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Are there silent letters in other languages?
Even unusual letters like Z and J are silent in words that we have adopted from foreign languages, such as marijuana (originally a Spanish word) and laissez-faire (French).
What language has silent letters?
And these aren’t even the hardest words to pronounce in the English language. The English language is notorious for its use of silent letters. In fact, about 60 percent of English words contain a silent letter. But these often distressing words weren’t intended to be so confusing.
Which English word has the most silent letters?
Bizarre, counterintuitive pronunciations of some proper names (typically the names of many British places) cast aside – proper names do not count as words in any standard dictionary – the word queue immediately pops up. It has 5 letters with 4 of them silent. That is 80\%.
Which letters can be silent in English?
Silent letters in English
| Silent B | Silent C | Silent G |
|---|---|---|
| lamb | fascinate | gnash |
| limb | fluorescent | gnat |
| numb | muscle | gnaw |
| plumb | obscene | gnome |
Is the L silent in chalk?
The word sounds identical to kernel, which is an honorable, respectfully spelled word. L is also silent in could, should, would, as well as in calf and half, and in chalk, talk, walk, and for many people in calm, palm, and psalm.
What is the silent letter in ghost?
There are many common words in English that contain the pair of letters ‘gh’. ‘Gh’ can be pronounced /g/ (like ‘goat’), /f/ (like ‘fun’) or it can be silent, but in that case it will affect the vowels that come before it.
Which letter is always silent in Spanish?
H
The rule for the Spanish H is that it’s always silent unless it is next to the letter C. When you see the letter C next to an H you need to make a ch sound, which is almost identical to the “ch” sound in English.