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The English spelling system is known throughout the world for being devoid of rules and meaning. The pattern of phonetic perfection, in which each letter represents only one sound, and each individual sound is represented by only one letter, cannot be applied to the English language, which has 45 sounds or phonemes, and only 26 letters to represent them.
Moreover, in every language, over time there are inconsistencies between the spelling of words and modern pronunciation, because the rules of pronunciation change, and given that written English has existed for about 1,300 years, there are too many such inconsistencies, and one of the most striking examples is the abundance of unreadable letters
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When it comes to unreadable letters, more than half of the letters in the English alphabet are unreadable in at least a few words. If we list them in alphabetical order, they are B, D, E, G, H, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, W, X and Z. In this post we will tell the origin story of some unreadable or silent letters.
Mute E
Our post mainly looks at , but we can't ignore the most famous silent vowel letter in the English language: E. While other silent letters appear in only a few words, E is so common that there is even a rule regarding this letter: silent E at the end of a word affects the pronunciation of the previous vowel, which becomes long. We know this rule as "".
According to Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language(Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language), authored by David Crystal, this rule dates back to the 11th century. In those days, English used a variety of suffixes to indicate singular and plural, and whether the word was subject or object in a sentence, for example when the Old English word "hus", which today means "house", was written as "huse". this already meant “to a house”. Much water has passed under the bridge since then, but the silent ending has survived to this day and defines an open syllable or 1 type of reading.
Unpronounceable consonants
Another rule is the rules for reading the consonant H, which today is not read in words such as honor, hour, as well as in the letter combination GH in words such as thought, through, caught, taught, (k)night.
As you know, the English language is replete with combinations of consonants, and of the 23 consonant sounds in modern English, 40 letter combinations appear, some of which are used only in proper names, such as Gwen, or in borrowed words such as schlep (bore). One of the relics of the past is the letter combination KN, in which only the letter N is read in words such as “knife, knee, knowledge.” Another example is WR, in which the W is not pronounced: “wrong, wrestle, wreath”, as well as GN with a silent consonant G in the words gnaw, gnarly, gnat. When we talk about the silent letter G, the word gnome (gnome) [‘nəυmi:] comes to mind, but this is no longer from Old English, but from the Greek language, which flooded English with many silent letters.
In addition to the GN in the words gnostic and gnome, letter combinations starting with a silent P have entered the English language from Greek - this is PN in pneumonia, PS in words such as in psychiatry and psalm. The letter combination PT appears in the root "pter-", meaning "wing" in a word such as "pterodactyl".
In addition to silent letters at the beginning of words, there are many at the end, for example, in the word hymn the letter N is not pronounced, but in the derivative word hymnal, when N is followed by a vowel, it is read. There are many similar examples in the English language, for example, in the word condemn the N is not read, but in the word condemnation derived from it, it is pronounced.
Many words with silent consonants came into English from French, where this problem is also relevant. Take, for example, the word rendezvous [ʹrɒnd(e)ı|vu:] (rendezvous) in which there are two silent letters - Z and S. A similar situation is in the case of “coup d'état” [ˌkuːdeɪ'tɑː] (coup d'etat) , where the letters P and T are also silent.
There are many other silent letters whose history is no longer relevant today. There are linguists who propose to carry out spelling reforms in order to bring the English language to perfection, but this sounds unrealistic, and we have to learn the spelling of English words, the lack of spelling rules for which creates many problems for students.
In an open syllable, the vowel A is pronounced as . Here are examples of words with A in an open syllable: snake - snake (Fig. 2.), lake - lake, plane - plane, plate - plate, name - name.
If the vowel letter A comes before the vowels Y and I, then such combinations AY, AI will be read as. Here are examples of words with such combinations: rain - rain, train - train, tail - tail, wait - wait, sail - sail, May - May, play - play, day - day, way - way. If the vowel letter A is combined with the letters W and L, then the pairs AW and AL are pronounced [ɔː]. Here are examples of such words: ball - ball (Fig. 3.), tall - high, all [ɔːl] - everything, small - small, wall - wall, paw - paw, draw - draw, straw - straw, law - law, flaw - crack.
In a closed syllable, the vowel letter E is read as a short sound [e]. Here are examples of words with E in a closed syllable: pen - pen, red - red, bed - bed, egg - egg, hen - chicken. In an open syllable, the vowel E is pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of words with E in an open syllable: she [ʃiː] - she, he - he, be - to be, Pete - Pete, we - we.
If there are two vowel letters E next to each other in a word, then this combination EE will be read as a long sound. Here are examples of words with this combination: tree - tree, sweet - candy (Fig. 4.), green - green, meet - to meet, bee - bee. 
If the vowel letter E is combined with the letter A, then the pair EA is also pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of such words: read - to read, please - please, mean - to keep in mind, tea - tea, sea - sea.
So, we got acquainted with the rules for reading the vowels A and E in open and closed syllables, as well as in their combinations.
The vowel letter A is read in two ways. In an open syllable it is read as a sound, for example plane - airplane. In a closed syllable, the vowel letter A is read as the sound [æ], for example flat - apartment.
The vowel letter E in a closed syllable is read as the sound [e], for example red - red, and in an open syllable - as a long sound, for example we - we.
Bibliography
- Afanasyeva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. 2nd grade - M: Bustard, 2014.
- Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. 2nd grade - Title, 2008.
- Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. and others. English language. 2nd grade - Education, 2013.
- Alleng.ru ().
- Alleng.ru ().
- Learnathome.ru ().
Homework
- Learn to correctly read all the words from the video lesson.
- For each learned rule for reading the vowels A and E, find two English example words.
- Learn words from the video lesson and new words that you find.
As you know, to learn something you need to make an effort. When it comes to a foreign language, practice is necessary every day. For English language learning like playing a musical instrument. You need to read English, as well as play scales, every day! Therefore, we read and read again! This is the second lesson in the series: . Today We read English words with the letter E. The word tables are compiled by syllable type and before you start reading, we suggest you remember again Rules for reading the English letter E in 4 syllable types. For those who have forgotten what syllables we are talking about and what they are called, remember. And we get straight to practice.
Word tables taken from a wonderful manual "Rules of Reading". Author Krylova N.V.
1. Reading the letter E in an open syllable
Rule 1. In an open and conditionally open syllable (below), the English letter E is read as in the alphabet - .
By the way, letter combinations ei &ie also read . 
Listen:
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We have all been convinced more than once that there are many oddities and incomprehensibility in English that can bring a lot of headaches to English learners. What was the most difficult thing for you? Grammar? A huge number of words and synonyms for these words? Pronunciation? At school, the most difficult thing for me seemed to be spelling words, the so-called Spelling. Why do we write many letters but pronounce fewer sounds?
In the Russian language, as a rule, everything is logical: there is the word “beautiful”, pronounce all the written letters, and it will be correct. In English, problems begin when you realize that the rules of the Russian language do not work here. Simple example: beautiful /ˈbjuːtəfl/ – 9 letters and 6 sounds (combination ju- one sound).
I often wondered why unpronounceable letters are needed in English ( silent letters)? What's the point of them if we don't say them? Are there any rules that can explain the use silent letters? Let's look for answers in the article.
History of unpronounceable letters
If we look at English words from a historical perspective, we will see that in the past, about 90% of the words in English were phonemic ( phonemic). That is, the words were pronounced as they were written. Imagine there was (knight), and the word was pronounced as / / (/book/, may the English teachers forgive me for writing the transcription in Russian letters). At that time there were almost no words with unpronounceable letters, but somewhere in the 15th century the trend began to change. During this period, English began to borrow many words from other languages (French and Latin). Borrowings brought with them certain problems: new words did not correspond to the pronunciation norms of classical English of that time. Then the habit of “reinterpreting” original English words in a new manner arose.
Also, the English language has accepted with open arms the Latin alphabet, which has only 26 letters. These 26 letters were supposed to convey more than 40 sounds of the English language. Since 26 letters are not enough to convey 41 sounds, they began to use combinations of letters to convey one sound. In this way, people were able to preserve all the significant sounds of English. Now in modern English only 40% of words are phonemic.
It turns out that 60% of words in the English language contain unpronounceable letters. This is why it is very important to learn to recognize when a letter is pronounced and when it is not. These subtleties can confuse us, for example when we look up a word in a dictionary. Let's take the floor knowledge. If I don’t know how to spell it, but am guided only by the initial sound, then I will look for this word in the section on the letter N and, naturally, I won’t find anything like it.
How to work with words with unpronounceable letters
There are many rules for silent letters, I will explain some of them in this article. In one sitting, remember all the cases with silent letters, I think it will be impossible. Therefore, banal practice is needed. The more words you encounter orally and in writing, the faster you will be able to establish a certain pattern for writing words. For example, if you are already familiar with the word could, That would It won't seem so strange anymore.
The second method, which will help you remember the spelling and pronunciation of words, is suitable for real lovers of the English language: delve into the etymology (origin) of the word. Try to find the history of the word: where it was borrowed from, what it meant before, how it was pronounced. You will not only remember the spelling of a new word well, but also learn a lot of interesting things about the history of the origin of the concept. For example, in the word (island) is an unpronounceable letter s. Until the 15th century, this word was pronounced / ˈaɪlənd/, just like now, but it was written differently - aeland. When French borrowings appeared, the first part of the word changed in appearance and began to look more like the French version isle- island.
Why are silent letters needed?
How can unpronounceable letters help us, what is the use of them? They can be very useful when you are reading a text and need to understand the difference between homophones - words that are pronounced the same but are spelled differently: no and know, them and there, to and two. Can you understand what is written here?
Do you no wear my sun?
- Eye think his hear.
- Oh, know. His them.
Do you know where my son is?
- I think he’s here.
- Oh, no. He's there.
Unpronounceable letters also affect pronunciation, which generally seems strange, because we do not pronounce them. For example: sin /sɪn/ And sign/saɪn/, rat /ræt/ And rate /reɪt/. Yes, it is important to know if we are committing sin ( to sin) or just put a signature somewhere ( to sign).
Mute e at the end of a word affects the length of the vowel sound in the previous syllable. Tap /tæp/ And tape /teɪp/, mat /mæt/ And mate /meɪt/, fin /fɪn/ And fine /faɪn/. In the first variant the vowel sound is short, in the second it is long. Accordingly, these are different words with different meanings.
Rules for using silent letters
I want to make a reservation right away: there are rules, but there are also plenty of exceptions. We will focus on commonly encountered rules.
- Silent B not pronounced after M at the end of a word: limb /lɪm/, thumb /θʌm/, dumb /dʌm/. We also usually don’t pronounce B before T at the end of a word: debt /det/, doubt /daʊt/, subtle /ˈsʌt(ə)l/.
- Silent E occurs at the end of a word and affects the previous vowel (making it a long sound): hope /həʊp/, drive /draɪv/, gave /ɡeɪv/.
- Silent G often not pronounced when coming before N: foreign /ˈfɒrɪn/, sign /saɪn/, champagne /ˌʃæmˈpeɪn/.
- Silent GH not pronounced when coming after a vowel: though /ðəʊ /, through /θruː/, daughter /ˈdɔːtə(r)/. Exceptions: words consisting of two roots: doghouse /ˈdɒɡˌhaʊs/, foghorn /ˈfɒɡˌhɔː(r)n/, egghead /ˈeɡˌhed/. G.H. sometimes pronounced as F: rough /rʌf/, laugh /lɑːf/, cough /kɒf/.
- Silent H not pronounced when coming after W: what /wɒt/, when /wen/, why /waɪ/. Sound H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words; in such words it is important to remember that you need to use the article an: an hour /ˈaʊə(r)/, an honor /ˈɒnə(r)/, an heir /eə(r)/.
- Silent K not pronounced when at the beginning of a word before N: knee /niː/, knowledge /ˈnɒlɪdʒ/, know /nəʊ/.
- Silent L not pronounced after vowels A, O, U: calm /kɑːm/, could /kʊd/, yolk /jəʊk/.
- Silent P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words that begin with “ psych" And " pneu”: psychiatrist /saɪˈkaɪətrɪst/, psychotic /saɪˈkɒtɪk/, pneumatic /njuːˈmætɪk/.
- Silent T is not pronounced in these frequently encountered words: castle /ˈkɑːs(ə)l/, hasten /ˈheɪs(ə)n/, soften /ˈsɒf(ə)n/, fasten /ˈfɑːs(ə)n/, whistle /ˈwɪs(ə)l/, bustle /ˈbʌs(ə)l/.
- Silent U not pronounced after G and before a vowel within a word. Examples: guitar /ɡɪˈtɑː(r)/, guidance /ˈɡaɪd(ə)ns/, guild /ɡɪld/.
- Silent W not pronounced at the beginning of a word before R, For example: wrap /rap/, wrong /rɒŋ/, wrestle /ˈres(ə)l/. Also W not pronounced in these words: whose /huːz/, who /huː/, wholesale /həʊl/.
And now I invite you to a lesson with the teacher Ronnie. She will talk about typical unpronounceable letters.
18.12.2015
Today we will talk about how to correctly read English words that contain the letters “c” and “g” or the letter combinations “ch”, “gh”. Such words seem especially difficult not only to those who have just started, but also to those who seem to already speak and read English well, but have not taken a course in English phonetics, and therefore read the words “as I remember, as I heard.” There are not many “complex” letters and letter combinations in the English language, and today there will be 4 fewer of them for you!
Rules for reading the letter "s"
Typically the English letter "s" is pronounced [ k]: come, clone, cube, cave.
Like the sound [ s] it is pronounced only when it comes before the letters “ e, i, y»: cinema, center, cycle, capacity, practice.
Letter combination "ch"
As for this letter combination in English, there are several rules for reading it:
- Like the sound [h] - chin, chess, chill, chips, chops, such;
- In words of French origin like [w] – machine, chic;
- In words of Greek origin like [k] – architect, archaic, chemistry, scheme, character, technical, school;
Rules for reading the letter "g"
Yes, yes, this letter is one of the most difficult, not in terms of the pronunciation process itself, but in terms of correctly reading it in different words. There are several rules for reading the letter “g”:
- Like [g] before vowels a, o, u – gas, gold, gun;
- Like [g] before any consonant – green, glass;
- Like [g] at the end of a word - big, strong;
- Like [j] before e, i, y – page, giant, gym;
- In words of French origin like [zh] – garage, massage, genre;
Exception words, in which “g” is read as [g]: anger, begin, forget, forgive, geese, get, gift, girl, give, hunger, target, tiger, together.
Letter combination "gh"
And lastly, the combination of English letters “gh” is usually not readable, i.e. if "gh" is at the end of a word, such as sigh, high, eight, neighbor, through, highest, night, fight etc., then we pronounce this syllable as [ai / ay]: “sai, hai, eit.”
Exception words, in which the letter combination “gh” can be read as [g] or as [f]: cough(coff), draft(draft), enough(inaf), ghost(ghost), laugh(laf), rough(raf), tough(taf).
That's how it is, friends. If you still have questions about or how these letters are read correctly in certain words, write, I will be happy to answer you.
See you soon! Bye-bye for now!