The English spelling system is famous for not making sense. The phonetic ideal of having each letter represent exactly one sound, and each sound represented by exactly one letter, is impossible when English has 44 phonemes (sounds) and only 26 letters to represent them in the alphabet. The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon dating back to c.550-1066 CE. English used suffixes much more than it does now to show if a word was singular or plural or if it was being used as the subject of a sentence or an object. Also, many words derive from Old English, Latin, French, Greek, Spanish etc.

A silent letter is a letter that is not pronounced, but it is written in a word. Here is a list of some words with silent letters:

B: bomb – climb – crumb –lamb – limb – comb –numb – plumb – thumb – tomb – womb – debt – doubt. C: ascent – fascinate – muscle – scene – scissors – crescent – descent – scenario – scent; Ch: yacht; D: handkerchief – handsome – Wednesday. E: euro- Europe- European. G: gnash – gnat – gnaw – gnome – align – campaign – foreign – malign – reign –assign *design - *sign -* sounds like “eine” at the end. H: haute – heir – honour – hour – ghost – what – when – where – why – while – whether –white – rhythm – school -. K: knack – knee – kneel – knife – knight – knit – knob – knot – know – knuckle. L: balm – calm – calf – half – yolk – palm – *psalm * sound “saam”– chalk – talk – walk – could – should – would – colonel – salmon. N: autumn – column – condemn – damn – hymn – solemn. P: psalm – psychic – ptarmigan – *pneumonia * as in “new-monia” pterodactyl – psychology – receipt – corps – coup. S: aisle – island – debris – Illinois. T: bristle – fasten – listen – mortgage – soften – Christmas - thistle – *wrestle (*2 letters) – castle – hustle – chestnut - *ballet *–buffet – *chalet – butcher - crochet – *valet – debut - *beret; sound ends in “a”. U: biscuit –build – circuit – disguise – guilty – league – rogue – vague – guess – guest – guide – guitar-antique – cheque – building. W: wrangle – wrap – wreath – wreck – wrench – wrestle – wriggle – wring – write – wrong – answer – sword – towards – *two * same sound as “too” – whole – *whom * the “o” sounds like “um” – whose.

Basic Rules

•B is often silent after M (mb) and before T (bt): bomb, debt •C is silent after S (sc): muscle, scene •E is silent at the end of the words: name; hope •G is often silent before N (gn): gnarled, foreign •H is silent after W (wh): what, when •K is often silent before N (kn): knife, know • L is often silent before M, F, K, D, (lm, lf, lk, ld): calm, half, yolk, could •N is often silent after M (mn): autumn, column •P is silent in the suffix “psych”: psychology •T is often silent after S (st), and at the end of the words of French origin: castle, ballet • U is silent before I (uI) and E (ue): guilty, guess . •W is often silent before •R (wr) and H (wh): wrong, what.

I hope this is useful to student and English teachers, as I know some students have problems trying to convince their teacher that he/she isn’t pronouncing some words correctly! Words in English aren’t always pronounced as they seem.

Now, like the list of words, I am sure you are hoping for me to be silent too!

Until next Tuesday – Be good

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