Silent English alphabet
A silent English alphabet is an alphabetic list of English words containing silent letters from A to Z. As the English language has many words with silent letters, it is possible to create numerous variations on this alphabet with the help of loan words and names from other languages. It is also sometimes referred to as a silent letter alphabet.
One possible origin for this alphabet goes back to a 1969 meeting of the Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, when discussion arose as to how the association's acronym, TESOL, should be pronounced. The association subsequently adopted the following tongue-in-cheek pronunciation guide, composed entirely of words with silent letters: T as in castle, E as in give, S as in island, O as in people, and L as in calm.[1]The American linguist John Higgins subsequently spent some time constructing a complete such alphabet. By 1983, his alphabet lacked only words for the letters J, M, Q, V and X.[1]
For some words in the list below, more than one letter counts as silent; in 'daughter', for example, both the 'g' and the 'h' are silent. These words are listed under only one of the two possible letters to avoid redundant entries. Words with a doubled letter in which the second of the two letters is counted as silent, like 'ebb', are not included in the list since they are among the least interesting examples. Note that for a few words in the list, the silent letter is pronounced when the word changes form, e.g., from 'hymn' to 'hymnal' or 'bourgeois' to 'bourgeoisie'.
Purists may consider the entry for the letter 'j' doubtful, since in the word listed, the 'j' actually is pronounced—though with the sound of 'h' rather than 'j'—whereas in examples for the other letters, the silent letter is not pronounced in any way at all.
Because some words have two versions of the given letter, one pronounced and one silent, in every case the silent letter is indicated in boldface type.
Partial list of English words with silent letters
A: aesthetic, bread
B: bdellium, debt, plumber
C: indictment, muscle, science
D: djinn, handkerchief, Wednesday
E: give, like, name (the 'e' here is also known as the 'magic e')
F: halfpenny
G: gnat, gnaw, gneiss, gnu, high, phlegm, sign, though
H: daughter, echo, heir, honest, hour, orchid
I: friend, business
J: marijuana
K: knee, knife, knight, knot, know
L: calf, could, talk, yolk
M: mnemonic
N: autumn, column, damn, hymn, solemn
O: colonel, leopard, people
P: corps, coup, pneumonia, psalm, psyche, receipt
Q: Colquhoun (Scottish name), lacquer
R: forecastle, sarsaparilla (GA)
S: aisle, bourgeois, debris, island
T: ballet, castle, rapport, listen
U: colleague, guard, guess, tongue
V: Milngavie (Scottish town)
W: answer, gunwale, sword, two, wrist, wrong
X: billet-doux, faux pas, Sioux
Y: Islay (Scottish island), Pepys
Z: chez, laissez-faire, rendezvous