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Usenet Posted 18 years ago
Usage
Consonants that are not pronounced?
Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with consonants that should not be pronounced, for some mysterious reason.
- Island
- Muscle
Today, I learned new one:
- Salmon
I assume that the list is not comprehensive, and would like to add more of these special words.
In the case of "island" I am guessing that the letter 's' is mute in order for the word not to sound like "Iceland"? What reason can there be for the silent consonants in the other two words?
TIA,
-RFH
- Island
- Muscle
Today, I learned new one:
- Salmon
I assume that the list is not comprehensive, and would like to add more of these special words.
In the case of "island" I am guessing that the letter 's' is mute in order for the word not to sound like "Iceland"? What reason can there be for the silent consonants in the other two words?
TIA,
-RFH
Top answer
[nq:1]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with ... word not to sound like "Iceland"? g.
- [nq:1]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with ...
- word not to sound like "Iceland"?
- g.
- kirk and church were the same word, and only from the late 13th century was spelling slowly standardized making kirk and church two words (also sounded differently) and rendering obsolete earlier spellings like kerke and chirche.
- g.
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68 Answers
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[nq:1]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with ... word not to sound like "Iceland"? What reason can there be for the silent consonants in the other two words?[/nq]
You are approaching the language backwards, English was first an oral language, e.g. kirk and church were the same word, and only from the late 13th century was spellin
You are approaching the language backwards, English was first an oral language, e.g. kirk and church were the same word, and only from the late 13th century was spellin
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[nq:1]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with ... to sound like "Iceland"? What reason can there be for the silent consonants in the other two words? TIA, -RFH[/nq]
There is a silent pee in 'swimming'.
There is a silent pee in 'swimming'.
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Ramon Herrera:
[nq:1]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with ... reason. ... I assume that the list is not comprehensive, and would like to add more of these special words.[/nq]
There are quite a lot. Mostly they are letters that were pronounced in an older version of the word, or in another language that English borrowed the
[nq:1]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with ... reason. ... I assume that the list is not comprehensive, and would like to add more of these special words.[/nq]
There are quite a lot. Mostly they are letters that were pronounced in an older version of the word, or in another language that English borrowed the
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[nq:2]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I ... the silent consonants in the other two words? TIA, -RFH[/nq]
[nq:1]There is a silent pee in 'swimming'.[/nq]
And in Bath.
With best wishes,
Peter.
Peter, \ / \ Prestbury, Cheltenham, Glos. GL52 Anne \ / \ England. and / / \ > > >\ > / \
[nq:1]There is a silent pee in 'swimming'.[/nq]
And in Bath.
With best wishes,
Peter.
Peter, \ / \ Prestbury, Cheltenham, Glos. GL52 Anne \ / \ England. and / / \ > > >\ > / \
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[nq:2]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I ... be for the silent consonants in the other two words?[/nq]
[nq:1]You are approaching the language backwards, English was first an oral language, e.g. kirk and church were the same ... standardized making kirk and church two words (also sounded differently) and rendering obsolete earlier spellings like kerke and chirche.[/nq]
Y
[nq:1]You are approaching the language backwards, English was first an oral language, e.g. kirk and church were the same ... standardized making kirk and church two words (also sounded differently) and rendering obsolete earlier spellings like kerke and chirche.[/nq]
Y
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[nq:2]The unsounded L is common in written English e.g. palm, psalm, almond etc.[/nq]
[nq:1]Huh. I say some "L" in all three of those examples.[/nq]
This is common (thus normal) for American speakers. It might be a relict of the method formerly used to teach infants to read, which was called "Sound It Out." RY observantly notices that most people who articulate the L do so in a muted way,
[nq:1]Huh. I say some "L" in all three of those examples.[/nq]
This is common (thus normal) for American speakers. It might be a relict of the method formerly used to teach infants to read, which was called "Sound It Out." RY observantly notices that most people who articulate the L do so in a muted way,
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[nq:1]No, I don't think that ever happens in English. "Island" is actually an interesting case. "Isle" has pretty nearly the ... "isle", so they added an S to the spelling and made "island". Good dictionaries will mention this, for example .[/nq]
All the same, you confused the issue by mentioning the Latin word which is unrelated to "island". I know you didn't actually say it was, but t
All the same, you confused the issue by mentioning the Latin word which is unrelated to "island". I know you didn't actually say it was, but t
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Mark Brader:
[nq:2]No, I don't think that ever happens in English. "Island" ... be derived from "isle", so they added an S ...[/nq]
Rob Bannister:
[nq:1]All the same, you confused the issue by mentioning the Latin word which is unrelated to "island". I know you didn't actually say it was, but ...[/nq]
But I didn't. "Isle" is the one that's derived from "insula".
Mark Br
[nq:2]No, I don't think that ever happens in English. "Island" ... be derived from "isle", so they added an S ...[/nq]
Rob Bannister:
[nq:1]All the same, you confused the issue by mentioning the Latin word which is unrelated to "island". I know you didn't actually say it was, but ...[/nq]
But I didn't. "Isle" is the one that's derived from "insula".
Mark Br
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[nq:2]Huh. I say some "L" in all three of those examples.[/nq]
[nq:1]This is common (thus normal) for American speakers. It might be a relict of the method formerly used to ... if uncertain. This is a real feature of the spoken language that no one has ever reduced to writing.[/nq]
Unless I missed something, the three words referred to are island, muscle and salmon.
The "L" in muscle i
[nq:1]This is common (thus normal) for American speakers. It might be a relict of the method formerly used to ... if uncertain. This is a real feature of the spoken language that no one has ever reduced to writing.[/nq]
Unless I missed something, the three words referred to are island, muscle and salmon.
The "L" in muscle i
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[nq:1]Ever since I learned English (as a second language), I have kept a very short mental list of words with ... - Salmon I assume that the list is not comprehensive, and would like to add more of these special words.[/nq]
In The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories ( MWNBWH ), under the entry "debt", there is the remark:
The letter b was added to the spelling in both French and Eng
In The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories ( MWNBWH ), under the entry "debt", there is the remark:
The letter b was added to the spelling in both French and Eng
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