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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.

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