Talk:Silent letter

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Contents 1 Great, except. . . 2 Pronunciation of "soften" 3 English Examples 4 Trivia question (classroom full of students thinks I (the teacher) should know! 5 Silent letters in French car brand names 6 Silent C and Silent H

[edit] Great, except. . .

Where is the explanation for why silent letters exist? Isn't that something this article should address? I'd guess most people who come to this article are looking for that answer. I know I was. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.163.0.41 (talk) 15:12, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pronunciation of "soften"

Someone not logged in deleted "soften" from a list of words with silent letters and left the comment: "removed the exmple of a silent 't' in 'soften' becuase it isn't silent" [sic]. Does this statement apply to any major dialects of English? I checked a half-dozen American, British, and Australian dictionaries, and none indicated that the 't' is pronounced even optionally. Unless there is evidence that a significant number of English speakers do pronounce the 't', I would vote to restore the "soften" example to the article. Tomgally 01:01, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

It was me who revomed the soften example. I have only ever heard north americans drop the 't' from 'soften.' It stikes me as a little odd that the all the dictionaries you checked say that the 't' is silent, since I can't recall ever hearing a British person drop the 't' (I live in Britian). I don't think a letter who's silence (or lack thereof) is dependant on accent should really be counted a silent letter. Misodoctakleidist 17:58, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

I agree with you that if many British people do pronounce the 't' in "soften," then it shouldn't be included as an example in the article. The British dictionaries I checked were the Collins English Dictionary, Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, New Penguin English Dictionary, and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. None shows a 't' in the pronunciation. But there's a huge variety of British dialects, and dictionaries tend to recognize only a narrow range of southern English accents. Just out of curiosity, what part of Britain do you live in? Tomgally 00:06, 24 August 2005 (UTC)

I live in Cumbria (North-West England). I also checked the New Penguin English Dictionary, and there was no 't' in the pronounciation. You are right that dictionaries usually consider only recieved pronounciation. Although, I can't say I've ever noticed anyone with a RP accent dropping the 't' either. Perhaps I am just wrong. Misodoctakleidist 22:49, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

Having been a British person all my life I would suggest that the received English is entirely with a silent T. This is from an Essex boy that goes to university in wales. The only way I can imagine the T being pronounced is in that it changes the pronunciation from a long to a short O (soff-n instead of soaf-n)--Shadebug 12:45, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

It may surprise you to learn that some parts of the country exist north of Birmingham. Misodoctakleidist 18:53, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

True enough, but being that RP as well as fair chunk of the population live below that line, I would say it's still a valid point.--Shadebug 23:56, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

I have never heard anyone pronounce soften with a long o. Misodoctakleidist 18:48, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] English Examples

Here's the paragraph giving some examples of silent letters in English.

In English, examples of silent letters include the "p" in "psychology," the "e" in "hope," and the "n" in "damn." The "t"s in "often" and "tsunami" are silent in some speakers' pronunciation of the words but spoken in others'.

How can you call the <e> in "hope" silent? It's a magic <e>: part of the representation of the vowel. Omit to <e> and you get "hop". I'm changing this example. - Jim 25Apr05

Good point. Thanks for making that change. It would be nice, too, to have some examples from languages other than English. Any French speakers care to contribute? Tomgally 05:30, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I don't think grandfather is a good example, pronouncing the "d" is by far more common than the silent version. I'm from Australia, things may be different in America, but I'm sure its at least reasonably common to pronounce the d.

I'd agree that the D in grandfather, at least in British English, is silent more due to laziness than to that being proper pronunciation.--Shadebug 12:48, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia question (classroom full of students thinks I (the teacher) should know!

What word in the English language has the most silent letters?

The only one I could think of with more than one (off the top of my head) was "whistle" with two. (I'm pretty sure even RP-speaking Brits don't pronounce THAT "t"!)

[edit] Silent letters in French car brand names

How many silent letters have the French car brand names "Renault", "Peugeot", and "Citroën"? --84.61.36.54 11:07, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Silent C and Silent H

Any chance somebody more informed than myself could mention silent Cs and the position of the English language on Hs, both at the beginning of letters. That is, silent Cs such as Cnidarian or Cthonic and why anybody in their right mind would stay at an hotel or get treated at an hospital. I'm teaching english as a second language and, although as primary school students they won't care, I'd like to make sure I've got this right.--Shadebug 12:54, 13 November 2006 (UTC)