When one of my sons moved to Knoxville, TN, I helped him with a home project. We ran into the need for a tool we didn't have. Said John, "I'll just pick one up at Mart." "Don't you mean, "K-Mart"?" I asked. "No, Dad," he said. "In Knoxville, the "k" is silent."

Neat story.
Welcome.

heh


welcome!

I've been keeping a list of words with silent letters. I'd love to find a silent word with a j in it. J's the only letter that won't shut up. Please let me know if you come up with one.

A principal I had in high school had the last name of
Labaj, pronounced Lah-bi. J was silent.

That's a neat site. Thanks.


But it did influence the second syllable, I suppose, like in hai jalai.

Beggars can't be choosers. Thanks!

Hey I've not given up, stick with us.

I had a classmate with last name of Stejskal (Stays-cal).
But again the 'j' in whatever language the name is, may
influence the pronunciation.

In your list you have "half", but not the verb "halve".

Thanks for "halve"! If you find any more that I missed, please let me know.

While searching the web for words-with-silent-letters, I often come across folks who claim that j is silent in words like "jalapeño" or "fajita." As in the name "Stejskal," though, I think it's just that you pronounce j differently in different languages. I'm still looking for the j that disappears completely.

-Daniel

I'll look too, and hope I remember the thread here.
Maybe someone else is looking as well, and will post.

That's just silly. You're right, it's just pronounced different.

heh

After going through Raymond Long's Elements of English: Silent Letters, I added a bunch more words to my words with silent letters spreadsheet. Some of the additions are questionable, but many aren't. I'm amazed how many I missed.

I don't have time to check, but do you have the
numberable 'ough's?

cough
dough
doughty
through
though
slough
sough
bough
plough
hough

and I've forgotten at least two of the nine+ pronunciations
involved with 'ough'.(that I know of)

I have a few of them. I'll check when I have more time later on.

It's the B not the D that's silent in bdellium.

Thanks for pointing that out. Made the change.

I'm reminded of my choral society director years ago. He cautioned us that we should sing "psalm" as in English, not Latin. The "p" was to be silent as in "swimming".

I received a stern warning from a teacher
when I insisted on using the "p" in pneumonia,
which my brother was afflicted with, and still
kept using it. She was unhappy, very, with me.