# Let's find silent letters **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 16, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628 "2009-08-16T15:59:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/1 "2009-08-16T15:59:48Z")
I wonder if all the letters in the alphabet occur in silent form in the English language. I will start us off, and let’s see if dopers can fill in the remainder of the alphabet: a: aesthetic b: dumb c: cnidaria Let’s hope we can avoid words where the letter is silent only in certain dialects, for example “dentist” is not a good example of a silent “t”, even though some people pronounce it “dennist”. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/2 "2009-08-16T16:42:17Z")
d: adjudicate (The first ‘d’) e: Dope ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/3 "2009-08-16T17:14:43Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > e: Dope I’m looking for words pronounced the same way with or without the letter. Arguably, we can use the “e” from words ending in “ible” or “able”, e.g. “audible”. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/4 "2009-08-16T17:23:55Z")
Seems to be a meme out there for silent letters…:dubious: [http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2003/2967.htm](http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2003/2967.htm) Silent a: musically, realistically, logically Silent b: thumb, dumb, climb, debt, doubt, subtle Silent c: indict, muscle, Tucson, Connecticut Silent d: handkerchief, sandwich, handsome, Wednesday Silent e: bridge, serve, clue, many many others Silent f: halfpenny Silent g: light, sign, diaphragm Silent h: hour, honor, heir, exhaust, exhibition, Birmingham Silent i: business Silent k: knife, knock, know, knead Silent l: walk, talk, salmon, almond, calm, yolk Silent m: mnemonic Silent n: autumn, solemn, condemn, column, hymn Silent p: corps, pneumonia, coup, receipt, cupboard, clapboard, Campbell Silent r: many in non-rhotic English Silent s: island, aisle, viscount Silent t: Christmas, whistle, castle, listen, soften, often, rapport, ballet Silent u: guest, tongue, catalogue, guide, guitar Silent w: sword, answer, two, write, whole, whore, Greenwich, Norwich Silent z: rendezvous, chez, laissez-faire still need J,O,Q,V,X,Y ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/5 "2009-08-16T17:30:44Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > sign This fails my test. Sign != sin. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/6 "2009-08-16T17:32:00Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > still need O Oesophagus (got to make use of my English background). ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/7 "2009-08-16T21:46:16Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > Silent z: rendezvous, chez, laissez-faire It seems to me these don’t count, since the OP specified the English language. In French, the Z affects the pronunciation of these words. Without them, you’d have words closer to “rend-voo”, “shh”, and “lays-faire.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/8 "2009-08-16T22:22:22Z")
I have some all kinds of sites bookmarked in the “puzzle stuff” folder: [silent letters](http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/5037/srabs1.html). ETA: And I’m gonna move this to the Game Room as being basically about wordplay. [/moderator activity] ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/9 "2009-08-16T22:30:03Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Oesophagus (got to make use of my English background). Or Oedipus ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/10 "2009-08-16T22:39:35Z")
Too ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/11 "2009-08-16T22:41:35Z")
bayle should take care of y ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/12 "2009-08-17T01:35:18Z")
Let me ask Ptolemy… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/13 "2009-08-17T02:13:24Z")
Several of the ones **Jamicat** posted are dialectical: I’d pronounce all of his As, all of his Ds except for “handkerchief”, all of his Ls except for “salmon”, all of the Rs (since my dialect is rhotic) and (barely) the W in “sword”, “whole”, and “whore”. The French words for Z should count, though, since although they all came from French, they’ve all been assimilated into English (where the rules do not require a Z for those pronunciations) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/14 "2009-08-17T02:25:33Z")
Oh, and from **twickster** ’s link, I wouldn’t count “handbag” for D; “blackguard” has two pronunciations, one of which pronounces the K; the first L in “colonel” is pronounced, just as a different sound than it usually has; and every example for F and R (and one of the ones for S) is a double letter, which I don’t think should count. It does add a pretty unambiguous “lacquer” for Q, though. They don’t add any new letters to the list, but you can knock out a lot of letters at once with “boatswain” (pronounced “bosun”) or “Worchestershire” (pronounced “Wooster”). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/15 "2009-08-17T03:11:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Worchestershire” (pronounced “Wooster”). Isn’t “Wooster” a shortened form of “Worcestershire”, the equivalent of saying “Worcester”? The whole word should be pronounce something similar to “Wooste(r)-sure” or “Wooste(r)-sheer.” ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/16 "2009-08-17T04:05:29Z")
> [@AudreyK](#): > > It seems to me these don’t count, since the OP specified the English language. In French, the Z affects the pronunciation of these words. Without them, you’d have words closer to “rend-voo”, “shh”, and “lays-faire.” These words (rendezvous etc.) have entered the English language, so I wouldn’t rule them out for that reason. However, they do affect the pronunciation of the word, so I don’t think they count for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/17 "2009-08-17T04:06:33Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > Too To and too are pronounced differently. “Too” has a much longer vowel sound, as one would expect from the double “o”. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/18 "2009-08-17T04:12:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Several of the ones **Jamicat** posted are dialectical: I’d pronounce all of his As, all of his Ds except for “handkerchief”, all of his Ls except for “salmon”, all of the Rs (since my dialect is rhotic) and (barely) the W in “sword”, “whole”, and “whore”. We already have an A anyway. Although I do not pronounce any of the Ls, we at least have salmon uncontested so far. Ditto handkerchief for D. I have never heard anyone pronounce the W in sword etc., so I would be interested as to how it affects your pronunciation. I would also disqualify “two” as it is pronounced differently from “to”. However, “answer” seems to be uncontested. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/19 "2009-08-17T04:16:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, and from **twickster** ’s link, I wouldn’t count “handbag” for D; “blackguard” has two pronunciations, one of which pronounces the K; the first L in “colonel” is pronounced, just as a different sound than it usually has; and every example for F and R (and one of the ones for S) is a double letter, which I don’t think should count. It does add a pretty unambiguous “lacquer” for Q, though. I am not sure it is unambiguous. Would you really pronounce “lacuer” the same as “lacquer”? > [@](#): > > “Worchestershire” (pronounced “Wooster”). No it isn’t; it is pronounced “Woostershuh” (and it should not have the first “h”). Worcester is pronounced Wooster, but I don’t want to go there - let’s keep proper nouns out of it before someone mentions Cholmondeley. ---
**Author:** ![ragerdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ragerdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ragerdude)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/20 "2009-08-17T04:17:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Several of the ones **Jamicat** posted are dialectical: I’d pronounce all of his As, all of his Ds except for “handkerchief”, all of his Ls except for “salmon”, all of the Rs (since my dialect is rhotic) and (barely) the W in “sword”, “whole”, and “whore”. Do you pronounce “whole” and “whore” differently than “hole” and “hoar”? Do you pronounce “where” and “which” differently than “wear” and “witch”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628.md?page=2)