{"id":1641,"date":"2025-03-13T19:47:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T19:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2025-03-13T19:47:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T19:47:32","slug":"dear-english-why-do-you-have-so-many-silent-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/dear-english-why-do-you-have-so-many-silent-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear English, Why do you have so many silent letters?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"434\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?resize=750%2C434&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?resize=300%2C173&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?resize=768%2C444&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?resize=18%2C10&amp;ssl=1 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>English is easy to learn, right? Of course it is! Except for some complicated grammar rules, exceptions, irregularities, and endless idioms. Then, of course, there&#8217;s the spelling and pronunciation! Why are so many words full of letters that are not pronounced? What&#8217;s up with that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The influence of other languages <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>English has a complex linguistic history. Over time, it adopted words from various other languages, including Latin, Greek, French, and Old Norse. In some cases, it kept the original pronunciation of the source language. In others, it kept the spelling, but dropped the sound of one of the letters to make pronunciation easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-columns stk-block-columns stk-block stk-fc6b65f\" data-block-id=\"fc6b65f\"><style>.stk-fc6b65f {margin-bottom:0px !important;}<\/style><div class=\"stk-row stk-inner-blocks stk-block-content stk-content-align stk-fc6b65f-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-4f50d77\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"4f50d77\"><style>@media screen and (min-width: 768px){.stk-4f50d77 {flex:var(--stk-flex-grow, 1) 1 calc(56.6% - var(--stk-column-gap, 0px) * 1 \/ 2 ) !important;}}<\/style><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-4f50d77-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-4f50d77-inner-blocks\">\n<p>For example, the word <em>receipt<\/em> is borrowed from the Old French word <em>receite<\/em>, which itself came from Latin<em> recepta<\/em> (&#8220;received&#8221;). 16th century scholars then added the &#8220;p&#8221; to the word&#8217;s spelling to match the Latin root <em>recepta<\/em>, but the pronunciation didn&#8217;t change. The &#8220;p&#8221; remained silent. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-5b9dc8c\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"5b9dc8c\"><style>@media screen and (min-width: 768px){.stk-5b9dc8c {flex:var(--stk-flex-grow, 1) 1 calc(43.4% - var(--stk-column-gap, 0px) * 1 \/ 2 ) !important;}}<\/style><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-5b9dc8c-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-5b9dc8c-inner-blocks\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"307\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/message-1620749_640-2.jpg?resize=307%2C428&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1649\" style=\"width:214px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/message-1620749_640-2.jpg?w=307&amp;ssl=1 307w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/message-1620749_640-2.jpg?resize=215%2C300&amp;ssl=1 215w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/message-1620749_640-2.jpg?resize=9%2C12&amp;ssl=1 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 307px) 100vw, 307px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The word psychology (pronounced &#8220;sigh-KOL-uh-jee&#8221;) comes from Greek. <em>Psyche<\/em>, meaning &#8220;soul&#8221; and<em> logos<\/em>, meaning &#8220;study&#8221;. In Ancient Greek the &#8220;p&#8221; was pronounced, but subtly. However, it has always been silent in English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Old English and Middle English get modern<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In Old English, the word <em>talk<\/em> (a derivative of <em>tale<\/em>) had an audible &#8220;l&#8221;. So did many other words, such as <em>walk<\/em>, <em>half<\/em>, and <em>calf<\/em>. Over time, however, the &#8220;l&#8221; became silent for ease of flow and articulation. Similarly, the &#8220;b&#8221; in words like <em>dumb<\/em> or <em>climb<\/em> were once pronounced, but eventually became silent to create a more natural flow of speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Test your pronunciation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In the following video, I list five words that are commonly mispronounced by non-native English speakers. (Plus a bonus sixth word at the end). Do you know how to pronounce them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"STOP mispronouncing these words!\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rZ8KuTJ8pl0?start=48&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Private English classes to improve your pronunciation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you found the above video helpful, or you would like to have some personalized help with pronunciation, I encourage you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/conversation-classes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">take a lesson with me<\/a>!  All my classes are tailored to the needs of the individual. I teach English online 7 days a week and can help you with English grammar, vocabulary, idioms, expressions, conversation, and pronunciation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Contact me for more information about lessons<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>English is easy to learn, right? Of course it is! Except for some complicated grammar rules, exceptions, irregularities, and endless idioms. Then, of course, there&#8217;s the spelling and pronunciation! Why are so many words full of letters that are not pronounced? What&#8217;s up with that? The influence of other languages English has a complex linguistic&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/dear-english-why-do-you-have-so-many-silent-letters\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Dear English, Why do you have so many silent letters?<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,12,96,97,1,13],"tags":[30,106,29,98,26,16,105,100,104,103,102,107,101,99,25],"class_list":["post-1641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advanced","category-intermediate","category-pronunciation","category-spelling","category-uncategorized","category-vocabulary-2","tag-english-class","tag-english-language","tag-english-lesson","tag-english-pronunciation","tag-english-spelling","tag-esl","tag-greek-roots","tag-history-of-english-spelling","tag-latin-roots","tag-middle-english","tag-old-english","tag-online-english","tag-pronunciation","tag-silent-letters","tag-spelling","entry"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=1000%2C578&ssl=1",1000,578,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=300%2C173&ssl=1",300,173,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=750%2C434&ssl=1",750,434,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=750%2C434&ssl=1",750,434,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=1000%2C578&ssl=1",1000,578,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=1000%2C578&ssl=1",1000,578,true],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=18%2C10&ssl=1",18,10,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=1000%2C578&ssl=1",1000,578,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>English is easy to learn, right? Of course it is! Except for some complicated grammar rules, exceptions, irregularities, and endless idioms. Then, of course, there&#8217;s the spelling and pronunciation! Why are so many words full of letters that are not pronounced? What&#8217;s up with that? The influence of other languages English has a complex linguistic history. Over time, it adopted words from various other languages, including Latin, Greek, French, and Old Norse. In some cases, it kept the original pronunciation of the source language. In others, it kept the spelling, but dropped the sound of one of the letters to&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/category\/advanced\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Advanced<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/category\/intermediate\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Intermediate<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/category\/pronunciation\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Pronunciation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/category\/spelling\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Spelling<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/category\/vocabulary-2\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Vocabulary<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"CherylRocks","url":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/author\/cherylrocks\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Be-quiet-1.png?fit=1000%2C578&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1641"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1653,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions\/1653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishwithcheryl.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}