimes (like the P in pneumonia) it never was pronounced at all, but was just borrowed with the foreign (in this case Greek) spelling of the root. Others, like the K in knife and the G in singer (which doesn't rhyme with finger because finger does have a G), used to be pronounced in older Englishes, but aren't any more.
English speakers don't like English spelling any more than you do. It's awful and takes a lot of time out of education. But we're stuck with it; too much installed base.
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
answered 16 mins ago
John LawlerJohn Lawler
85.3k6118336
85.3k6118336
add a comment |
add a comment |
Arshiya is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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2
A lot of them weren't always silent.
– Hot Licks
1 hour ago
Related: english.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/…
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago
1
Possible duplicate of Why does English spelling use silent letters?
– TaliesinMerlin
1 hour ago