Was wondering if every letter of the alphabet can be used in a way where it is a silent letter?
Example
The letter b is silent in numb
The letter k is silent in Knock
and so forth.
seAt; lamB; sCience; aDjust; strikE; twelFth; Gnaw; Honor; saIl; Knock; paLm; Mnemonic; damN; leOpard; Pneumatic; mRs.; aiSle; duTch; gUard; snoW; beauX; saY; pince-neZ.
Sorry, I couldn’t muster any for J, Q, or V.
No offense, DM, but I think you might be cheating a bit.
The “f” is heard in a correctly pronounced “twelfth”.
“Mrs.” is an abbreviation, not a word.
Since “c” can have an “s” sound, it can be argued that it is prounced in “science”. (If you think of it the same way as a double “s”.)
And (extreme nit-pick warning) many, though not all, pronounciations of “palm” include the “l”.
Nice try though. You came up with more than I probably would have off the top of my head.
Every time I say Dutch the t gets pronounced.
To be honest, most of those came in a game and quiz book I had in 1965. (But it listed “iRon” instead of “mRs.”, and may have been British.)
I’d suggest haLf instead of paLm. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say the L in half other than for comic effect.
R is easy: HaRvaRd.
For J… how about san Jose? (it’s cheating, but no more than “beaux” or “pince-nez”.)
A silent “J” in San JosŽ? No way! Even in Englkish it’s pronounced like English “H”–unless, perhaps, you are a Cockney, in which case it might be silent.
Hispanics among the Teeming Millions are invited to make their own comments about this.
I’ve heard “San Jose” pronounced both with and without a distinct sound between the N and the O (in contrast to “La Jolla”, which does seem to have a definite H sound). I don’t know which is correct. How do the people who live there pronounce it?
The only instance of a silent Q I know of is in the Monty Python sketch.
To add to the list: there is a silent “t” in soften, and depending on who you talk with, you may not hear the “t” in twenty.
Kobolde, die sich mit rotheissen Schuereisen unter Aussenaborten verbergen.
Dear Son,
" "
" "
" "
" "
love, mom
That’s the only silent letter I ever got.
Or, as Harpo Marx would have said, " ."
How about lacQuer for Q?
- That’s * good, Fretful. Now how about a silent “V”?
Another candidate for ‘c’ could be indiCt.
And where does comptroller fit in this discussion?
Does phthisic count as a silent ‘f’?
How about chaise longUe for ‘u’. (A pet mispronunciation peeve.)
“non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem”
– William of Ockham