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Iasadih Posted 13 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

kit vs kite etc. pronunciation of "i'

Is there any rule which predicts if "i" is to be pronounced as in "wilderness" or "wild"
  

Top answer

In 'kite' vs 'kit', the silent 'e' at the end is the clue. In 'wild' vs 'wilderness' (and the adjective 'wilder'), you will have to rely on the dictionary.

— Mister Micawber

  • In 'kite' vs 'kit', the silent 'e' at the end is the clue.
  • In 'wild' vs 'wilderness' (and the adjective 'wilder'), you will have to rely on the dictionary.
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4 Answers
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In 'kite' vs 'kit', the silent 'e' at the end is the clue. In 'wild' vs 'wilderness' (and the adjective 'wilder'), you will have to rely on the dictionary.
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A similar thing happens with "doll" vs "dole", but what is the significance of silent "e" for the vowel in the preceding syllable? Is there any rule which regulates that?

Why idiot but ideology [ai], automobile but fragile [ai]

Is it possible to make any generalisations, for example to say that with "i", hardly ever can you tell?
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iasadihA similar thing happens with "doll" vs "dole", but what is the significance of silent "e" for the vowel in the preceding syllable? Is there any rule which regulates that?
Yes, it is the 'silent-e' rule, which makes a 'short' vowel long. It is not universal, I suppose, but it usually applies:

dot/dote; rat/rate; her/here; tin/tine; cut/cute
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1. historically long i > /a?/, thanks to the great vowel shift (GVS)
2. short i > /?/ (kit, hip, etc)
3. iCC > short i > /?/ (pre-cluster shortening: disk, risk; some exceptions are in -st like Christ, etc)
4. iCC > long i > /a?/ (homorganic lengthening: wild, child, kind, bind, etc)
5. iCCC > short i > /?/ (pre-cluster shortening after homorganic lengthenin
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