longman pronunciation dictionary wikipedia

Some silent letters were added on the basis of erroneous etymologies, as in the cases of the words island and scythe. victual, rhyming with little but derived from Late Latin victualia). often ), though not all-silent letters are sometimes added for etymological reasons, to reflect a word's spelling in its language of origin (e.g. It is also the case for many words with silent letters (e.g. This is often the case with compound words (e.g., waistcoat, cupboard, forehead). If a word's spelling was standardized prior to sound changes that produced its traditional pronunciation, a spelling pronunciation may reflect an even older pronunciation.

cupboard, Worcester), may be subject to a spelling pronunciation. In addition, words traditionally pronounced with reduced vowels or omitted consonants (e.g. Words that are spelled with letters that were never pronounced or that were not pronounced for many generations or even hundreds of years have increasingly been pronounced as written, especially since the arrival of mandatory schooling and universal literacy.Įxamples of words with silent letters that have begun to be often or sometimes pronounced include often, Wednesday, island, and knife. ( April 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī spelling pronunciation is the pronunciation of a word according to its spelling when this differs from a longstanding standard or traditional pronunciation. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. This article possibly contains original research.

Longman pronunciation dictionary wikipedia