Silent letters have two important roles in English spelling. Silent final e rules the pronunciation of other letters in some words. This is very practical. If tone and ton, or fine and fin were spelled the same, how would we know which was meant? Likewise, in the case of homophones such sight, site or cite, the spelling indicates the meaning.
Another role of silent letters is to show some of the word's history and its connection to other words, especially words in other languages. This may be of interest mostly to scholars. To the educated eye, English spelling also shows the changes in English pronunciation over time.
"Silent letters" are letters found in the spelling of some words in a language ( like English and French ) , but these letters are not pronounced.Examples:* The letter "k" is not pronounced in these words: kneekneelknightknot* The letter "h" is not pronounced in: whalewhatwhitewhy* The letters in bold in the following words are silent letters: listenchalktalkwalk
The letter combination gn is not silent in the English language.# Gnu, pugnacious, ligneous, lignin, lignite, lignocaine, magnetic, magnanimous, magnificent, magnitude, magnolia, magnum, regnal, signature, signal, are a few examples of where they are not silent. # In align, gnash, gnarled, gnat, gnaw, gneiss, gnocchi, gnome, gnomon, gnostic, reign, sign, only the g of the gn is silent. For more information about silent letters in English words, see Related links below this box.
There are none.
The "h" is silent in spanish and "j" sounds like "h". nothing else is silent
Languages such as English, French, Spanish, and Italian have silent letters in their words. Silent letters are often remnants of older pronunciations or borrowed words from other languages.
Silent letters in English words like "know" often come from the word's history or its origin in other languages. They were once pronounced but over time became silent while the spelling remained unchanged. These silent letters can be a remnant of old pronunciation patterns or spelling conventions.
In the words provided, the silent letters are as follows: In "Week," there are no silent letters. In "Won," the letter "W" is silent. In "Flower," there are no silent letters. In "Blew," there are no silent letters, and in "Dew," again, there are no silent letters.
damn hymn limn
Because it's the English language. It doesn't have to make sense, it's just like that for the enjoyment of sadistic teachers. No offense to the sadistic teachers--I want to be an English teacher anyway!
Its not if you are raised with the english language, but if you are learning it for a second language it could be. There are a lot of silent sounds like "gh" and "au" which could make reading a challenge. But you should preserver as english is the 2nd most spoken language in the world and the language could really help you in the future.
The reason the letters "kn" are silent in English words is due to historical changes in pronunciation. The "k" used to be pronounced in words like "knight" and "knit" in Old English, but over time the pronunciation evolved and became silent. This is one of many examples of how the English language has undergone shifts in pronunciation throughout history.
No. The English letter "h" does not even exist in French. (The French "h" is silent.)No. The French language does not even have an English "h". (The French "h" is a silent letter.)