Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The kn and gn letter combinations usually indicate a Germanic origin of the word. In Old English , k and g were not silent when preceding n . Cognates in other Germanic languages show that the k was probably a voiceless velar plosive in Proto-Germanic .
Silent letters may give an insight into the meaning or origin of a word; e.g., vineyard suggests vines more than the phonetic *vinyard would. Silent letters may help the reader to stress the correct syllable (compare physics to physiques). The final fe in giraffe gives a clue to the second-syllable stress, where *giraf might suggest initial-stress.
The change affected words like gnat, gnostic, gnome, etc., the spelling with gn-being retained despite the loss of the /ɡ/ sound. The cluster is preserved in some Scots dialects. [23] The song The Gnu jokes about this silent g and other silent letters in English.
The English language is notorious for its use of silent letters. In fact, about 60 percent of English words contain a silent letter. In many cases, these silent letters actually were pronounced ...
Pages in category "Silent letters" The following 6 pages are in this category, out of 6 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ...
Roman numerals: for example the word "six" in the clue might be used to indicate the letters VI; The name of a chemical element may be used to signify its symbol; e.g., W for tungsten; The days of the week; e.g., TH for Thursday; Country codes; e.g., "Switzerland" can indicate the letters CH; ICAO spelling alphabet: where Mike signifies M and ...
There is an article containing a list of words with silent letters for each letter A-Z. It is nominated as an Article for Deletion, so I completely rewrote it to include some of the history of why there are so many silent letters in English words. It is called Silent English alphabet. You are invited to contribute to the discussion regarding ...
Data from millions of death certificates filed in every state and territory is combined and published in national statistics that help researchers better understand the state of U.S. public health.