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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
Why is the T in Christmas silent?
This has been running through my mind for awhile. Was there a point when they did pronounce the t?
Top answer
Silent letters are not that unusual in English. Perhaps the t of the syllable-final consonant cluster st is a little difficult to pronounce because it is bumped up against the m that begins the next syllable. A similar thing happens in asthma and isthmus , where the th is silent.
- Silent letters are not that unusual in English.
- Perhaps the t of the syllable-final consonant cluster st is a little difficult to pronounce because it is bumped up against the m that begins the next syllable.
- A similar thing happens in asthma and isthmus , where the th is silent.
- Another similar situation occurs when syllable-final rt precedes a syllable beginning with g , making the t in mortgage silent as well.
- And the unstressed ending -stle(r) has silent t as well: castle, bristle, rustle, trestle, wrestler, whistler And then there's the -sten endings with silent t : listen, christen, glisten .
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1 Answers
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Silent letters are not that unusual in English. Perhaps the t of the syllable-final consonant cluster st is a little difficult to pronounce because it is bumped up against the m that begins the next syllable.
A similar thing happens in asthma and isthmus, where the th is silent.
Another similar situation occurs when syllable-final rt
A similar thing happens in asthma and isthmus, where the th is silent.
Another similar situation occurs when syllable-final rt
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