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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Silent "C" #168543 06/05/2007 2:17 AM Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 1 Bermuda, Planet Earth, Milky W... 1 of 6 Billion stranger 1 of 6 Billion stranger Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 1 Bermuda, Planet Earth, Milky W... I've enjoyed reading your comments for a rather lengthy period of time. For this reason, I have at last, scrunched-up enough courage to ask a question. Is there any chance someone can explain to me, why "indicted" is pronounced: "in-die-ted" and by extension, we also have "indictment"? Why the silent "c"? Thank you in advance! Signed: ---Baffled in Bermuda Last edited by 1 of 6 Billion; 06/05/2007 2:19 AM. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Silent "C" 1 of 6 Billion #168544 06/05/2007 2:30 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass and yet we have interdict, with the c sounded. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Silent "C" tsuwm #168545 06/05/2007 5:31 AM Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 631 Hydra addict Hydra addict Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 631 Good question. What are silent letters for? Seeing as a letter is "a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech", the term "silent letter" is oxymoronic. Is a silent letter just the vestige of a former pronunciation, a kind of orthographical appendix? Edit: This Wiki article sheds some light on your question. Last edited by Hydra; 06/05/2007 12:46 PM. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Silent "C" Hydra #168547 06/05/2007 5:52 AM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh Good question. Like many that have anything to do with English orthography, the answer is not a simple one. The word came into Middle English from Norman French sometime after 1066. It was spelled enditen, and the vowels were all sounded as in Italian or Spanish. Somewhere between 1066 and the 1500s, there was a movement in Parisian French towards spellings that indicated the Latin etymology of words. That's were the silent b in debt comes from, (cf. the too-often pronounced t in often). Sometimes they got the etymology incorrect, as in admiral, sometimes correct as in perfect (originally borrowed as parfit) or adventure (aventure). Ceci n'est pas un seing. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Silent "C" zmjezhd #168552 06/05/2007 10:44 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 And note that sometimes the intrusive consonant is pronounced in the "correct" pronunciation. Another example of an incorrectly etymologized intrusive consonant is the s in island. We're lucky they didn't go farther back with the bad etymology and decide it should be spelled insland. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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